CYNTHIA ROSE - REAL TIME HOT TIPS

BRITAIN'S BEST RECORD SHOP:
Spinning For Your Pleasure

OK, everyone has one: that special vinyl stop that caters to you not only as a fan, but as a whole person. In London, the top props go to Honest Jon's , since the '70s an archive of musical history. At one point, there were several shop outlets. Jon Clare started them all, selling a few favourite albums in what was once a butcher's shop. After many permutations, business settled in Portobello Rd, where the store became reknowned for special customer service.

On Halloween, 1994, Clare retired to take up life as a psychiatrist. Honest Jon's re-opened in the hands of its former staff. These, the "Honest Jon's Massive", bring together soul boys, transAtlantic expats and native Londoners, black Britons, Asian experts, gays and straight folk. One clerk -- James Lavelle -- went on to stardom as the owner and proprietor of the Mo' Wax label.

Within the store's two-floors, there are subdivisions. Betty Carter, for instance, opened the excellent Jazz Basement ("We stock everything from be-bop to acid"). Equally valued is Reggae Revive -- a tiny, smoke-filled backroom piled with rare 7-inches.

Honest Jon's operates a highly personal mail-order biz; some DJs just send money, leaving the goods to their discretion. If you have a yen for jazz, soul, re-issues, junglist, twelves, rarities, rap, mags, T-shirts, or acid, head your body to Honest Jon's, 278 Portobello Rd, London W10 5TE England; tel (UK) 181- 969-9822. Send mail order requests to the same address, marked: Attention Alan Scholefield.

Check out what's new

hit the Hub