This Hong Kong shop is home to the world’s rarest records
“I bought my first cassette when I was around eleven or 12,” says James Tang of the journey that led him to open The Record Museum in 1987. Tucked away on 39 Yiu Wa St, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, this sanctuary of high-fidelity sound is home to some of the world’s rarest records.
The Record Museum is home to over 20,000 records, including signed LPs from the likes of Nat King Cole, which the owner, James Tang, purchased from the estate of Maria Cole. You’ll find many oddities like The Beatles’ 1964 cover of Ray Charles song ‘What I’d Say’ and recordings of Yoshiko Yamaguchi made in Japan during the Second World War. If you pay attention, you might even notice a lock of each Beatles’ hair hanging from one of the walls. Taken from the Fab Four’s bowl cuts, these framed snippets were bought at auction and were put on display to invoke the spirit of the Liverpool group.
The most valuable records at the Record Museum are James Tang’s master tapes. Tang has spent a decade collecting these Holy Grails. He now boasts one of the most substantial collections in the world and can lay claim to the master tapes of some of The Beatles’ most beloved recordings, including ‘Help’ and ‘Let It Be’. While he’s reluctant to sell these much-sought-after tapes, Tang does offer customers the opportunity to sit down, drink a pot of tea, and listen from the comfort of his couch.
The record museum is not just a place for listening to music; it’s a temple of recorded music. Recalling how he fell in love with music as a young man, Tang told Goldthread: “In the ’60s, people loved to start bands. Every week we had band practice. We lived on the third floor of an old building facing the tram. A lot of foreigners, American sailors, they’d come to Hong Kong every week – come to our building and ask if there was a party. That was how I grew up. Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, The Doors Eagles: I knew all of this stuff before I was in primary school. People didn’t know what I was talking about.”
When he left school, James put his love of music into opening this humble record shop in the heart of Hong Kong, having already started to collect rare records from around the world. Tang knows his collection inside out and has combined that knowledge with an in-depth understanding of sound history to create an educational and immersive environment that any self-respecting crate-digger really ought to visit at least once in their life.
You can find out more about The Record Museum here, and check out some of Tang’s most coveted LPs below.
