Who are you, where are you and how long have been there?
We are Dub Vendor, the reggae specialist. We have been in business since 1976, both as mail order and as high street retail outlets in Ladbroke grove and Clapham junction. Our shops are now both gone, but the Dub Vendor vibe continues through our website
www.dubvendor.co.uk, which was established in 2007 and ships reggae music worldwide, and with our concession at BM Music in Soho run by Papa Face and Oxman.
What do you stock and what do you specialise in?
We stock strictly reggae music and its various offshoots- Ska, Roots, Rocksteady, Digital Roots, Revive Dancehall… mostly currently released or reissued stuff.
How do you source / track down rare / collectable stock items?
We usually source the harder to find reissued stuff ourselves, direct from the guys putting it out. We have good arrangements with the major guys in the business and are often involved in advising product to be released. We have plans to introduce second hand stock to our website later this year.
Its tough out there, what’s your key to survival
We work hard to get the hottest tunes up on our website and all orders turned around as soon as possible. We pride ourselves on our quick turnaround and our customer service, and our extensive knowledge and enthusiasm for the genre.
What’s the most collectable item you currently have available?
We are currently stocking five new 7” vinyl reissued titles from France’s only roots label, they are previously frighteningly rare 70’s roots gems including The IQ’s The Love We All Need Today and Generation Gap’s Music From My Mind, all on beautiful repro label’s. We are also stocking a superb King Tubby 10” dubplate called Let Go Jah Jah Children by Barry Brown, which is housed in a superb facsimile of an original King Tubby’s dubplate sleeve.
Who Has Been Your Most Famous Customer?
Quite A few, including legendary sound system operators Jah Shaka, Lloyd Coxsone, Saxon and David Rodigan. The late John Peel, Dr Alex Patterson of the Orb, Jerry Dammers of The Specials, Daddy G of Massive Attack…
What are your current favourites on the shop sound system?
We’re loving the records mentioned above, also Dub Store’s excellent Derrick Harriott’s Rocksteady reissues including Harriot’s own The Loser, one of the best Jamaican records ever made, and Digikiller’s recent reissues including Trevor Byfield’s Tell Me That You Love Me and its astonishing dub. Plus great new releases from Maximum Sounds and Necessary Mayhem.
Plans for the future?
To keep improving our service by redesigning our website and broadening the titles available. We also intend to get involved with pressing records ourselves, starting with reviving our Fashion label and then with repressing classic titles from other sources.
