Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened To Record Shops?
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FOREWORD by DAVID SINCLAIR
There is a romantic image of the local record shop which Nick Hornby captures with exquisite detail in his novel High Fidelity. "The shop smells of stale smoke, damp and plastic dust-covers, and it's narrow and dingy and dirty and overcrowded....this is what record shops should look like, and only Phil Collins' fans bother with those that look as clean and wholesome as a suburban Habitat."
The shop in Hornby's book is staffed by a bunch of oddballs, united by an obsessive love of recorded music and committed with an almost missionary zeal to the business of supplying it to the public. The owner measures out his life in an endless succession of music-related lists – everything from his Favourite Records (Singles) to his Top Five Dream Jobs.
Graham Jones, one of the founders of Proper Music Distribution has been doing his dream job – or variations on it – for most of his life, and the true story of his time spent working in and around the world of independent record retailing is every bit as colourful, funny, strange, and occasionally sad as any fictional yarn.
Graham has some lists of his own, and in Last Shop Standing he has amassed many extraordinary tales of the best shops he has done business with over the years and hilarious accounts of the worst. He reveals the truth about chart hyping and shines a light on some of the extraordinary shenanigans that have regularly gone on behind the scenes as record companies go about promoting some of their biggest hits (and misses).
But the most shocking list is the one that begins and defines Last Shop Standing: a roll call of some of the 540 record shops that have closed in the last four years alone. For record retailing is an industry in crisis. Beset by the onward march of the supermarkets, the growing popularity of music downloading and a host of other rapidly emerging market trends, the traditional record shop has become an endangered species.
While Graham recognises such problems, and explains them with an insider's knowledge and eye for detail, he remains committed to the future of the industry that he loves. As well as being a eulogy to an era that is fast fading into history, Last Shop Standing is also a celebration of the unique spirit of comradeship and entrepreneurial ingenuity that has enabled so many shops to keep operating successfully in such a harsh trading environment. All of which makes this a most timely and important book.
Graham has amassed a fantastic collection of anecdotes on his travels around the record shops of Britain, and Last Shop Standing is a unique slice of social history and record industry folklore. It is also a damn good laugh.
David Sinclair November 2008
There is a romantic image of the local record shop which Nick Hornby captures with exquisite detail in his novel High Fidelity. "The shop smells of stale smoke, damp and plastic dust-covers, and it's narrow and dingy and dirty and overcrowded....this is what record shops should look like, and only Phil Collins' fans bother with those that look as clean and wholesome as a suburban Habitat."
The shop in Hornby's book is staffed by a bunch of oddballs, united by an obsessive love of recorded music and committed with an almost missionary zeal to the business of supplying it to the public. The owner measures out his life in an endless succession of music-related lists – everything from his Favourite Records (Singles) to his Top Five Dream Jobs.
Graham Jones, one of the founders of Proper Music Distribution has been doing his dream job – or variations on it – for most of his life, and the true story of his time spent working in and around the world of independent record retailing is every bit as colourful, funny, strange, and occasionally sad as any fictional yarn.
Graham has some lists of his own, and in Last Shop Standing he has amassed many extraordinary tales of the best shops he has done business with over the years and hilarious accounts of the worst. He reveals the truth about chart hyping and shines a light on some of the extraordinary shenanigans that have regularly gone on behind the scenes as record companies go about promoting some of their biggest hits (and misses).
But the most shocking list is the one that begins and defines Last Shop Standing: a roll call of some of the 540 record shops that have closed in the last four years alone. For record retailing is an industry in crisis. Beset by the onward march of the supermarkets, the growing popularity of music downloading and a host of other rapidly emerging market trends, the traditional record shop has become an endangered species.
While Graham recognises such problems, and explains them with an insider's knowledge and eye for detail, he remains committed to the future of the industry that he loves. As well as being a eulogy to an era that is fast fading into history, Last Shop Standing is also a celebration of the unique spirit of comradeship and entrepreneurial ingenuity that has enabled so many shops to keep operating successfully in such a harsh trading environment. All of which makes this a most timely and important book.
Graham has amassed a fantastic collection of anecdotes on his travels around the record shops of Britain, and Last Shop Standing is a unique slice of social history and record industry folklore. It is also a damn good laugh.
David Sinclair November 2008
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First time author Graham Jones has done the decent thing and carried off a brilliant premise absolutely brilliantly. This acessible and personal book tells the tale of the rise and fall of the highstreet record shop (before I-Tunes, HMV, Sainsburys & Kazaa swallowed them all up).
As a fan of the record store rarity hunt I was naturally very intrigued by the novel, thinking myself something of an expert (having visited more stores than I can count), but the author's years of experience completely put me to shame - but this has only inspired me to dig deeper. The tragic thing though, is that so many of these stores won't be out there for me to find anymore.
The book is littered with facts, notes of historical interest and plenty of funny anecdotes. Some of his merciless descriptions of hapless store managers are so vividly accurate that you may actually find you remember a few of them yourself (though, it's often not a fond memory).
I just hope that the book sells well for the few stores left open, maybe allowing us to keep them here a little while longer. Back to the vinyl bins I go...
As a fan of the record store rarity hunt I was naturally very intrigued by the novel, thinking myself something of an expert (having visited more stores than I can count), but the author's years of experience completely put me to shame - but this has only inspired me to dig deeper. The tragic thing though, is that so many of these stores won't be out there for me to find anymore.
The book is littered with facts, notes of historical interest and plenty of funny anecdotes. Some of his merciless descriptions of hapless store managers are so vividly accurate that you may actually find you remember a few of them yourself (though, it's often not a fond memory).
I just hope that the book sells well for the few stores left open, maybe allowing us to keep them here a little while longer. Back to the vinyl bins I go...
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By SueBee
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this book on the whole, it was entertaining even if I had the suspicion that some of the anecdotes were apocryphal!
It was rather 'anoraky' in that it went into great detail about the workings of the record industry - highly suspect on the whole and I was surprised at some of the things that went on. However, it badly needed proof-reading and editing. It was chock-full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. I had the feeling it had been rather rushed.
It was rather 'anoraky' in that it went into great detail about the workings of the record industry - highly suspect on the whole and I was surprised at some of the things that went on. However, it badly needed proof-reading and editing. It was chock-full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. I had the feeling it had been rather rushed.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By L. Williams
Format:Paperback
This book is fascinating reading for anyone interested in the sad decline of the local record store, and the cataclysmic changes to the record industry as a whole, over the past few decades.
From the title I'd expected a journalistic analysis, and I must admit I was a bit disappointed when I started reading and realised this book was a memoir. But the warmth and humour of Graham Jones' anecdotes soon won me over - he's a natural writer - and I loved the first few chapters, where he describes his early forays into the music business, including managing a band in Liverpool.
The majority of the book thereafter follows the author's travels up and down the country, as he embarks on a farewell tour of his favourite record shops (the ones still open), from his many years in business as a retail distributor. In between anecdotes from the characters running these stores, we get an overview of how the record industry runs, and how it has changed in response to changes in technology and society. It's not always a pretty picture - the industry is shown as a lumbering beast which has been slow to adapt to these changes, and the independent record store has been squeezed harder and harder. Most independent record shops (and more than a few chains) have now gone, but the shops the author visits are those he feels have adapted to the changing market and will still be around for years to come - the last shops standing.
This mixture of anecdote and analysis works really well, and the book moves along at a lively pace. My only criticism is that the book could probably have done with a bit of editing - the prose is a bit unpolished at times, and the structure of the record shop visits becomes repetitive. And my favourite record shop isn't included, presumably because the author didn't do business there (although they were selling this book....hmmmm). Anyway - Monorail records in Glasgow - go there today and pick up a copy of this book.
From the title I'd expected a journalistic analysis, and I must admit I was a bit disappointed when I started reading and realised this book was a memoir. But the warmth and humour of Graham Jones' anecdotes soon won me over - he's a natural writer - and I loved the first few chapters, where he describes his early forays into the music business, including managing a band in Liverpool.
The majority of the book thereafter follows the author's travels up and down the country, as he embarks on a farewell tour of his favourite record shops (the ones still open), from his many years in business as a retail distributor. In between anecdotes from the characters running these stores, we get an overview of how the record industry runs, and how it has changed in response to changes in technology and society. It's not always a pretty picture - the industry is shown as a lumbering beast which has been slow to adapt to these changes, and the independent record store has been squeezed harder and harder. Most independent record shops (and more than a few chains) have now gone, but the shops the author visits are those he feels have adapted to the changing market and will still be around for years to come - the last shops standing.
This mixture of anecdote and analysis works really well, and the book moves along at a lively pace. My only criticism is that the book could probably have done with a bit of editing - the prose is a bit unpolished at times, and the structure of the record shop visits becomes repetitive. And my favourite record shop isn't included, presumably because the author didn't do business there (although they were selling this book....hmmmm). Anyway - Monorail records in Glasgow - go there today and pick up a copy of this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Read
This book gives a great insight in to the decline in the UK Record Industry, to the greed and incompetence of the big five major Record Companies and how the Supermarkets went out... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Gerry Mc Donald
3.0 out of 5 stars
Self indulgent repetitiveness :-(
This subject matter for this book is genuinely interesting: The rise and fall of the music store, and the manipulation of the music chart by record label promoters. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Matthew Cameron
4.0 out of 5 stars
Last Shop Standing is a must read for everyone who bought into the...
This is a fabulous book for all those that used to frequent record shops whether as business owners, staff, artists or good old customers. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Steve Jennings
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
I was expecting something a little more... academic, serious at least. The book is a series of reminisces of a failed band manager, record shop assistant and successful record... Read more
Published 5 months ago by David Hampson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great, witty read
I really enjoyed reading this, a very amusing, witty insight into the inner workings of the record industry. A must for any music fan, would make a superb gift. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Greenman
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting yet frustrating read
Having spent like many others some considerable years browsing and buying all formats of music in shops I was looking forward to reading this book. Read more
Published 21 months ago by R. J. Harding
5.0 out of 5 stars
you don't know what you've got till its gone.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this well researched book. I ordered a further copy for my brother in law for his fiftieth birthday because like me we spent hours traipsing around... Read more
Published on 2 April 2011 by zedman
3.0 out of 5 stars
A great read
I dont think the story of record shops is over yet, but this book is a wonderful romp through some UK record stores over the last 20 years, in the hands of a rep who has done it... Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2011 by P. A. Rusling
2.0 out of 5 stars
Really wanted to like this
It started really, really well and I found myself picturing the Liverpool of the authors youth, the Cilla Black anecdote was amusing as was his work with the Cherry Boys. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2010 by M. Robbins
3.0 out of 5 stars
double 4 records
realy enjoyed the book and its sad to see so many idependent record shops gone to the wall although some mentioned are still trading and going strong after 25years(double 4... Read more
Published on 11 Oct 2010 by double 4 records
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