Our friend Vince was over from Canada recently. A vinyl fan (he kindly lugged a box of rare Caedmon albums across the ocean for me!) I figured this was a good time to treat him to a visit to Spinning Discs which was also on my list to visit.
Spinning Discs opened at 55 Chesterfield Road in 2015 — but soon wanted to expand. They moved a few doors up to 107/109 in July 2020, not a great time for retail obviously. I visited the original shop several times, but never got to see the second one due to covid and ill-health. When the current shop and accommodation came up Spinning Discs decided to move again in 2024 and really go to town on the business. CDs are mostly out, and it’s now all vinyl, new and vintage.
Yes the shop is a little out of the way, but Spinning Disc correctly assume most vinyl collectors are happy enough to make the journey (it is on a bus route). And we can say it is well worth the effort. They have knocked through the old shop walls and opened up to make a big L shaped room, with new vinyl at one end and vintage at the other. Plus out the back window you get one of the best views of Sheffield around.
With memorabilia dotted about and a nice ambience, Simon and Vince spent a couple of hours sifting through wax, and Vince managed to drop nearly £120 on a few post-punk era rarities which he doesn’t see back in Canada. And top marks to the (very knowledgable) shop staff for playing us a mysterious white label 12” to see why it was marked up as a “Deep Purple Rarity”. A strange hybrid techno house effort with the Smoke On The Water riff heavily and illegally sampled, it went in my shopping bag. The vinyl is all in good condition – they have a posh disc cleaner (you can also take your own vinyl in for a shine) – and while you won’t find many bargains, you get what you pay for. They are open more or less full time now but do check their website.#
They even have a small shed cafe outside though it had close by the time we’d finished, so we retired to the Cafe des Amis down on Chesterfield Road for a restorative cuppie and a look at our finds.
Back to the list of Record Shops and Music Shops – if you have any information or images about this shop, we’d love to hear from you.
