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We’re launching rockonrecords.com with just 200 seven inch 45s, some T-shirts and high quality A3 posters. We will eventually have lots more 45s, also LPs, cassettes & CDs but we are starting modestly.
This site is meant as a way for people to contact ROCK ON with enquiries or whatever, as well as a way to help sell some of our stock of the 1000s of records that we have built up over the 57 years we have been in existence.
There will be many rareties as well as many bargains.

Ted Carroll

ROCK ON RECORDS came into existence in August 1971. It all kicked off in a tiny 6 foot by 6 foot space at the back of a newly opened flea market at 93, Golborne Rd, NW10. At this time Ted Carroll had been collecting and wheeling & dealing in records for about 3 years. Rock On’s opening stock comprised mainly of Rock’n’Roll and Oldies singles, as well as a few battered 78s.
Ted had been accumulating a considerable quantity of 45s surplus to his personal needs, mainly sourced from junk shops throughout England and Ireland. A trip to the US in 1970 with Irish hard rockers SKID ROW, had allowed him to add a couple of hundred US Rock’n’Roll 45s to his growing stash.
Just before opening day, while in Ireland with THIN LIZZY who he now managed, Ted stumbled across thousands of old unplayed 45s on the UK London label. These were lurking uncared for in a room above the offices of Decca Records’ Irish distributor. Negotiating a price of 3 and a half pence per record, Ted cherry picked almost 2000 mint 45s to take back to England in the back of Thin Lizzy’s transit van. These records ensured that Rock On’s opening was a major event as soon as word got ‘round about the mint London 45s, which included many rarities.
Over the following months, Ted traded some of his London 45s for original Sun label singles. In addition, he discovered that you could still buy mint copies of Sun classics such as ‘Feelin’ Good’ Little Junior Parker’s Blue Flames [$5] and ‘Flyin’ Saucers Rock’n’Roll’ – Billy Lee Riley [$2] from Shelby Singleton’s HQ in Nashville. By now record collectors were flocking to Rock On and these included Jimmy Page, Lemmy from Hawkwind, Twink [Pink Fairies] as well as many music journalists. [MORE]