A wooden A-board in the yard gives directions in bold yellow lettering: vinyl records, we buy and sell, open, up the stairs. Follow the arrow and you climb into a beamed loft above an old brick workshop, a few paces off Corve Street and a world away from the castle and the food halls that bring most people to Ludlow.
Background / History
Mod Lang is the work of Paul Bradshaw, who has traded under the name since 1981. He started young, swapping out the discs in his parents’ pub jukebox and passing the old ones on to his friends, then spent the 1970s in Virgin’s retail arm between Brighton and Birmingham. California followed at the start of the 1980s, when a friend opened Virgin’s first American shop in Berkeley. Paul stayed and opened the original Mod Lang on University Avenue a block from the Berkeley campus, running a small label of around fifteen releases and hosting in-store sets from visiting British bands before moving the shop across town to El Cerrito. Roughly thirty years of Bay Area dealing later, he came back to England in 2011 with his collection and found a building in Ludlow that suited both mail order and a small, carefully chosen shop.
What You’ll Find
The heart of the stock is second-hand vintage vinyl from the 1960s and 1970s, weighted towards jazz, soul, funk and rock, which is where Paul’s own buying instincts lie. Around that sit well-filled sections for folk, blues, punk, new wave, metal, reggae, country, soundtracks, classical, synth, spoken word and international records, with the odd pocket of exotica. CDs have a proper presence and sell steadily, and there are cassettes, singles, posters, magazines, memorabilia and a genuine music book section that was part of the plan from the outset. Records carry clear prices and honest condition notes, with well-played copies moved to a bargain section rather than dressed up. Collections are bought as well as sold, and stock goes out through Discogs and eBay for anyone who cannot reach Shropshire.
Experience / Atmosphere
The loft is light and unhurried, with exposed timber trusses overhead, skylights, whitewashed walls and black racks along a wooden floor. Leather armchairs sit at one end, a habit carried over from the old Virgin shops where there was always somewhere to sit while someone else dug through the racks. Paul knows his stock in detail and is straightforward about what a record is and is not, the quality regular customers mention most often. Conversation comes easily and stories from forty years in the trade tend to surface, but nobody is pushed towards the counter. Opening days shift a little week to week and Thursdays run by appointment, so a call before a long journey is worth making.
Why Visit
- Deep second-hand holdings in 1960s and 1970s jazz, soul, funk and rock, bought by a dealer of more than forty years
- Clear pricing and honest condition grading, with a bargain section for well-worn copies
- A real music book section alongside posters, magazines and memorabilia
- A bright beamed loft with armchairs and room to browse at your own speed
- Somewhere to sell a collection as well as buy from one
- Mail order through Discogs and eBay if Ludlow is out of reach
Summary
Mod Lang rewards the short climb up the stairs. Stock here is chosen rather than accumulated, prices can be read at a glance, and the room invites you to stay longer than you meant to. For anyone working through the jazz, soul, funk and rock of the 1960s and 1970s, it is reason enough to make time for Ludlow.
