A Lovely story of Leonard Cohen
Viva-Vinyl *Please support this wonderful and
worthy enterprise*
63, Queen Victoria Avenue, Hove, East Sussex BN3 6XA
07900 191324
andy@viva-vinyl.com; @vivavinyl
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Established 2017
63, Queen Victoria Avenue, Hove, East Sussex BN3 6XA
07900 191324
andy@viva-vinyl.com; @vivavinyl
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Established 2017
Stock: Vinyl, Pre-owned, Coffee, Food, Memorabilia (including art produced from vinyl records)
Brian and Julie Rosehill have
opened a wonderful vinyl café in a residential area of Hove. It is the last
place you would expect to discover somebody selling vinyl. The shop itself
though is hard to miss. With a window full of vinyl curiosities, it stands out
like a beacon.
The reason for the unusual location
soon becomes clear. Co-owner Brian has Parkinson’s disease and the shop is only
80 meters from his house, so his wife, Julie, is able to push him the short
distance in his wheelchair.
Brian and Julie are a couple
of amazing characters and you have to admire their entrepreneurial spirit and
resilience. Life has not always been kind to them but what they have achieved
is remarkable.
After his diagnosis 26 years
ago, Brian was forced to give up his job in health care. The couple decided to
set up their own business working from home selling gift vouchers, and within a
few years The Voucher Shop was a staple name in the incentives industry. They
sold the business a few years ago for a six-figure sum, and Brian has since been
investing some of those profits into expanding his already enormous vinyl
collection.
The couple started selling
some of Brian’s surplus vinyl at record fairs and dealing on eBay. By now Brian
had too many records to accommodate in the house so he hired a lock-up. While chatting
with a local estate agent, who told them that he had an empty shop to let for only
£50-a-month more than cost of the lock up, the idea for Viva-Vinyl was born.
Brian and Julie decided to
make the shop a meeting place for the community by creating a vinyl café. Julie
has created a unique and quirky atmosphere by incorporating a range of vinyl
related products including vinyl design cushions, bowls, magazine racks, cake
stands and clocks.
You will find an extensive
selection of Leonard Cohen vinyl as he is Brian and Julie’s favourite artist. They
are such fans that they once planned a holiday based on the hope of bumping
into him.
Over 40 years ago they
decided to holiday in the Greek islands with the idea of travelling over to
Hydra where Leonard lived, in the hope of bumping into him. Hydra is a tiny
island that does not even allow cars. Upon arrival, they headed to the nearest
taverna where, to their amazement, they found Leonard sitting at a table
feeding his baby beside him in a pram. Brian and Julie ordered some food and
waited for an ideal time to introduce themselves.
Suddenly, Leonard started to
leave, Brian and Julie quickly paid the bill and followed him out. They were
too shy to go up and speak to him, so as Leonard pushed the pram through the
winding streets of Hydra, Brian and Julie followed at a distance. Leonard
became aware he was being followed, but each time he turned around to check,
Brian and Julie would look away pretending they were not stalking him. Leonard
upped the pace, clearly wanting to get away from this couple, and on this
extremely hot day Julie and Brian were virtually jogging up the hill to keep
Leonard in their sights. Leonard turned off the path into his house, leaving
the duo frustrated they had not spoken to their idol, but pleased that they had
at least seen him.
In 2013, Leonard was playing
the Luca International Blues Festival in Italy and Brian and Julie had booked
into a top hotel nearby. They were waiting to take the lift to their room and when
the doors opened, Leonard Cohen was standing there. “It’s you,” exclaimed
Julie. Leonard indeed confirmed it was him. After all these years “Hallelujah”
- they could finally chat to him. Leonard could not have been nicer and was
happy to pose for a photograph with the couple, which is now a treasured possession.
Viva-Vinyl is a lovely shop
with a welcoming atmosphere. If in the Brighton and Hove area do make the
effort to visit. A percentage of the shop’s profit is donated to the
Parkinson’s Society to assist their work in finding a cure can be found for
this awful disease.
In 2017, Brian took a nasty
fall while delivering flyers to advertise the shop. He spent six months in
hospital recovering. Afterwards, his surgeon admitted that he did not think Brian
would pull through. By opening this shop, and surviving a life-threatening fall,
Brian has proved that even Parkinson’s can’t defeat his spirit and
determination to offer vinyl lovers a place to visit in Hove.
Taken from the book The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen'.
Taken from 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 is released on 13 April on DVD and is available in record shops.
Distributed by Proper Music.
www.thevinylrevivalfilm.com
@Revival_Vinyl
For
film screenings and talks contact Graham at graham@lastshopstanding.co.uk
Over 100 record shop articles on this blog - Check them
out
The story of this record shop can be heard in The Vinyl Revival
Record Shop Podcast. Sign up here. Each week features comic tales from the
crazy world of record retailing.
https://soundcloud.com/recordshoppodcast
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