Mole Jazz on BBC Radio 3

[Big Beat Steve]

I seem to have missed the "early" Mole days as I did not become aware of Mole's until 1986 or so and did buy one or two items from them via mail order. But from 1993 until 2000 I made numerous visits to Mole's

I saw a fair bit of the place in the early days and more occasionally in the mid/late-80s. Only really frequented it again once I was back from N. America in 1997-ish, when they had relocated and vinyl was starting to be 2nd-fiddle to CDs (by this time I had started to get interested in vinyl again after some years dominated by CDs). On my first few visits the auction lists were still up and running and I put a couple of optimistic bids in - totally unsuccessfully. Around the end of the decade though it used to be common to see 'auction quality/rarity' LPs in the 'Collectors' bins upstairs, including a sprinkling of decent Blue Note Liberties/NY USAs at reasonable price and the occasional Brit Jazz gem (for example I picked up Frank Ricotti's CBS album this way - an unexpected delight). Those last few years in the 2nd location were without doubt the best years for good finds - when most people were more interested in CDs.

Some of the nicest finds for me were upstairs in the ancient overhead racks, where the non-modern jazz stuff was placed (and lingered for years and years collecting dust). Stashes of Herman, Basie, Ellington etc. Although the stuff was incredibly dusty (a copy of 'Jazz Wave' 2LP on Blue Note had me sneezing for weeks - but, heck, it was £2 !) those items could be bought for incredibly little money. They also had a turntable with amp and speakers upstairs but eventually the needle was nackered and it was never replaced. Great times ! :rsmile:

Very much my impressions of the c.1995-2000 period of my visits.

That upstairs LP department took up a LOT of the time of my stay in London each time!

[Jazzjet]

Mole was a very nice shop. There was ALWAYS too much to buy there. And also it was only a short walk up the Euston Road to Sterns. And there was ALWAYS too much to buy there, too! My trips to London, fortunately reasonably frequent and paid for by the office, always ended up with me carrying a huge weight of LPs, K7s and CDs back on the train. Amazing how quickly you can look through a couple of shops when you've got a train to catch

I was served by Leni on a few occasions (well, I think it must have been she) and she seemed to know a good bit about Soul Jazz. Now THAT'S unusual!

MG

Wow, that almost exactly replicates my experience of Mole. When I was in a position in my job to organise meetings in London I used to ensure that my shedule allowed for a worthwhile visit to Mole - if I was in that part of London - or Rays ( the Shaftesbury Ave version ) before struggling home with my spoils. I particularly recall drooling over the 'Rare as Hens Teeth' rack in Ray's. Now, of course, you can get hold of pretty much all that rare stuff somehow or other online.

[Jazzjet]

Remembering the old Ray's shop, does anyone remember a small, bearded Scottish guy ( a regular ) who used to have an amazing technique of searching the vinyl racks? He basically flicked through the LPs at a blinding speed, almost like a deck of cards. He was pretty skilled at this as he very quickly homed in on albums he wanted. Maybe he's still out there - or maybe on the forum!!!

[Big Beat Steve]

I particularly recall drooling over the 'Rare as Hens Teeth' rack in Ray's.

Remember they had a second bin with similarly obscure items marked "Rare as rocking horse manure" downstairs in their blues department?

Indeed I drooled over this bin too, especially one time when they had a couple of those Prestige 16 RPM jazz LPs. Seeing what they regularly went for on eBay I would not have done THAT badly if I had taken the plunge then and there (though they were expensive by any standards!).

[medjuck]

IIRC Mole also produced a few records. I had an Lp they released of the parts of the Gil Evans Royal Albert Hall Concert that were left out of the RCA Lp from the concert.

I did manage to visit the store a few times when I was in the UK in 2000. Has anything in London replaced it and Dobell's (sp?) Is Ray's gone too?

[jazzscot]

Ah!! MOLE JAZZ, I REMEMBER THEM WELL, USING THEM FOR MAIL ORDER JAZZ NOT AVAILABLE HERE IN NEW ZEALAND

I ALSO HAVE AN OLD "RED T SHIRT" WITH THE LOGO ON PURCHASED WHEN I WAS IN THE UK IN THE EARLY 80'S

[sidewinder]

Has anything in London replaced it and Dobell's (sp?) Is Ray's gone too?

No - and check the other thread on record stores as there seems to be doubts now about Ray's Jazz in Foyles, as the manager (Ray's son) was recently let go by Foyles.

[JohnS]

Remembering the old Ray's shop, does anyone remember a small, bearded Scottish guy ( a regular ) who used to have an amazing technique of searching the vinyl racks? He basically flicked through the LPs at a blinding speed, almost like a deck of cards. He was pretty skilled at this as he very quickly homed in on albums he wanted. Maybe he's still out there - or maybe on the forum!!!

You are talking ablout Jackie (surname temporarily forgotten). Bought the lps, put them on tape and sold them back to Ray without the jackets! I know I have a few. He worked at Tower for a short while when they opened but I guess that retailing wasn't his forte.

[Jazzjet]

Remembering the old Ray's shop, does anyone remember a small, bearded Scottish guy ( a regular ) who used to have an amazing technique of searching the vinyl racks? He basically flicked through the LPs at a blinding speed, almost like a deck of cards. He was pretty skilled at this as he very quickly homed in on albums he wanted. Maybe he's still out there - or maybe on the forum!!!

You are talking ablout Jackie (surname temporarily forgotten). Bought the lps, put them on tape and sold them back to Ray without the jackets! I know I have a few. He worked at Tower for a short while when they opened but I guess that retailing wasn't his forte.

Now you mention the name Jackie, its coming back to me. Didn't know about his Tower stint. Didn't seem to be obvious corporate employee material!

[JohnS]

Remembering the old Ray's shop, does anyone remember a small, bearded Scottish guy ( a regular ) who used to have an amazing technique of searching the vinyl racks? He basically flicked through the LPs at a blinding speed, almost like a deck of cards. He was pretty skilled at this as he very quickly homed in on albums he wanted. Maybe he's still out there - or maybe on the forum!!!

You are talking ablout Jackie (surname temporarily forgotten). Bought the lps, put them on tape and sold them back to Ray without the jackets! I know I have a few. He worked at Tower for a short while when they opened but I guess that retailing wasn't his forte.

Now you mention the name Jackie, its coming back to me. Didn't know about his Tower stint. Didn't seem to be obvious corporate employee material!

Recalled-

Jackie Docherty.

[sidewinder]

Anyone check out this programme? Quite a bit of the poetry by Leni was featured as well as interviews with Bobby Welins, Spike Wells and Ed's PA. I could particularly relate to that bit about the typical 'Mole experience' being two lines of men, as in a public urinal, furtively moving fingers in racks whilst wives were left outside or to shop in the West End . Didn't realise though that Ed was such a Wild West nut or that he went on regular manic expeditions across the US to obtain stock and no doubt his own collection items. No doubt all of us who went to the shop have some of the produce from those trips somewhere.

Certainly an interesting programme and absolutely not what I was expecting !

Edited December 10, 2008 by sidewinder

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I'm going to listen to it this afternoon.

MG

[BillF]

The programme's been quite important to me personally. I've renewed acquaintance with a mutual friend of Ed's and mine, now living in Milan, after sending him an email with a link to the programme.

[sidewinder]

This might ignite a few memory cells for anyone who visited the store circa 1980. Just looking at that list of Blue Note King pressings makes my eyes water. £6.25 was a lot of money in those days - ceratinly well beyond my routine spend at the time. It would be nice to have a tardis though and pop back in now and clear up the Japanese import shelf !

Edited December 10, 2008 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

Here's Mole's first vinyl release on the Mole Jazz label - Milcho Leviev 'Blues For The Fisherman' aka Art Pepper Quartet. On the left is an advert for the old Honest Jon's store in Camden when it was stacked with good jazz LPs and Portabello Road was just opening up.

Edited December 10, 2008 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

Here's one from slightly earlier (1977) when Ed was still operating mail order only. Chuck will be pleased to note that he's 'Import Of The Month'

Edited December 10, 2008 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

Again 1977 - 'All Change' Records near Baker Street tube, predecessor to the Mole shop. The Mole morphed into a sax-wielding dog !

Edited December 10, 2008 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

Collett's Records - subsequently Ray's - on Shaftesbury Ave. They don't do adverts like that any more..

[JohnS]

Ah, Collets, I can still remember my first visit to the basement shop in New Oxford Street and the record I bought (Gil Evans, New Bottle Old Wine). Anyone old enough to recall the 'wall of shame', a dozen or so bounced cheques pinned to the wall. Great shop and helpful service from Ray Smith.

[sidewinder]

Here's a bit of seasinal festive hilarity from Collets. I don't remember the 'wall of shame' but it doesn't suprise me !

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Here's one from slightly earlier (1977) when Ed was still operating mail order only. Chuck will be pleased to note that he's 'Import Of The Month'

Cor! Look at all those cheapo Cadets! But no McDuffs in there.

That must have been just a bit before I started ordering from their catalogues, which was Feb '78.

MG

[sidewinder]

Cor! Look at all those cheapo Cadets! But no McDuffs in there.

That must have been just a bit before I started ordering from their catalogues, which was Feb '78.

MG

I bought some of those - it's all I could afford at the time (the deletions rack was my favourite hangout) Still got them I think - mainly Farmer/Golson Jazztets.

[Big Beat Steve]

If those last few ads were from '77-78 then those prices WERE steep!

I remember what I usually paid for records from my small student's pocket money during my visits to London in '75/76/77. Seeing how many goodies there were to be found in the new and/or secondhand bins at prices at £2 to £3 at the most (not to mention 99p special offers) this was decidedly beyond my means in most cases.

At that time one Pound Sterling still equaled about 5 Deutschmarks (2.50 euros) so those £4.50 LPs would have set me back about 22,50 DM at a time when everything in the new-record racks of our local record stores back home (some of them VERY well-stocked even in the jazz and blues departments) was rarely more than 17.90 DM (often 10 to 12 DM only), even for imports.

Today, of course (and seeing how records have become cheaper, relatively speaking), I'd often be glad to pay that money too.

[JohnS]

Just listened to the programme. Some nice observations, the size of collections and family life and as Sidewinder says, the rows of men in the shop. In the end strangely moving. So nice to hear Graham Griffiths after so many years.

[Jazzjet]

Cor! Look at all those cheapo Cadets! But no McDuffs in there.

That must have been just a bit before I started ordering from their catalogues, which was Feb '78.

MG

I bought some of those - it's all I could afford at the time (the deletions rack was my favourite hangout) Still got them I think - mainly Farmer/Golson Jazztets.

Somehow fantastically nostalgic seeing the photo. How complicated - but at the same time simpler and perhaps more fun - record collecting was then.