talking to an old mate the other day, when he mentioned a shop in the oasis shop in birmingham ran by graham warr, we used to get all the lastest pressings from him at the time dont really know who he was and what happened to him?, but also remember there was another stall in the oasis shop where a guy had loads and loads of american soul imports any info on these anyone

talking to an old mate the other day, when he mentioned a shop in the oasis shop in birmingham ran by graham warr, we used to get all the lastest pressings from him at the time dont really know who he was and what happened to him?, but also remember there was another stall in the oasis shop where a guy had loads and loads of american soul imports any info on these anyone

An old friend who resides in Brighton, Jimmy Lynn used to work in that store, Back in the late 7ts I think, I certainly used to find sleeves with Graham's name on round the various record shops such as the Diskery etc.

By the time I was after soul 45's in the mid eighties we went to Reddington's Rare Records, before they were behind rackhams.. would of been at the end of the underpass between Moore street and what's now that horrible shopping centre..

I also got great tracks from Second City sounds, behind the Library, alas long since knocked down, was next to the MOD cafe which was a big haunt after the rigger on a Saturday..

I went to school with the son of the owner of Oasis market, its always been a place to get Fashion, Remember Mike Wilks of south wales telling me he used to get shoes from there while he was going to Wigan, Suppose they would have sold many a pair of Oxford bags..

ahh memories....

Mal.C

Edited October 9, 200915 yr by Mal.C.

talking to an old mate the other day, when he mentioned a shop in the oasis shop in birmingham ran by graham warr, we used to get all the lastest pressings from him at the time dont really know who he was and what happened to him?, but also remember there was another stall in the oasis shop where a guy had loads and loads of american soul imports any info on these anyone

I remember buying some things from him and vice versa, mail order, back in the early seventies. Don't know where he is now though.

An old friend who resides in Brighton, Jimmy Lynn used to work in that store, Back in the late 7ts I think, I certainly used to find sleeves with Graham's name on round the various record shops such as the Diskery etc.

By the time I was after soul 45's in the mid eighties we went to Reddington's Rare Records, before they were behind rackhams.. would of been at the end of the underpass between Moore street and what's now that horrible shopping centre..

I also got great tracks from Second City sounds, behind the Library, alas long since knocked down, was next to the MOD cafe which was a big haunt after the rigger on a Saturday..

I went to school with the son of the owner of Oasis market, its always been a place to get Fashion, Remember Mike Wilks of south wales telling me he used to get shoes from there while he was going to Wigan, Suppose they would have sold many a pair of Oxford bags..

ahh memories....

Mal.C

i had 3 mint copys of kiki dee magic carpet ride from the diskery 50P each , got banned from reddingtons though a supposed good mate grassed me up that i was buying stuff for pence and selling them for big money at wigan,think im the only person ever to get banned from there .

i remember reddingtons back in the early 80`s..two shops i think by the underpass...absolutely packed with vinyl floor to ceiling..parcel taped up with artist/label name on box.. used to go with mates elder brother him looking for ska/rocksteady me club soul with saved up paper round money!!used to stand me dinner in cafe.someene told me recently reddingtons is still going by mail order??

only records shop i can remember in oasis was downstairs???

second city sounds was also great...always cheap!!

the diskery had some good things but he would charge different prices each week!!had some nice ja presses off him once or twice at good prices.

happy days ..rich

Hi

In 1973 I used to buy 'northern' soul records from Oasis Market. There were two places as you say; one was downstairs as I recall, a biggish stall where there were a lot of American imports such as the Rare Earth label for hardly any money at all. Here Ade can remember buying Spill the Wine, the Isley Brothers for about 10p. The other stall was upstairs in a little cubby-hole run by two blokes, both young, thin and good looking but older than me (I was 17), who went to the Twisted Wheel and sold rare records from record boxes. This was a far better place to buy and they always had the latest 'must haves'. I have still got receipts in my scrap book for Exus Trek for 85p; Right Track - 75p; Shing a Ling - 85p and Come back Baby - 75p all bought in early 1973. Whether one of these stalls was run by Graham Warr or not I do not know. I do know that Graham is from Wolverhampton and mates with Blue Max.

Jane

Hi

In 1973 I used to buy 'northern' soul records from Oasis Market. There were two places as you say; one was downstairs as I recall, a biggish stall where there were a lot of American imports such as the Rare Earth label for hardly any money at all. Here Ade can remember buying Spill the Wine, the Isley Brothers for about 10p. The other stall was upstairs in a little cubby-hole run by two blokes, both young, thin and good looking but older than me (I was 17), who went to the Twisted Wheel and sold rare records from record boxes. This was a far better place to buy and they always had the latest 'must haves'. I have still got receipts in my scrap book for Exus Trek for 85p; Right Track - 75p; Shing a Ling - 85p and Come back Baby - 75p all bought in early 1973. Whether one of these stalls was run by Graham Warr or not I do not know. I do know that Graham is from Wolverhampton and mates with Blue Max.

Jane

firstly let me tell you graham is alive and well!! living in hereford at the moment,

we are old friends going back to the days of the "catacombs" w'ton

graham used to work at one time for "record corner" balham & went to the states

on buying trips for them, thru this very useful contact graham opened in the "oasis"

stocking a selection of northern plus the new releases of the day!! a great guy!!

with a host of tales to relate!!

max........

I went to school with the son of the owner of Oasis market, its always been a place to get Fashion, Remember Mike Wilks of south wales telling me he used to get shoes from there while he was going to Wigan, Suppose they would have sold many a pair of Oxford bags..

ahh memories....

Mal.C

Some time around 1973/4 I had constructed a great pair of patchwork Levi's from about half a dozen old pairs (not really that difficult as long as you did all the sowing with them turned inside out).

My girlfriend and I at the time could wear exactly the same size clothes and one Saturday we were in Oasis with her wearing these jeans.

A guy came up to her and asked if she wanted a job - said that anyone who could make jeans like that could start working for him on Monday.

She went an interesting shade of red - muttered no thanks - and we both sidled off.

Might have been the day I missed out on my true vocation.

MB

i used to buy records from GW at the oasis in the mid 70`s. used to get all the latest pressings for 85p.

i got a black and grey striped jacket from oasis very similar to the one jimmy wore in quadrophenia, felt like the dogs cos certain stalls only had 1 or 2 of each garment and once they were sold they were gone for good so the chances of someone else havin the same garment was quite remote

This is great, I'd totally forgotten about the Oasis market, as I no longer live in the city.

By 1984 myself and my friends were buying drain Pipes there, and Moks, remember them? Poor mans PODs really but I simply did not have the money to splash out on Pods.. we were a strange breed really, french Lines, Drain Pipes and Moks. only for School of course..

Allot of you guys go back to the seventies; I think by the eighties the basement record store was still there, but GW's stall had long since gone. There was however a MOD shop at the top of the stairs if you entered from the outside market entrance; you bought your American parka's from the basement...

Mal.C

Edited October 10, 200915 yr by Mal.C.

remember going in the other record store not g warr, as soon as i walked in, the middle aged guy behind the counter thin with a mop of black hair called the security to come and get me accuseing me of stealing vinyl, ended up at steelhouse lane cop shop!. best part about it i knew a black mate of mine who went to wigan  was lifting loads of stuff from there, bit of mistaken identity i think

Edited January 23, 20178 yr by sheldonsoul

Used to buy the new releases from Graham , and the Northern sides from Steve Glover and Jan in Soul Galore .The shop next door used to give you discount off their clothes and shoes if you bought from Steve .Remember buying Jean Carn - If you wanna go back and Ruby Andrews - I got a bone to pick with you off Graham as new imports, though I must have missed loads of crossover / 70's sides which I'd love to own now ....Best,Eddie

. . . at the top of the stairs if you entered from the outside market entrance;

Mal.C

Can't imagine why this memory is still in my head but I was just inside that door to the outside market one day. The very first shop/stall was a denim business.

A guy took one step through from the outside market - stretched his arms wide - and grabbed maybe a couple of dozen pairs of jeans off a rack.

One step back through the door and he had legged it!

I just stood there gobsmacked.

No cameras of course in those days - it was just brazen cheek - and a good few days profit for the guy who ran the business no doubt!!

MB

i remember the liitle mod shop..bought my first ben sherman there about 83 i think..was a good place back then remember blagging my parents to let me have some two tone trousers back in about 80/81 with some tassled loafers!!!the rag market of old was always worth a mooch for vinyl....the record stall downstairs i remember seem to have a large selection of live/bootleg lps

I remember going in there circa 78 in full punk regalia, was eyed suspiciously as I browsed around for a while and then asked 'Did they have 'Barbara Randolph I get a feeeling' which I'd heard at a mates house, the bloke just looked very confused !! My first northern soul record !

The mod shop around the corner was run by Greg Nicholls, route 66 had a great jukebox fill of 60s sounds, at the same time boy george was working on Martin Degvilles (Sigue sigue sputnik and ex soulie ! !!) stall around the corner, when I was a mod he told me there were some nice 60s suede shoes at Khan and Bells shop that he was sure I'd like when I got there they were more like a suede version of the ruby slippers in Wizard of oz !!! ha ha

I guess I'm at that age where I'm often wondering what happened to old mates and acquaintances.  Fond memories of Jimmy Lynn on the Oasis record stall.  Used to get the latest pressings there around 1973 but you could almost always find a mid-tempo bargain like Toni Lamarr - Just in the nick of time.  There were always loades of copies of SpyderTurner too (surely the greatest Northern track that was never big in the day - just too easy to find)

 

Looked up to guys like Jimmy Lynn in Brum and Maurice Nixon in Worcester.  It was amazing they had any time at all for a spotty faced young teen with a mile long wants list, a million questions and very little money! 

I used to visit Birmingham regularly mid seventies and always head for the Oasis Market , for records from both Graham Warr , ( I'm afraid  I can't remember what the other record stall was called?Would also shop for the odd the odd clothing items, however Faiths near the Bullring was the place for the finest Solatios of the time.....Halcyon days indeed

soul galore oasis mid 70s

soul galore oasis mid 70s

Edited February 20, 201510 yr by ric-tic

I lived in Coventry at the time and spent loads of time and money in Graham Warr's shop, I remenber he was into jazz-funk aswell, anybody remenber the all-dayers in Birmingham not sure if it was the Locarno, it must have been  around 75 and they played Northern Soul and Blackpool Mecca stuff plus Jazz-Funk, used to get a lot of black guys there, I recall the Northern Soul guys sitting on the dance floor, when the jazz was played, they stopped comeing and it went mostly jazz, the guy who usedto dj was a friend of Graham Warr, and I think Graham himself used to dj there, they also did a night at a club in Birmingham I think was called the Rumrunner, at the time disco was comeing in and latin jazz was also being played along side the soul, these nights had a lot more black guys, than the Northern Soul only nights

yep the Rum Runner is a very famous place, home to allot of the early New romantic bods that lived in Birmingham, one of the D'js there a guy later known as DJ Dick, real name Richard Whittington played there, he was behind Rockers Hi Fi in the late 8ts early 9ts..had a big hit with 'Push Push'...

What a great read....blimey oasis, can remember going into the cavern (mod shop) in there, was one just off Carnaby St as well...melandys was a couple of mins over the road, sold mainly mod clothes, and again one def on Carnaby St (poss two).....would of been early 80s I think....not really into my northern soul then but remember there being a couple of record shops in there, I think!.......thank you.....Rob

Oh and forgot to mention the out rigger....train over in the morning, mod cafe, which seemed bloody miles from the city center....maybe a look round the shops then to the rigger, 3 pints of cider, look at the cool older mods then stagger back to the train station....possibly a vomit en route or before...great memories....thank you...Rob

Bought lots of new releases off Mr Warr from his list in the late 70s.

Cant remember the exact dates but bought Shiley Browns Arista LP as a new release ("77 ??)

Only visited the market stall once but he seemed like a really nice friendly helpful bloke.

Spoke to him on the phone re orders and he was always very helpful/nice.

Good to hear hes still around and about, and yes I bet hes got a good few tales to tell.   Didn"t he put Mr Levine onto the Florida thrift shop for instance ?

 

Cheers Paul

I lived in Coventry at the time and spent loads of time and money in Graham Warr's shop, I remenber he was into jazz-funk aswell, anybody remenber the all-dayers in Birmingham not sure if it was the Locarno, it must have been  around 75 and they played Northern Soul and Blackpool Mecca stuff plus Jazz-Funk, used to get a lot of black guys there, I recall the Northern Soul guys sitting on the dance floor, when the jazz was played, they stopped comeing and it went mostly jazz, the guy who usedto dj was a friend of Graham Warr, and I think Graham himself used to dj there, they also did a night at a club in Birmingham I think was called the Rumrunner, at the time disco was comeing in and latin jazz was also being played along side the soul, these nights had a lot more black guys, than the Northern Soul only nights

If I remember correctly didnt GW also run a jazz funk club called chaplins? I remember the rumrunner, didnt like it for some reason.

If I remember correctly didnt GW also run a jazz funk club called chaplins? I remember the rumrunner, didnt like it for some reason.

Yes you're right.

 

heres some extracts from the book:

 

"From Jazz funk & Fusion To Acid Jazz" by Mark "Snowboy" Cotgrove; (2009)

 

 

 

Before I met her, Lorna used to go to these Rob.

On 20/02/2015 at 12:54, ric-tic said:

soul galore oasis mid 70s

That's the shop remember it clear as anything now , great photo

On 20/02/2015 at 20:53, ric-tic said:

soul galore oasis mid 70s

👍

I was the resident "Northern" DJ at Birmingham  Locarno.76-78,along with Noel Tilly we took care of the normal Sunday night sessions with guests ,such as Pep,Soul Twins & Dave Evison,The dayers would have ,Colin Curtis,Sam,Neil Rushton and Richard Searling taking turns at guesting.This being around the time of the "split"the jazz funkers & The Northern fans took their turns on the floor only coming together for if memory serves "Lend a hand "......great times !😊

The other guy selling records in there was Steve Glover. selling tiles now  

l take it the one in Manchester Market was run by the same people?

Anyone confirm?

 

1 hour ago, davetay said:

l take it the one in Manchester Market was run by the same people?

Anyone confirm?

 

Yes Steve Glover also had the Soul Galore shop in Manchester Oasis

 

7 hours ago, Ted Massey said:

The other guy selling records in there was Steve Glover. selling tiles now  

Was he the skinny guy with a mop of black hair  he sold a lot of random one offs on his stall ?