Uncut UK – October 2019

OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 7

I

N2009,recordsalesrepGraham

Joneswrotea fondeulogyto

a disappearingculturecalled

LastShopStanding:Whatever

HappenedToRecordShops?. In 2012

a documentaryfollowed,asdid

variousrevisionsofthebook.Those

updatessoonbecameoutofdate.

“Therebecamea pointwherethe

changeswereincredible,”hesays.

“I’dgonefromvisitingrecordshops

ontheirlastlegsandclosingdownto

seeingnewrecordshopsthatwere

beingopenedbyyoung,enthusiastic

people.”Overan18-monthperiod,

Jonesrealisedhehadvisited 40 new

independentshops.Thisdramatic

rehabilitationhasresultedinhis

latestbookanddocumentary,The

VinylRevivalAndTheShopsThat

MadeIt Happen. “Vinylhadbecome

fashionableagain,”Jonesnotes.

“RecordStoreDaygotpeoplegoing

backintostores.”

Joe Blanchard of Bear Tree Records

inSheffieldhasseenthisspikefirst

hand.“Thevinylresurgenceis real,”

hesays.“SinceI openedin 2015

we’vebeeninthreedifferentunits,

eachonebiggerthanthelast.”

Independentshopsarethriving

againalongsiderisingvinylsales

(4.2millionrecordsin2018)– so

what’schanged?“We’reina newera

forrecordshops,”Jonessays.“Over

halfofthose 40 newshopsI visited

soldcoffee.I alwayssay,whatever

youdo,don’trelyjustonnewvinyl,

becausethemarginsaresolow.You

needtodosomethingelse,bethata

vinylcafé,sellsecond-handstock,

dogigsorbea communityspace.”

Culturally,Jonesthinksthings

haveshifted,too.“There’salmost

a movementofpeoplewhowantto

supportindependentshops– the

desiretobea moreconscious

consumer.”Inaddition,theage-old

imageofthegrumpy,patronising

record-shop guy is disappearing.

“Thosedaysoffeelingintimidated

andnotfeelingpartofthegang...

thatculturehasgone.Shopsare

workingsohardtokeepcustomers.

Thewholestandardofcustomer

servicehasgoneup.Therecord

shopscenein 2018 wasthe

healthiestI’veeverknownit.”

SimonRaymondeis well

positionedtoseethisfromallsides.

He’sheadofBellaUnionrecords,

a label that also has a bricks and

mortarvinylshopandcaféin

Brighton.“Thereis a demandthat

doesn’tshowsignsofdiminishing

anytimesoon,”hesays.“Also,

despitethispublicperceptionthat

thetypicalvinylbuyeris a balding

orbeardedbespectacledmiddle-

agedmale,in our shop we have

noticed ompletelytheopposite.

Theageandgenderofour

customersis muchyoungerand

morebalancedthaneverbefore.”

Is thisresurgencesustainable

inthelongterm?Blanchardis

hopeful.“I’vebeensayingforyears

thatthevinylmarketwillplateau

anddip,butwe’relookinglikethis

yearwillseeanincreaseon2018.”

Raymondefeelsquietlyconfident

ofthefuture,too.“It’spossibleto

grow,butit’simportanttokeepthe

standardsandqualityhighand

toensurethatbuyinga pieceof

vinylisn’tjusta fadlikebuyinga

tamagotchi.” DANIELDYLANWRAY

TheVinylRevivalAndTheShops

ThatMadeIt Happenis out

now,publishedbyProper;for

screeningsofthedocumentary,

visit thevinylrevivalfilm.com

THECLASSIFIEDS

This month: Glam and anti-glam:Melody Maker, September 1, 1973

Counter culture

“Thevinyl

resurgenceis

def initelyreal”

JOEBLANCHARD,

BEAR TREE RECORDS

Turnedtables!TheVinylRevivalis a new

filmdocchartingtheremarkable rebirth

of the British record shop

XXXXXX

LionCoffee

& Records

in Hackney