Record Store Day Shops - Day 17 Black Slab Records in Redcar


Black Slab Records
22 Milbank Terrace, Redcar, North Yorkshire TS10 1ED
07590 590735
blackslabrecords.com;blackslab@protonmail.com
Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Sunday 11am-3pm
Established 2016
Stock: Vinyl, Pre-owned, Art, Footwear, Menswear
Also, at 20, Baker Street, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire TS1 2LH
Black Slab Records is part-vinyl record shop and part-fashion shop, incorporating some fabulous memorabilia from the Teesside steelworks. Closed in 2015 with the loss of 4,000 jobs, the steelworks were the town’s major employer. Founded in 1917, the steel was used in the construction of the Tyne, Sydney Harbour and Auckland Harbour bridges.
Mark Stubbs, a postman at the time of closure, felt it was important to keep the memory of the plant alive, and approached the receivers to ask if he could purchase some of the fixtures and fittings. As much of it was going to be dumped or recycled, they were happy to sell to him, and many items have been incorporated into the design of Black Slab Records. Others are available for sale alongside the vinyl and clothing.


The shop is named in honour of the steelworks; black steel slabs is what they produced. Thousands of singles are stored in beautiful steel drawers painted green. When Mark obtained them, each drawer contained 3000 negatives. The counter and walls are made from recycled wood from the steelworks, and the shop also uses light fixtures, clocks and hat stands from the plant. Displayed on the wall are pictures and photographs of the steelworks in its prime which are thought-provoking and moving. The shop attracts many ex-steelworkers, who presume that Mark worked at the plant.


There is one album that does particularly well at Black Slab Records: Steeltown, the 1984 album by Scottish rockers Big Country.

 Available at your local record shop or online at http://smarturl.it/vinylrevival

Look out for the film based on the book. The Vinyl Revival'  which is released on Record Store Day  April 13th

Check out the trailer


https://youtu.be/dDYrd0N2cIA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Graham Jones guide to great record shops of Yorkshire

Image
Sheffield once had a thriving independent record shop scene. But from the 1990s onwards it has suffered a steady decline, leaving the legendary Record Collector to fight the good fight on its own. The city is however returning to its former glories with a host of new shops opening in recent years. The long-established shops in Leeds, Crash and Jumbo and newcomer The Vinyl Whistle, are three of the best record shops in the UK. The county still has many towns that could accommodate a new record shop. Bridlington and Whitby are places where a vinyl café could thrive. A two-day trip around the county incorporating the shops of Leeds and Sheffield, including detours for refreshments at The Record Café in Bradford, would be a perfect weekend break. >>>>>>>>>>>   Bear Tree Records Unit 13-16, The Forum, 127 Devonshire Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S3 7SB 01142 751309 beartreerecords.com; blackestrainbow@googlemail.com ; @bear...
Read more

The Unluckiest record shop owner in the world - Derricks in Swansea

Image
Derricks Music                        221 Oxford Street, Swansea SA1 38Q 01792 654226 derricksmusic.co.uk ; info@derricksmusic.co.uk ; @DerricksMusic Monday-Saturday 9am-5.30pm Sunday 11am-4pm Established 1956 Stock: Vinyl, CD, Tickets Derricks Music was started in Port Talbot by Derrick, the uncle of current owner Chris Stylinaou, as an electrical store that stocked a few LPs. Like other shops in the 1950s and 1960s, they found that selling records was more lucrative than selling electrical goods, so the family opened a second shop in Port Talbot selling only records, which was said to be the first record shop dedicated to pop and rock music in Wales. In 1968, Port Talbot was being re-developed and one of the Derricks shops was due to be demolished, prompting the family to move their record retailing business to Swansea. Like many stores which ...
Read more
Image
    Last chain standing: the story of HMV   How HMV came back from the brink and learned to love vinyl   It is easy to underestimate the role of HMV in facilitating the vinyl revival. If the chain had not taken decisive action to reverse its earlier (catastrophic) decision to remove the format from their shops, then vinyl sales would be considerably below current rates. Not only did they put vinyl back on the shelves, they embraced the format with gusto, giving the format a timely and much-needed boost.   I had the pleasure of working at HMV Liverpool for eight years during the mid-1980s. They were some of the best years of my life. To work in an environment with fellow music enthusiasts, selling to music fans while listening to new music was my idea of heaven. My previous job had been manufacturing the flavour for cheese and onion crisps, so it is easy to understand why I enjoyed working at HMV so much. These were the glory days of record reta...
Read more