Overview

A revival of interest in vinyl music has taken place in recent years - but for many of those from the ""baby boomer"" generation, who made their acquaintance with the music of their youth in this way, it never went away.  Graham Sharpe, a high-profile veteran of the betting industry, boasts of being a vinyl record veteran with well over 50 years service as a serious 45 and 33rpm collector. Graham relaxes by visiting every record shop he can find, from London to New Zealand, to feed his voracious vinyl appetite, scorning and spurning to this day, advice that Spotify, downloading, streaming, are the way to go. His life has been played out to a background of personally significant vinyl-related events and his own large and ever-growing collection of LPs not only reflects his musical addiction, but also represents an intensely direct link to many of his key experiences.  In this unique book he considers all the elements of record collecting which he loves - and one or two he doesn't - as he continues his long-term project to visit every surviving secondhand record shop in his own and other countries, and reports on the many characters he has encountered, and the adventures he has accrued along the way. 'Full of laugh out loud anecdotes and wonderful observations. A great read not just for vinyl fans, but for anybody who has ever visited a record shop.' - Graham Jones, author of The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made It Happen 'You hold in your hand a miracle, a book about a passion, and the hipsters, oddballs and old heads who share it, written by one of their number, albeit a ludicrously erudite one.' - Danny Kelly, editor of NME and Q

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9780857303141

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Reviews

Vinyl Countdown is a treasure trove of memory and music, as well as a diary of obsessional collecting. Sharpe tells his story with a great deal of charm, his writing is entertaining and light and never gets bogged down in 'train spotting' detail. It's a memoir of record buying, a particular disc recalls a particular event or person. Readers of a certain age will find themselves picking up on the crossing points between their own musical inspiration and Sharpe's, a trip down memory lane. Perhaps for younger readers this is a slice of social history. . . . Among the many topics Sharpe muses on are compilation albums, the bizarre concept of bands with no original members, collecting as addiction, morality and pop stars, grammar and Jimi Hendrix, Muhammad Ali's record player, Ed Vuillamy destroyed collection and auctions, fakes and bootlegs. Sharpe introduces readers to the people in the record trade, he has made many friends and contacts developed over the years. Sharpe was also a friend of David 'Screaming Lord' Sutch, when Sutch killed himself in 1999 Sharpe found a cassette tape of unreleased material that he is still trying to get released. Vinyl Countdown has a lot of humour, good vibrations and a complete lack of self-importance and show off, Sharpe has a chatty easy style. Life goes on, collecting goes on, 57 years and counting. --NB Hugely enjoyable. --TBL: The Led Zeppelin Magazine You hold in your hand a miracle. A book about a passion, and the hipsters, oddballs and old heads who share it, written by one of their number, albeit a ludicrously erudite one. --Danny Kelly, former NME editor Includes San Francisco's Amoeba Music and Princeton Record Exchange in New Jersey

You hold in your hand a miracle. A book about a passion, and the hipsters, oddballs and old heads who share it, written by one of their number, albeit a ludicrously erudite one. --Danny Kelly, former NME editor Hugely enjoyable. --TBL: The Led Zeppelin Magazine Vinyl Countdown is a treasure trove of memory and music, as well as a diary of obsessional collecting. Sharpe tells his story with a great deal of charm, his writing is entertaining and light and never gets bogged down in 'train spotting' detail. It's a memoir of record buying, a particular disc recalls a particular event or person. Readers of a certain age will find themselves picking up on the crossing points between their own musical inspiration and Sharpe's, a trip down memory lane. Perhaps for younger readers this is a slice of social history. . . . Among the many topics Sharpe muses on are compilation albums, the bizarre concept of bands with no original members, collecting as addiction, morality and pop stars, grammar and Jimi Hendrix, Muhammad Ali's record player, Ed Vuillamy destroyed collection and auctions, fakes and bootlegs. Sharpe introduces readers to the people in the record trade, he has made many friends and contacts developed over the years. Sharpe was also a friend of David 'Screaming Lord' Sutch, when Sutch killed himself in 1999 Sharpe found a cassette tape of unreleased material that he is still trying to get released. Vinyl Countdown has a lot of humour, good vibrations and a complete lack of self-importance and show off, Sharpe has a chatty easy style. Life goes on, collecting goes on, 57 years and counting. --NB Includes San Francisco's Amoeba Music and Princeton Record Exchange in New Jersey

Graham Sharpe's journey around the second-hand record shops of the UK is full of laugh out loud anecdotes and wonderful observations. A great read not just for vinyl fans, but for anybody who has ever visited a record shop -- Graham Jones, author of The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen Sharpe's enthusiasm is contagious -- Julie Whiteley * Library Journal * A mesmerizing blend of memoir, travel, music and social history * The Vinyl District * Graham owns more than 3000 LPs, and this amusing, entertaining and warm tome is a semi-autobiographical love letter to records, record collecting/ collectors, and secondhand record shops * The Journalist * This book is a love letter to record collecting and the record shops that feed the addictions of those who have fallen under the spell of vinyl. * Every Record Tells A Story *

Author Information

Graham Sharpe is 70 years old, without any discernible medical qualifications, other than personal exposure to acne, cartilage & gallbladder removal, oh - and prostate cancer. A journalist by trade, he made a name - of sorts - for himself by spending almost half a century publicising bookmakers William Hill, winning awards along the way, and creating one himself - the world's most prestigious and richest sports-based literary prize, the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. For 60+ years a Luton Town and Wealdstone FC fan, 58 of those as a vinyl record collector, in which guise he wrote the well received Oldcastle title, Vinyl Countdown, Graham has been for 46 years married to long-suffering Sheila, been for 40 years a Dad of two, and for 5 years a grandfather. He hopes this is far from his last book...

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