Episode Details

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Aidy West, owner of Vinyl Underground for over 30 years, shares his journey from breakdancing kid to underground record dealer. From attending Fresh '86 at age 14 to shipping directly from Detroit, surviving vinyl's dark days, and witnessing the Record Store Day boom - this is the story of passion over profit in the record game.

Chapter Markers

Part 1: Musical Origins (00:02:03 - 00:17:45)

• 00:02:03 - Introduction
• 00:02:41 - Growing up with Madness and two-tone
• 00:04:16 - First records: Buggles and WH Smith Saturdays
• 00:05:09 - The Jam's "Going Underground" changes everything
• 00:06:36 - Breakdancing and electro: "Oral sex spelled A-U-R-L"
• 00:09:33 - Fresh '86: Afrika Bambaataa and the Wembley pilgrimage
• 00:13:21 - The legendary Hammersmith Public Enemy gig at 14
• 00:15:24 - Record shop culture and getting ignored in London

Part 2: Hip Hop & Early House (00:17:45 - 00:30:26)

• 00:17:45 - Northampton's healthy hip hop scene
• 00:19:23 - Hip house and Doug Lazy's "Let It Roll" obsession
• 00:21:12 - First DJ experience at college parties
• 00:22:13 - A-level results and joining the family business
• 00:24:54 - Buying Technics with summer warehouse job money
• 00:26:17 - Meeting Alton and discovering Chicago/Detroit
• 00:26:51 - Yorkshire Bleep: The origins of UK bass music

Part 3: Building Vinyl Underground (00:30:26 - 00:48:13)

• 00:30:26 - ESP/Dreamscape and early rave scene
• 00:33:12 - Moving to Brighton and the scene there
• 00:38:09 - The Orbital "Chime" hunt across London
• 00:40:44 - Adam Naked: "Talk about giving up food for funk"
• 00:42:33 - The NEC record fair that started everything
• 00:46:10 - "I'm gonna start a shop" - birth of 80s Vinyl Underground
• 00:47:11 - First advert in Echoes magazine
• 00:48:13 - The first customer: Stevie from Birmingham

Part 4: Going Direct to America (00:48:13 - 00:59:12)

• 00:48:58 - First Underground Resistance record and Submerge
• 00:50:56 - Calling Detroit on expensive international rates
• 00:53:04 - Why London couldn't get the records Aidy wanted
• 00:56:28 - Passion first, business second
• 00:57:14 - Eddie Richards buying records in Aidy's parents' bedroom
• 00:59:01 - Specializing in what others ignored

Part 5: The American Dream (00:59:12 - 01:13:11)

• 01:00:16 - The 1997 American buying trip
• 01:01:50 - £5,000 cash in a bum bag
• 01:04:05 - Walking into Guidance Records Chicago
• 01:06:35 - Meeting Mike Banks at Underground Resistance
• 01:07:48 - The Detroit tour that never happened
• 01:09:11 - Getting tracked down in Kalamazoo

Part 6: Growth & Technology (01:13:11 - 01:29:25)

• 01:13:11 - Early website in 1998
• 01:15:22 - The rush to get new releases online first