London, UK | London’s Rat Records is closing down: The Camberwell shop will shut its doors in June. Second-hand treasure trove Rat Records is set to close this summer. Its current owners are looking for someone to keep the shop running. Opened by Tom Fisher in 1999, Rat Records focused on selling rare reggae, funk, soul, punk and more, entertaining a faithful crowd of regulars who would queue up to flick through the new stock added to the racks each Saturday morning. The shop will close in the third week of June, with the final day of trading planned for Saturday the 18th, after which the current lease expires. Fisher will continue to buy and sell records online, however he’s keen for the space to remain as a record store, and is urging anyone interested in purchasing the name and assets to contact him. Head to the Rat Records site for more info.
Queensland, AU | Iconic Bris Record Store Unleashes On Govt, Police After Closure Announcement: “You have to leave for your sanity and safety.” The team behind beloved Queensland record store Butter Beats has announced the closure of the Fortitude Valley location. A haven for collectable records, Butter Beats has been a mainstay of the Brisbane music scene since 1998, specialising in rare Australian releases. “After a crazy 23 years working in the Fortitude Valley, we are shutting the Valley Store,” reads a statement on Butter Beats’ Facebook, with owner Jason Woodward stating that “dealing with the problems of the Valley has been trying.” “All three forms of government, both parties, has tested my patience and financial stability/ ability especially over the last two years, and like all abusive relationship, you have to leave for your sanity and safety,” the post says. “Twenty three years of seeing millions wasted and all forms of government destroying the character of the Valley and small business in general. The refusual to help those folks that are on the streets, preferring to ignore the ‘too hard basket.’
Berkley, MI | Block party planned to welcome Flipside Records to Berkley: The Berkley Downtown Development Authority is planning a block party from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 1, to welcome Flipside Records to its new home in the city’s downtown. Formerly in Clawson, the independent record store is now located at 3099 Coolidge Hwy. The Fam Jam Block Party will take place in the store’s parking lot, and will feature live music, a variety of food trucks and family-friendly games, crafts and activities. There will also be a special performance by the Norup International school band, a family martial arts session presented by MKG Detroit and photo opportunities with a Stormtrooper.
Madison, WI | B-Side Records announces new location after facing permanent closure: The 39-year-old downtown record store will move less than a block down State Street in September. B-Side Records has announced plans to move down to the 500 block of State Street in September, as the shop’s original location faces demolition to make way for a five-story multi-use structure. One of downtown Madison’s only remaining record shops had faced permanent closure after nearly 40 years on the 400 block of State Street due to the JD McCormick development. “It’s heartwarming to know we have this much community goodwill after nearly 40 years,” B-Side Owner Steve Manley said in a Facebook post. “It all feels like a fairy tale, this turning of the tide, after dire times in the 2000s, before the vinyl resurgence rescued us from the brink.” The new space will be bigger than the original store, and will see B-Side move back next door to its old neighbor, Freedom Skate Shop, which reopened in a new spot at 512 State St. in March.
Manchester, UK | Dave Sweetmore column: Long live our record shops: Do you still collect records? Tameside Radio presenter Dave Sweetmore celebrates local independent record shops in his latest column. In November of this year, it will be 70 years since the first ever UK singles chart was published. The first ever number one was the Al Martino classic ‘Here In My Heart.’ Celebrating 70 years of the charts is something I’ll look forward to doing in this column nearer the time, but talking about it recently did make me think about the significance of the charts now and if they are still important, and sadly I don’t think they are. Having a chart hit is still a huge achievement for any artist, and should be rightly celebrated, but with music being so easy to find and accessible, the days of relying on Top Of The Pops and whatever songs radio stations were playing to hear new music, have long gone.
Here’s Why Searching Through Record Store LP Bins is a Good Idea: When the album ‘22 Original Gospel Greats’ found Jim Campilongo it felt like divine intervention. Released in 1977 on TVP Records, the album 22 Original Gospel Greats entered my life during a visit to my Aunt Fran in Portland, Oregon. On an open-ended afternoon, I wandered into a local music store where I had no preconceived intentions of buying a gospel LP. But when I saw 22 Original Gospel Greats, I thought, Why the hell not? Little did I know that listening to it would be like signing up for a community college night class about gospel music. I’ve sought out and loved gospel music ever since. All 22 tracks on the album are wonderfully curated; there’s not a clinker in the bunch. Three cheers for TVP Records! James Cleveland opens the LP with a big bang on “Get Right Church.” His impressively masculine vocals (imagine rapper Chuck D singing gospel) are answered by a chorus of heavenly female sirens, while a repetitious two-beat drives it home. Fantastic stuff.
Listen: the minute of silence at Princess Diana’s funeral was released as a vinyl record: On September 6, 1997, a one-minute silence was observed during the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. Conceptual artist Jonty Semper was in Hyde Park recording audio of the moment which he then released on 7″ vinyl in 2001. Listen above. You can purchase your own vinyl copy via Discogs for £15.00. Semper later released (on CD only), archival recordings of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday two minute silences from The Cenotaph, Whitehall, London, United Kingdom. John Cage would be proud.
Rush, KISS, Scorpions, Def Leppard, Queen, Journey, Thin Lizzy and many more featured on Music on Vinyl’s Classic Rock Collected: Music On Vinyl has announced June 3 as the release date for Classic Rock Collected, on a limited edition gold vinyl 2LP set. Classic Rock Collected takes you on a musical journey through the history of rock. This 2LP includes a selection of ultimate rock classics, showcasing 27 iconic artists who participated in the legacy of rock. Classic Rock Collected featured indispensable artists such as Queen, Def Leppard, The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy, Rush, KISS, Status Quo, Iggy Pop, Meat Loaf, Free and Steppenwolf amongst others. This rock compilation album is part of the new Collected compilation series, which is a collaboration between Universal Music and Music On Vinyl. The compilations bring together the biggest and best names of its genre, combined with forgotten hits and less discovered gems, giving the listener an experience of both nostalgia and uncovering new musical grounds at the same time.
