On The Records: Notes from the Vinyl Revival

Graham Sharpe

Softcover | 15.24 x 2.54 x 23.5 cm | 352 pp

Oldcastle Books | 2024 | 9780857305879

Far from being yesterday's fading, forgotten format, vinyl records have survived and flourished as the music medium of choice for not only baby-boomers, but all ages. Every record a collector acquires comes with a story of its own, and the recent Covid-19 lockdowns prompted many vinylholics, including Graham Sharpe, to look more closely at their reasons for collecting, take stock of existing collections and rediscover old favourites.

On the Records: Notes from the Vinyl Revival explores the impact of recent global events on the record industry and considers the reasons why vinyl remains a beloved - and booming - format. It includes interviews and contributions from voices across the industry - shop owners, record company insiders, online/postal sellers, auction organisers, market traders of vinyl, amateur collectors - who share their stories with candour, warmth and humour.

This is a mesmerising blend of memoir, travel, music and social history that will appeal to anyone who vividly recalls the first LP they bought and any music fan who derives pleasure from the capacity that records have for transporting you back in time.

'It's like a visit to a good record shop: familiar yet surprising, and occasionally throwing up pure gold' Danny Kelly, former editor of NME

'As essential a purchase as Revolver or What's the Story. Brings every single album in your vinyl collection back to life' John Inverdale

'A super fun romp through the looking glass of vinyl obsession, Sharpe captures the thrill, friendship, community and identity found within the grooves of a record' Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, author of Why Vinyl Matters

'An obsessive's book that will make you yearn for that moment when you slip an album from its much loved cover and hold it as if it is made of sugar work' Alyson Rudd, The Times

'Freighted with encyclopaedic knowledge, this captivating account of a lifelong passion is essential reading for all vinyl freaks' Alan Clayson, author of Get Yer 'Air Cut