Disci was a chain owned by Barry Class and he had 11 Discis in all.
Name: Bruce Findlay.
Comment: Managed the Westbourne Grove branch and also ran the Piccadilly shop in the evenings... December 1966 to summer of 1967... fab times!
(27 August 2015)
Name: Ron Fox
Comment: I worked at Disci Westbourne Grove briefly in about 1967.
(2021)
Name: Wendy Mullis
Comment: My first job was in Disci in Bletchley. I loved the shop, I was Saturday girl, part-time, holidays… I had the keys, I ordered stock, did the top 20 returns. Wish it had lasted longer.
After 50+ years, a man walked up to me in the street and said he remembered me from the shop.
The shop was only there about 3 or 4 years. I was there 1967 to maybe early 1970 when it became a jewellers and I stayed with the shop!
Two of the ‘managers’ I worked with were John Lee-Smith & Bob Shipton, the High Street was renamed Queensway and we had a speaker that played out onto the street, it was a vibrant, thriving town in the 1960s and on Saturdays it was busy all day, all the different genres of music playing in the booths at same time!
One record we were ‘asked’ to play on repeat was by Clyde Mc Phatter, trying to get it in the charts, I think I only sold one copy… also the Flirtations, Fascinations, and Foundations I think were managed by the company. All on Pye records, on a pale blue label.
I bought the Beatles' white album then and it was one of the first batch released, I wasn’t keen on it, so much to my later regret, I sold it on to a friend who lost it to a boyfriend, before realising its supposed value.
I remember a ‘Barry’ (Class?) coming to the shop, when I was temporarily manageress, who could never remember my name and referred to me as doll-babe, I expect he was mortified to find a 15-year-old looking after the shop! But it was by far the best job I had and happiest place to work.
(2022)
Name: Phil Banfield
Comment: I used to go into Disci almost every day and listen to all the new rock albums in the booths. I then decided my career following encouragement from BYC to try and get into the music business. I got a job at Barry Class Agency in Westbourne Grove above a record store - I had no idea Barry owned Disci Bletchley. At the time they represented Warm Dust, Brian Auger, Steamhammer, Skin Alley, Edgar Broughton, etc. The rest is history and 54 years later I'm still in the music business.
(2022)
Hello ! In 1969, before the Rolling Stone concert in Hyde Park to celebrate the death of Brian Jones, it was this very famous record store in Piccadilly Circus playing all the song of the band in the entrance. Every body could listen it, I did it for one hour. But nobody, I say, nobody on the web is able to give the name of this famous record store. Can you help me, I really need to know.
“A HOST of pop stars, including Jess Conrad, Julie Grant, Don Charles, the Cheetahs, Jeremy Clyde and the Spencer Davis Group attended the opening of the Disci Record Shop in Westboume Grove, Bayswater and afterwards visited the neighbouring Wimpy Bar to sign a roll of honour. In our picture are, from left: Mrs. C. Flaszon, the Wimpy Bar owner, her grandson, Nicholas Harry, and Jan Panter, the recording star.”
... and this piece in the 'Rugby Advertiser' dated 25th February 1966:
“Frugal Sound open up in Rugby. The Frugal Sound, a beat group who have just made their debut on disc with “Norwegian Wood,” a Lennon/McCartney composition, are to open the “Disci” record shop at 36 High Street tomorrow morning.”
... plus this picture caption in the 4th March 1966 edition: “Pye recording group The Frugal Sound, who came from London on Saturday to open the “Disci” record shop in Rugby. The group now top the bill at London’s Marquee Club.”
I found this address in the 'Middlesex County Times' dated 8th July 1966:
“Disci Records shop at The Broadway, Southall.”
... and this in the 22nd September 1967 edition:
“London-based beat group The Foundations recently visited the “Disci” record shop in Rugby and proved popular with teenagers. The group’s first disc “Baby, Now That I've Found You,” has just been released, and the soul outfit have signed a five year contract with Tito Burns.”
... and this in the 'Kensington News & West London Times' dated 14th November 1969:
“The village in the Grove - VILLAGE market has opened Westbourne Grove. That is not as strange as it sounds. 'Village' is a new mini market near Chepstow Road and consists of a number of small boutiques and shops gathered together under one roof and is the idea of Barry Class who already runs a very successful management agency handling' name groups like the Foundations and a very successful chain of disci-record shops. His company’s new venture in Westbourne Grove he hopes will only be the start of a chain of three more of these markets in Westbourne Grove, but each will have a different theme. “These plans have been prompted by the success of the Village.” Said Barry Class: “Customers are thrilled that they can hear records before they are released. We try out our new records before we release them to see what the reaction to them will be.” Assistant, Rod Harrod agreed and added: “We would like to see Westbourne Grove become the Greenwich Village of Bayswater. We are going to revive the character of the area.”