Swordfish Records

The new secret location

Swordfish Records

They've moved recently, after 17 years in one spot, one of the few remaining record shops in Birmingham has moved and is starting in a new location, tucked away and in a cheaper rent and rates back street it was a challenge to find.

Now I've got a soft spot for Swordfish, my mates Dad designed the logo (well that's what he told me many years ago) and it had a 8 foot tall Elvis outside the store for years, being a big Elvis fan it was obvious that I would  fan of the shop. They had lots of competition in the old days, I tended to flit from record shop to record shop on a Saturday, looking to eek out my spends across the most cd's 7' singles etc, so wasn't a die hard Swordfish man.

Over the last couple of years I have always liked the idea of shopping at Swordfish, but haven't found a huge amount that jumped off the shelves for me, falling out of love with CDs coupled with the lack of choice compared to the net and Buying from eBay meant sporadic purchases, but great new pressings of older classics, the Nuggets album on thick vinyl is a great case for why go to Swordfish. 

I bought Nuggets on record store day last year, which was a great day for Swordfish as Miles Hunt came along to sing some Wonderstuff tracks with Erica, and to sell his latest west midlands cover versions. I blogged it here (Recordstore day), it was a great event.

So what did I find today on eventually finding Swordfish. Challenging location to find is one thing, the shop inside and out looks brilliant, walls peppered with excellent record store memorabilia, small selections of lots of genres of vinyl, and the hint of a more social environment that the last place. Talking to the guys in the shop, they are very welcoming, and we discussed the new location etc. 

Turning to record store day, it seems amazing that Swordfish at the moment won't be having much if any input in stock, as they were not able to guarantee their status a couple of months back when the orders went in. Now this would be a real shame not to draw a crowd to the shop on Record Store day, the whole reason the day exists, and the stock being on sale being focused on Vinyl, it would look very good at the front of the shop.

I hope the public find Swordfish, having bought a lovely 180 gram version of the Velvet Underground album, every home should have one, the staff gave me a free tote bag on the proviso I carried it logo on the outside. I did obviously, and chuffed to be carrying an album, and having wandered round the block I was over the moon to direct a lost looking punter round the corner and into the shop. She looked like she could afford a few lp's so I was chuffed to do my bit today. 

The old shop with 8 foot Elvis