11 St George’s Place, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50
3LA
01242
246242
Monday-Saturday: 9.00am-5:30pm
Established 1985
Stock: Vinyl, CD, Tickets, In-stores
Cheltenham is a town famous for its spa and horse
racing festival. But for Bruce Springsteen fans Cheltenham means one thing:
Badlands Records. Not only is Badlands a great record shop but it is the
world’s number one specialist in Springsteen. As well as his music, they also
sell a vast range of merchandise, concert tickets and even organise holidays around
the world to see The Boss perform.
The shop was started by two Manchester-born brothers,
Phil and Steven Jump who have lived in the area since they were toddlers when
their parents moved to the Cotswolds. After leaving school, Phil worked in insurance while
Steven started a painting and decorating business. Phil left his job after the company
refused to give him time off to travel to Leicester to see The Jam. He started
working with Steven in the painting and decorating business, but profits were
increasingly being spent on expanding Steven’s record collection. One day while
at the top of a ladder above a butcher’s shop in Cheltenham high street, Phil shouted down to
Steven that he had had enough of painting and wanted to pack it in. They stopped there and then, and never went
back to the butcher’s to collect their brushes and half-used tins of paint,
which may be still up there on the roof.
The following Saturday, on a cold October day in 1985,
they set off with a pile of records to Evesham market where they hired a stall
for £3.50. They took £38 on the first day of trading. The brothers had
different tastes in music but the one artist they both loved was Bruce
Springsteen. They chose the name Badlands after the opening track from the
album Darkness on the Edge of Town. A
song about a man down on his luck, angry with the world and looking for a
better life, it resonated with both of them.
The turning point for Badlands was when one of the
biggest collectors of Springsteen memorabilia contacted them to say he was
moving abroad and wanted to dispose of his collection. The asking price was £3,000 and much as they wanted to buy the lot, the
brothers did not have that much spare cash. They
contacted another avid fan and between them they raised the money. The
purchasers decided the best way of splitting the collection was to put all the
records on the floor and take turns at picking what they wanted.
Choosing the name Badlands turned out to be an
inspirational move. Soon Springsteen collectors throughout the world were sending
them their wish lists. By accident Badlands was becoming a Springsteen
specialist. Soon an opportunity came to move to bigger premises (well 10-foot
by 10-foot) in an outlet above BHS in the Regent Arcade. Thanks to a government
initiative, their rent was covered by a grant.
The only stipulation was that they had to attend college one day a week
to study business skills.
They took customer service to new levels. If somebody
asked for a title they did not have they would say it would be in later that
afternoon. When the customer had left one of them would rush out of the shop
and call in to one of the other record shops in town to purchase the item. They
would then sell it to the customer on his return but make no money on the deal.
For them it was more important that the customer came back and the constant
running between the shops kept the boys fit.
Not long after opening, Badlands had another stroke of
good fortune. Sony, one of the UK’s biggest record companies, had a dispute with Our
Price who at that time had a large branch in Cheltenham. The result was that
they stopped offering product to the Our Price shops temporarily. Sony phoned Badlands to ask if they would
like a credit account and offered most favourable terms. Phil and Steven took up the offer and filled
the shop with Sony product, enjoying the fact that Our Price had no Sony new
releases or back catalogue in their Cheltenham shop. They then phoned the other
record companies to inform them how well they were doing with their new credit
account from Sony and all then offered them credit terms.
In 1989, Badlands founded The
Ties That Bind, an unofficial Bruce
Springsteen fan club which has proved a great success. They produce a quarterly
magazine and give the club’s 2,000-plus members’
discounts on mail order and shop
purchases.
The shop is so successful at selling tickets that they
are the only alternative outlet that the Harvey Goldsmith organisation allows
to be official Bruce Springsteen ticket sellers. It is thanks to the Springsteen
connection that Badlands continues to thrive. According to Sony the shop is
responsible for 10% of all Springsteen sales in the UK. Badlands regularly has artists playing the
shop. They are still waiting for
Springsteen to turn up and do an acoustic set, but they count passionate
performances from Frank Turner and Billy Bragg among their favourite events so
far.
The shop was voted Independent Record Shop of the year
in 2010. Jump Travel Ltd is the Badlands
Travel Company, set up to create well-designed holiday packages for the
greatest shows around the world. Initially concentrating on tours by
Springsteen, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones along with a host of other
legendary acts, their packages combine excellent seats for the show with top
class hotels near the concert venue itself or within the city center of the
holiday destination.
Having been avid concertgoers themselves (both
brothers have seen Springsteen more than 100 times), Phil and Steven know what
makes a well-designed package.
They will often arrange social gatherings or pre-show
parties where you can meet up with like-minded fans from around the world. They recommend bookings at some of their
favourite restaurants for a pre-show get together and where possible arrange
excursions or guided tours of the area. The Memphis packages include visits not
just to the concerts but also to Gracelands, Sun Studios and The National Civil
Rights Museum.
Phil informs me that they have had people who have met
on their trips and got married. One couple had their wedding on a trip. Many of
these couples now have children. They were impressed with one customer’s dedication to Springsteen, when the fan left the
trip to go back for the birth of his child before returning to finish his
holiday.
The shop suffered a desperate blow in September 2013
when Steven unexpectedly passed away at the age of 56. He brought joy into the
lives of thousands of music fans throughout the world, and his memory lives on
in this great record store.
Check out 220 more independent record shops in the book 'The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen'
The books of Graham Jones are
available in record shops or online. The
latest book The Vinyl Revival and the Shops that Made it Happen has been turned
in to a film. It has
just been released on DVD and is available in record shops or online.
Distributed by Proper Music.
Each week I record The Vinyl Revival
Record Shop Podcast. It contains lots of funny tales
from the crazy world of record retailing. It is also available on Spotify.
Twitter: @Revival_Vinyl
My blog has over 100 features on
record shops and vinyl.
grahamjonesvinylrevival.blogspot.com
For film screenings and talks
contact Graham.
As the person who has visited more record shops than any other human, I often
get asked my advice on buying turntables. I always say do not purchase a budget
model. What is the point of buying one that costs the price of a few
albums? The sound will not do the recordings justice. For a long time, I have
recommended Rega Turntables as they are superb quality
at great prices. They got more brownie points for sponsoring 'Record Store
Day' and manufacturing limited editions just for record shops.
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