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Name: Dave Harwood
Comment:
The Pyramid Record Shop, Croydon was located in Savoy Parade to the left of the ABC Cinema at Broad Green. I frequented it in the mid 1960s and got to know the staff well enough for them to let me browse through their 45rpm singles in search of London American soul rarities. The counter was on the right of the shop and I recall they had a tall carousel rack displaying the EPs with their picture sleeves, which I was inclined to purchase as they were cheaper than LPs and often had tracks unavailable anywhere else.

I can't find any photos of the actual shop but there is a picture of the Savoy cinema in 1946 showing the shop location before it was occupied by The Pyramid.

The picture of the ABC Cinema in 1965 would have included The Pyramid if the photographer had taken it landscape instead of portrait!
(23 February 2015)

Dave Harwood
07 Jun 2023 at 03:22
The telephone directories list The Pyramid record shop at Savoy Parade, London Road, Croydon from 1961 to 1965.
Dave Harwood
29 Jul 2023 at 10:45
A search of the British Newspaper Archive website found an advert for “The New Pyramid Record Shop (adjoining Savoy Cinema), Broad Green, W. Croydon. Phone: CRO 2313.” (Croydon Times, Friday 27th May 1955).
... and also one that shows the connection with Frank Douglas & Co. Ltd.
“PYRAMID RECORD SHOPS LIMITED, BROAD GREEN, CROYDON, ANNOUNCE THEY HAVE OPENED THE RECORD DEPARTMENT AT FRANK DOUGLAS & CO. LTD. 33/37 PORTLAND ROAD, SOUTH NORWOOD, S.E.25. The best of the pops at the Pyramid Shops.” (Croydon Times, Friday 19th June 1959).
... other adverts showed that Frank Douglas & Co. Ltd. had other branches in the south London area in the mid to late 1950’s - Odeon Parade, Croydon Road, Elmers End, Beckenham, Kent. 16 Crystal Palace Parade, London S.E.19. Tooting Broadway, London S.W.17. 51 Trinity Road, Tooting Bec, London S.W.17.
... however, The Pyramid’s partnership didn’t last long - notices in The London Gazette show that Frank Douglas & Co. Ltd. was being wound up by the liquidators during 1962.
Dave Harwood
16 Nov 2023 at 10:14
"I got to know the manager of The Pyramid record shop in Broad Green, Croydon, when he recruited me as drummer in a beat group he was putting together. He lived in New Addington and had just acquired a new 625-line television set that could receive BBC2, so our initial rehearsal, in July 1964, was spent in his front room watching the first broadcast of 'The Beat Room' featuring The Animals, Lulu and Millie Small. After that we rehearsed in the local church hall and, later on, he kindly lent me some LP's from The Pyramid (Honeycombs, Dave Clark Five, etc.) so I could learn some of the songs we had chosen to play. I think we called ourselves 'The Spirits' as that was the name on the front of my bass drum in September 1964. I recall that the owner of The Pyramid was an older gentleman who was always smartly dressed in a suit and bow-tie and would not have approved of my borrowing of those LP's.”

Details

Location

Savoy Parade, Broad Green CR0 Croydon / Surrey

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