101787

    Empire Roller Disco Photographs by Patrick D. Pagnano

    Brooklyn’s Empire Rollerdrome opened its doors in 1941 and soon became the borough’s premier destination for recreational and competitive roller skating. But it wasn’t until the late 1970s that the celebrated rink reached iconic status by replacing its organist with a live DJ, installing a state of the art sound and light system, and renaming itself after the nationwide dance craze it had helped to originate: the Empire Roller Disco was born. In 1980, Forbesmagazine sent the acclaimed street photographer Patrick D. Pagnano to document the Empire and its legendary cast of partygoers. The resulting photographs, gathered in TK for the first time, capture the vibrant spirits, extraordinary styles, and sheer joys of Brooklyn roller disco at its dizzying peak.

    Other Releases on

    Freedom Rhythm and Sound EVENTThu 18 Dec 2025
    Gilles Peterson + Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) + Special GuestsAn evening of conversation, music and visuals 7.30-10pm Thu 18 Dec 2025 at The American...
      • EARLY BIRD Live Event E-Ticket£10.00
        In stockAdd to Bag
      Rock Against Racism 1976-1981By Syd Shelton
      Rock Against Racism is a body of photographs that Syd Shelton produced for and about the British Rock Against Racism movement (RAR) of 1976–1981. For...
        Clarks in JamaicaBy Al Fingers, includes photos by Adrian Boot, Dave Hendley, David Corio, Mark Read, Beth Lesser
        Back in stock! Last copies!Superb brand new edition of this excellent deluxe 240 pages hardback, 100s and 100s of photos and text. New edition includes...
          • Book (1.5kg) 9780956777393£40.00 £35.00
            In stockAdd to Bag
          Soul Jazz Records hoodie (navy)
          Brand new Soul Jazz Records Functional Outer Wear Product #1 Exclusive to Sounds of the Universe Limited edition navy hoodie (large) with design.
            Namba RoyNo Black Sparrows
            'A vivid portrait of Jamaica in the 1930s" Excellent social realist novel. Written by Jamaican Namba Roy in the 1950s in Britain. He died in 1961 and...
              • Original Book (200g)£15.00
                Original Pre-Owned Out of Print paperback copy in good condition
                In stockAdd to Bag
              Revolutionary Letters
              By turns a handbook of countercultural living, a manual for street protest, and a feminist broadside against the repressive state apparatus, Revolutionary...
                Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy presents 'Balearic Breakfast' Volume 4
                “There are curators, and then there's Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy.” - Resident Advisor The sun has finally come out. It’s the first time something...
                  Wayne GorbeaCogele el Gusto
                    • Original CD£3.99
                      CD disc condition: VG+Case & booklet condition: VG+Original Pre-Owned CD in great condition
                      In stockAdd to Bag
                    Sabroso Guaganco Vol. 10Sabroso Guaganco Vol. 10
                    Latin compilation
                      • Original CD£9.99
                        CD disc condition: VG+Case & booklet condition: VG+Original Pre-Owned CD in great condition
                        In stockAdd to Bag
                      Sabroso Guaganco Vol. 11Sabroso Guaganco Vol. 11
                      Latin compilation
                        • Original CD£9.99
                          CD disc condition: VG+Case & booklet condition: VG+Original Pre-Owned CD in great condition
                          In stockAdd to Bag
                        Sabroso Guaganco Vol. 12Sabroso Guaganco Vol. 12
                        Latin compilation
                          • Original CD£9.99
                            CD disc condition: VG+Case & booklet condition: VG+Original Pre-Owned CD in great condition
                            In stockAdd to Bag
                          The Blood of OthersSimone de Beauvoir
                          Potent and vividly emotional, Simone de Beauvoir’s captivating novel questions freedom and individual responsibility in the face of brutality‘These...
                            • Book (350g) 9780241696453£9.99
                              In stockAdd to Bag
                            Salsa Y Ache
                              • Original CD£4.99
                                CD disc condition: VG+Case & booklet condition: VG+Original Pre-Owned CD in great condition
                                In stockAdd to Bag
                              My Grandmother's Hands : Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodiesby Resmaa Menakem
                              THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Insightful, thought-provoking and profound. I can't recommend highly enough' Sunny Singh'A revolutionary work of beauty,...
                                • Book (350g) 9780141996479£10.99
                                  In stockAdd to Bag
                                Nova Scotia House : A Novel
                                Nova Scotia House takes us to the heart of a relationship, a community and an era. It is both a love story and a lament; bearing witness to the enduring...
                                  This Woman's Work : Essays on Music
                                  This Woman's Work: Essays on Music is edited by Kim Gordon and Sinead Gleeson and features contributors Anne Enright, Fatima Bhutto, Jenn Pelly, Rachel...
                                    • Book (600g) 9781474621472£20.00
                                      In stockAdd to Bag
                                    DJ Disciple & Henry KronkThe Beat, the Scene, the Sound : A DJ's Journey through the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of House Music in New York City
                                    A thrilling and tumultuous, behind-the-scenes account of house music in NYC. The Beat, the Scene, the Sound follows DJ Disciple and his behind-the-scenes...
                                      James Kaplan3 Shades of Blue : Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans & The Lost Empire of Cool
                                      1959 saw Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the other members of Miles's sextet come together to record the bestselling jazz album of all time:...
                                        Nettleblackby Nat Reeve
                                        'To be blunt: I must escape.' 1893. Henry Nettleblack has to act fast or she'll be married off by her elder sister. But leaving the safety of her wealthy...
                                          Eros the Bittersweet : An Essayby Anne Carson
                                          Named one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time by the Modern LibraryAnne Carson’s remarkable first book about the paradoxical nature of romantic...
                                            Days at the Morisaki Bookshopby Satoshi Yagisawa
                                            The beloved Japanese bestseller: a tale of love, family, new beginnings, and the comfort that can be found between the pages of a good book. When twenty-five-year-old...
                                              • Book (300g) 9781786583239£10.99
                                                In stockAdd to Bag
                                              Luke de NoronhaDeporting Black Britons : Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica
                                              Since the late nineties, the UK has deported thousands of people to Jamaica. Many of these ‘deportees’ left the Caribbean as infants and grew up in...
                                                Jacqueline CrooksFire Rush
                                                Yamaye lives for the weekend, when she can go raving with her friends at The Crypt, an underground club on the outskirts of London. Then everything changes....
                                                  We Were There:How Black culture, resistance and community shaped modern Britain
                                                  We Were There is about a Black Britain that for too long has been unknown and unexplored – the one that exists beyond London. **An Esquire and GQ best...
                                                    • Book (700g) 9781847927477£22.00
                                                      In stockAdd to Bag
                                                    Keith Gildart & Stephen CatterallKeeping the Faith : A History of Northern Soul
                                                    In the 1970s, Northern Soul held a pivotal position in British youth culture. Originating in the English North and Midlands in the late-1960s, by the mid-1970s...
                                                      Margo JeffersonNegroland : A Memoir
                                                      'Jefferson's eye for details yields some devastatingly honest and painful insights' The Times'Captivating... Charm is this book's watchword' Colin Grant,...
                                                        Emanuele CocciaPhilosophy of the Home : Domestic Space and Happiness
                                                        A bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom - are these rooms all that make a home? Not at all, argues Emanuele Coccia. The buildings we inhabit are of immense psychological...
                                                          The Black Power Mixtape : 1967-1975
                                                          Featuring images recently discovered in the archives of Swedish television, The Black Power Mixtape shows the Black Power movement as never seen before....
                                                            Karl Marx, Friedrich EngelsThe Communist Manifesto
                                                            'The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.'Marx and Engels's revolutionary summons to the working classes - one of the most important and...
                                                              Daft PunkWe Were The Robots: A Disco Pogo Tribute
                                                              Featuring a new foreword by David and Stephen Dewaele, better known as Soulwax and 2manydjs. Daft Punk featured often in the formative years of Jockey...
                                                                Woman Life Freedom
                                                                Jina Mahsa Amini’s death at the hands of Iran’s Morality Police on 16 September 2022 sparked widespread protests across the country. Women took to...

                                                                  People also bought

                                                                  UK Rave 1991 PHOTOZINEPhotographs by Tony Davis
                                                                  Awesome small and beautiful photo-zine. 36 pages, staple-bound, 14x20 cm 100% ESSENTIAL! Ships in about a week
                                                                    Black Power Black Panthers 1969 PHOTOZINEPhotographs by Janine Wiedel
                                                                    Excellent photo-zine about Black Panther movement at its height in 1969. Righteous images, excellent clothes and styles - what's not to love! Striking...
                                                                      Yo! The Early Days of Hip-Hop 1982-84Photography by Sophie BramlySoul Jazz Books
                                                                      Yo! The Early Days of Hip-Hop 1982-84 is a new book published by Soul Jazz Books/Records that features 300+ pages of stunning photographs documenting the...
                                                                        Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey
                                                                        When someone says, 'You have to know your history...' this is it. A pop culture classic for over two decades, now fully refreshed and updated as part of...
                                                                          Weird WalkWanderings and Wonderings through the British Ritual Year
                                                                          The first book by iconic zine creators and cultural phenomenon Weird Walk. This is a superbly designed guide to Britain's strange and ancient places, to...
                                                                            An Incomplete Anthology: Welcome To Memphis404 Eros
                                                                            An incomplete anthology of Memphis rap albums from the 90s curated by 404 Eros & Asel Tambay. 48 page zine of early 90s Memphis rap album and cassette...
                                                                              Rock Against Racism 1977-81 PHOTOZINEPhotographs by Syd Shelton
                                                                              The Clash, The Specials, The Ruts et al ...Between 1976 and 1981 Rock Against Racism and the youth of Britain unleashed the explosive rebel chemistry...
                                                                                A Scene In Between:Tripping Through the Fashions of UK Indie Music 1980-1988
                                                                                A Scene In Between sets out to excavate the sartorial treasures of the UK’s 1980s guitar scenes. Using original archive photography from scenesters,...