245 Portobello Road has an illustrious history. In 1974 it was bought by the Ali family to be turned into a Musicland shop. According to Jim Ali (SW Ali’s son) it actually became Jolly Jester, run by him and his brother-in-law Ken Weston. It then became the Klik reggae label and shop, run by an ex-Trojan staffer, Joe Sinclair. You could find DJ/artists like Tapper Zukie and Dillinger hanging out outside when they were signed to the label. It then became Bargain Records, run by Jim and Tom Skinner. It changed its name to All Ears, run by Larry Sevitt; if you were an overseas visitor you could ring up All Ears with an order and they would deliver to your hotel. It returned to Bargain Records, then Knockout Records, both run by Ken Weston and Tom Skinner, and then Westside Records, run by Jim Ali and the aptly named John The Record. It returned to Bargain Records before becoming Bargain Music and finally...
Name: Mark Griffiths
Comment: There was an All Ears branch at 245 Portobello Road, which is where I think I saw mountains of unplayed copies of 'The Trojan Story' in 1978 (it may have become 'Bargain Records' by that time). 'Bargain Sounds' also had a shop in Rupert Street Market where some of the 1971-74 Trojan LP titles could be had cheaply, I guess after Frank Lea had bought the company from Rodd.
(22 May 2017)