Vinyl Revival and the Shops that Made it Happen

Andy’s 4 Northgate Street Aberystwyth SY23 2JS Tel – 01970624581 andys@andys-records.co.uk www.andys-records.co.uk   Not to be confused with the defunct chain of record shops who were a feature of many High Streets in the 80’s and 90’s Andy’s in Aberystwyth is the last Andy’s standing Andy Davis started his career in music as a Christmas temp in the Scottish record shop Bruce’s. Records. Andy remembers his bizarre interview where they asked him the following questions What was the last record you bought? - Answer Runt by Todd Rundgren What label was it on? – Answer Bearsville What was the catalogue number?   Sadly Andy couldn’t answer this question. The interview continued in this style with the manager interjecting the questions by asking him to name 3 bands from a country e.g. name 3 Welsh bands meanwhile Andy is worried that he won’t get the job as he didn’t know a catalogue number.   The shops claim to fame was that it was ow...

Probably the most famous independent record shop in The Midlands was Nottingham-based Selectadisc. The shop was originally opened by Brian Selby in 1966 and for 43 years was one of the UK’s top record shops. In 1991 they opened a second branch in the heart of London. The Nottingham store’s manager is a Notts County fanatic called Jim Cooke whose knowledge of indie music is second to none. I always enjoyed calling on Jim and over the years he has told me some great tales. He has always been a huge fan of The Clash and he is also passionate about politics – his views are certainly left of centre. One evening in 1991 he visited The Garage, a club in Nottingham and noticed that Joe Strummer was drinking at the bar. Jim engaged Joe  in conversation on music where they had plenty of common ground. Soon the chat turned to politics and Jim informed Joe how disappointed he was that The Clash did not support the miners better in their battle against Margaret Thatcher’s government back in...