Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops?
AuthorGraham Jones
Cover artistJames Weston
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
PublisherProper Music Publishing Ltd
Publication date
2009
ISBN978-0956121202

Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops? is a 2009 book by Graham Jones.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It was translated into Italian as The 33rd Turn by publisher Arcana.[7][8]

Background

Book

Jones is a record sales representative for 25 to 30 years at a small music distributor, Proper Music,[9] in the United Kingdom.[7][1][10][6] Beginning at his job, Jones counted 2,200 independent record shops across the country but by 2009 there were only 269.[4][10][9] In a conversation with his "Auntie", after asking "How are things in the land of record shops?", Jones said his aunt had asked if record shops were going the way of candlestick makers, coin shops, and stamp shops. This talk inspired Jones to write his book Last Shop Standing. For writing, he toured the country and interviewed staff at 50 record shops.[7][1][4][10] The tour itself took three months, while writing the book took about a year.[9]

He endorsed the 2009 opening of a Chippenham record shop in Wiltshire, England.[11] On 11 May 2010, commenting on the closure of Berwick Street's Vinyl Junkies, Jones attributed the closure of record shops to the new market landscape.[3] On 16 April 2014, commenting on both Record Store Day and low-value consignment, Jones said "The news was overshadowed by the Pasty Tax, but it was a huge boost. [...] Overnight, the shops were selling at the same price as online."[5] On 3 July 2014, Jones gave a talk on the record industry at the Woodley bookstore Chapter One in Berkshire, England.[2]

Film

In 2012, Blue Hippo Media approached Jones about turning the book into a movie.[7][1][10] A few days later, they met at a pub having bought Jones a beer and a Ploughman's lunch while he agreed to the idea.[1][10] The film focuses on an analyses of music sales in the United Kingdom.[12] The film includes interviews with musicians Billy Bragg, Norman Cook,[7] Smiths' Johnny Marr,[7] and Paul Weller.[7][12] For the film, Jones did another tour to interview independent record shop owners in the countries of England, Scotland and Wales.[7]

Podcast

In 2020, the stories of Last Shop Standing inspired the Vinyl Revival Record Shop Podcast.[13]

Reception

Gazette and Herald's Scott McPherson commented Last Shop Standing has "attracted plenty of media attention."[11] As of 2013, there have been five editions and the book "sold very well."[10]

Jones has announced that a follow-up to Last Shop Standing will be released on 21 September 2018, entitled 'The Vinyl Revival and the Shops that Made it Happen'.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Clash staff (2 August 2013). "The Vinyl Revival - From The Frontline". Clash. ClashMusic.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 Cook, Caroline (26 June 2014). "Woodley bookshop owners share top 10 summer reads". Reading Post. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 Dutta, Kunal (11 May 2010). "The revolution that killed Soho's record shops". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 Jones, Graham (12 January 2011). "Five treasured record shops". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  5. 1 2 Lawson, Alex (16 April 2014). "Record Store Day: Independent music shops can offer a tempting alternative to downloads". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 Youngs, Ian (15 April 2011). "Can record shops avoid extinction?". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Calabrò, Roberto (20 November 2012). ""Last Shop Standing", l'ultimo negozio di dischi". Linkiesta (in Italian). Linkiesta Spa. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Prisco, Francesco (April 19, 2013). "Torna la giornata del disco in vinile: 400 edizioni limitate per collezionisti". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). General Confederation of Italian Industry. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 Klotschkow, Paul (10 April 2011). "Last Shop Standing". LeftLion. LeftLion Ltd. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jones, Graham (20 April 2013). "Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops?". HuffPost. huffingtonpost.ca. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  11. 1 2 McPherson, Scott (15 October 2009). "Chippenham rock fan wants to turn tables back". Gazette and Herald. Newsquest. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  12. 1 2 Galati, Arianna (19 April 2013). "Record Store Day 2013: tutti gli eventi e le info". Blogo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Vinyl Revival Record Shop Podcast".
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