Guildford’s record shop owners remember the influence of David Bowie: Even before the new vinyl revolution, David Bowie’s albums were a continuous top seller at record stores in Guildford. Tributes have been paid to the legendary musician, actor and artist who died on Sunday. Howard Smith, former manager of People Records in Guildford, not only witnessed the rise of Bowie as a youngster, but also his influence on his band The Vapors, and the longlasting success he had with music lovers in the town buying his music.
Bay City record shop has unusual list of best-selling vinyl of 2015: Vinyl enthusiasts in Bay City added different spins to their collections in 2015. Electric Kitsch, located at 917 Washington Ave., is downtown Bay City’s only record store. In 2015, the shop’s top-selling albums were largely against the grain of what trended nationally.
The Vinyl Revival is sucking the life and fun out of music collecting: Those who buy from independent record labels like Art for Blind, Orchid Tapes, and Double Double Whammy do so because of the care that goes into their releases—the kind of care that’s absent from a 140g black disc stuck in a cardboard square that costs £25 from Tesco. Both are valid things to buy in theory, but when one is a fleeting interest that comes at the expense of the other, it’s hard not to be frustrated.
The Vinyl Deception: Records are not as big as you think: Vinyl has risen from the dead over the last nine years, under the guise of superior audio quality and the full package of liner notes. This trend has led to the likes of Sony and Panasonic introducing record players recently. Wired magazine has even gone on to write about how vinyl records won CES 2016 and while this is true, I believe we’re giving records a lot more credit than they’re due. The reason: they are never played.
End of an era for Real Groovy records: As punters, musos and avid collectors rifle through bargain boxes of vinyl, it’s difficult not to admire the music history housed under the same roof. Auckland’s music stalwart Real Groovy has officially relocated across the road to a disused Salvation Army church. It is to farewell its post at 438 Queen Street, where it’s held pride of place for the past 25 years, on Sunday January 17.
The Vinyl Vision, Fantasyland Records offers nice shopping amongst affluent Buckhead: Modestly run by a few, Fantasyland Records has been selling and buying vinyl and LPs since the ‘70s. They have the largest selection in town of mint condition pre-owned vinyl. “We’ve been in Buckhead since 1976. We were here before it became our ‘Beverly Hills’,” Mark Gunter, the store manager, said.
