Autobiography of a Record Dealer
I started Rat Records 22 years ago, selling secondhand records and books on a street market in Oxford. I then graduated to Camden and Greenwich markets at the weekend, with the odd 2nd hand record fair. In 1993 I got the first of a series of 4 Rat Records shops in Greenwich. In 1998 Rat Records relocated to our current shop in Camberwell.
Since 1988 I reckon we've sold just over 500,000 2nd hand records, stuck on 1,000,000 plus price stickers, driven over 250,000 miles, worn out the suspension of over 15 vehicles and discovered the only copy of a collaboration between Mick Jagger and John Lennon. I also have 3 more children, a grandchild and a lot less hair than when I started.
A far more exciting and mildly embellished version of this rise to glory is being serialised in my blog - Autobiography of a Record Dealer , slowly but surely.
Meet the Chaps:
Tom :
I am the Supreme Overlord of Rat Records. Am I a Record Dealer, or a Record Collector gone wild? Depends on if the mortgage is due...Basically I handle the Rock, Soul, Jazz, Reggae, Roots and Hip Hop Vinyl Records- Anything as long as it's got a chorus.
I'd rather be kayaking (here I am bravely tackling those nasty Somali pirates) and there's plenty of my ego all over this site already so let's move swiftly on to The Management...
Mr Dominic Dawson :
Dominic has been a firm fixture at Rat for 5 years, with an extensive (some would say anorak-like) knowledge of all things dance, reggae, soul, funk in fact most music of black origin.
He does most of the buying that comes through the shop for the above genres, and will price up and sell you some seriously rare biscuits at unbelievable prices! Oh and he's not too bad at sticking blank labels on CD master bags too...
Dominic a.k.a. D.J.D has been a player on the international house scene from the early nineties, djing at underground parties with the likes of dj Harvey & Carl Cox.
Whilst working at the legendary Zoom Records from 1992 he Teamed up A Man Called Adam to cut his teeth at their studio and produce his first solo projects for their Other Records imprint. Starting to get regular guest bookings around the world he then went on to release various projects on Zoom Records with Rob Mello under the guise of Reel Houze. The last project for Zoom Records in ‘95 was the highly acclaimed “A Fist Full Of Dubplates” The rest as they say is history...
Dominic has had top 40 chart success with his Hydraulic Dogs moniker and is in constant demand as a dj and remixer, turning the beat around for artists as diverse as:
The Chemical Brothers, Lenny Fontana, Lisa Millett, Chaz Jankel, Mutabaruka, Horace Andy, Al Green, Telex, The Headrillaz, First Choice, A Man Called Adam, Rosie Gaines, Crispin J. Glover, Arthur Baker, Kenny Hawkes & Solsonik.
Dominic is currently signed to various labels including Defected Records, Look At You Records & Metrogroove Records and also runs his own imprint Opus Recordings.
Monsieur Philippe Giron :
Phillipe as Eric CantonaPhilippe is now entering his 14th year in London and has spent most of it being involved in the business of music some way or another.
Here at Rat Records, he is the man who takes care of the reviews you will find attached to some CDs, and he's always going to be more than happy to help you find the record you do not know yet you're actually after....
He is also our man in cyberspace, so any spam from us in your letterbox, please direct your angst straight at him!!!
As a promoter of the now defunct legendary Moon Palace Electronica Sunday Sessions (which saw the likes of Andrew Weatherall, A Guy Called Gerald, Tunng, Si Begg, Cassette Boy and many many more play for free), and as a DJ under the Prophane moniker, which he is about to ditch for a much more accurate "DJ Sofrench!" Nowadays, Philippe tends to play sets that can only be described as eclectic, freestyling between furious bluesandroll stompers and pan global oddities, keeping it funky yet not like much anything you've heard before.... if you need a jukebox on legs, don't book him.
He was also behind the SoapOrGlue? DJ's nights of mayhem at the temple of rock n' roll that is Islington's Filthy McNasty's.
