Sales of record players have gone through the roof over the last few months
Everyone and their mum (literally) seems to own a vinyl player these days, which is simultaneously great and irritating, seeing as the price of a 12” is probably the amount of money left in your bank account till February.
To prove that charity shops have just as varied a selection as your local record store, we sent our three radio presenters down to a local Oxfam, armed with a 20 pound note and an open mind.
Their findings will be put together for three live mixes broadcast on Ministry LIVE (which is our free streaming app FYI), lasting twenty minutes and attempting to weave some semblance of musical magic into a randomly selected bunch of records.
Here’s a little snippet of what to expect.
Goldierocks, who went to Oxfam in Dalston
"So I got a little carried away in Oxfam Dalston... there was a lot of Motown and Tina Turner and who doesn’t love a bit of Turner.. (I do the best Tina impression by the way). My strategy was to pick kooky one off records but I may have taken it a bit too far! I picked one vinyl just because it had a picture of a chicken on the front. There’s also a Welsh language vinyl in there too, but hopefully I can do a kind of live mix with some techno and it’ll work alright... I also had £4 left over from my budget so bought myself a pretty snazzy outfit for the occasion to try and win more points. Hopefully it’ll wow everyone. If in doubt I’ll just play the whole Har Mar Superstar record from beginning to end."
Arielle, who went to Oxfam in Olney
"I found some real gems, and I think it's testament to the variety of awesome music you can find rummaging around your local Oxfam. All the vinyl I got hold of works a treat and is in excellent condition, and I'm going for the family favourites style mix."
Mike, who went to Oxfam in Ealing
"Rummaging through the shelves was a bit of a lucky dip, but soon enough I found some bangers worthy of tonight's show. Among the picks was one of my favourite house records of all time. Which one? You'll have to find out tonight!"
Listen to the mixes on Ministry LIVE. If you haven't downloaded the best free music app available to you yet, get it here and here.
