ON THE RECORDs
Notes from the Vinyl Revival
Far from being yesterday's fading, forgotten format, vinyl records have survived and flourished as the music medium of choice for not only baby-boomers, but all ages. Every record a collector acquires comes with a story of its own, and the recent Covid-19 lockdowns prompted many vinylholics, including Graham Sharpe, to look more closely at their reasons for collecting, take stock of existing collections and rediscover old favourites.
Vinyl Countdown followed Sharpe's journey to over a hundred record shops across the globe, from Amsterdam and Angus, to Bedfordshire and Budapest, Tennessee and Wellington. Now, ON THE RECORDs: Notes from the Vinyl Revival explores the impact of recent global events on the record industry and considers the reasons why vinyl remains a beloved – and booming – format. It includes interviews and contributions from voices across the industry – shop owners, record company insiders, online/postal sellers, auction organisers, market traders of vinyl, amateur collectors – who share their stories with candour, warmth and humour.
A mesmerising blend of memoir, travel, music and social history that will appeal to anyone who vividly recalls the first LP they bought and any music fan who derives pleasure from the capacity that records have for transporting you back in time.
Graham Sharpe is 72 years old, without any discernible musical ability whatsoever; he has been for 63 years a Luton Town & Wealdstone FC supporter; 60+ years a ridiculously keen vinyl record collector; 60 years an inveterate record buyer/record shop visitor; 55 years a working journalist; 50+ years a friend of the late, much missed, Screaming Lord Sutch; 49 years married to long-suffering Sheila; 43 years a Dad; 40+ years an author; 28 years retired from playing football; 7 years a grandfather; NEVER a downloader of music – and, of course, over half a century a 45rpm and 33rpm fanatic who quite likes cds, too. Graham worked in the bookmaking industry for the best part of 50 years as head of PR at William Hill and, as well as musically-related books, has also written many about horse-racing and gambling and a couple about football. He still pens a weekly online 'comment' column for Star Sports bookmakers.
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