An Old School Record Collector Disc-usses 33 & 45 RPM. Visiting 100s of Record Shops from Old England to New Zealand, Gathering 3259 LPs, 647 Singles & 2386 CDs En Route
How one man's desire to acquire ever more vinyl records saw him visit ever more record shops all over the world, from Old Christchurch to New Zealand, while affecting, educating, enhancing, enriching, exasperating, frustrating, impoverishing himself and those around him en route.
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 is a high-profile veteran of the betting industry with 45 years service of bookies William Hill to his credit - but he also boasts of being a vinyl record veteran with well over 50 years service as a serious 45 and 33rpm collector. When he was promoting William Hill as their Media Relations Director, Graham would relax by visiting every record shop he could find, from London to New Zealand, to feed his voracious vinyl appetite, scorning and spurning to this day, advice that Spotify, downloading, streaming, were 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 muscial 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.
About the Author
Graham Sharpe has been involved in the betting industry for over 30 years and has written over 20 books with a gambling theme. He's collected vinyl for over 50 years.
Industry Reviews
Includes San Francisco's Amoeba Music and Princeton Record Exchange in New Jersey
"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
