''Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops?'' is a

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

book by Graham Jones. It was translated into

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

as ''The 33rd Turn'' by publisher Arcana.

Background

Book

Jones is a record sales representative for 25 to 30 years at a small music distributor, Proper Music, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Beginning at his job, Jones counted 2,200 independent record shops across the country but by 2009 there were only 269. In a conversation with his "

Aunt An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer ...

ie", after asking "How are things in the land of record shops?", Jones said his aunt had asked if record shops were going the way of candlestick makers, coin shops, and stamp shops. This talk inspired Jones to write his book ''Last Shop Standing''. For writing, he toured the country and interviewed staff at 50 record shops. The tour itself took three months, while writing the book took about a year. He endorsed the 2009 opening of a

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

record shop A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record sho ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. On 11 May 2010, commenting on the closure of

Berwick Street Berwick Street is a street in the Soho district of the City of Westminster built between 1687 and 1703. Berwick Street runs between Oxford Street to the north and Peter Street at the south. History Berwick Street was built between 1687 and 1 ...

's Vinyl Junkies, Jones attributed the closure of record shops to the new market landscape. On 16 April 2014, commenting on both

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

and low-value consignment, Jones said "The news was overshadowed by the

Pasty Tax "Pasty tax" was a popular phrase used by the British press to describe a proposal in the 2012 United Kingdom budget to simplify the tax treatment of "hot takeaway food" so that Value Added Tax (United Kingdom), Value Added Tax (VAT) would be cha ...

, but it was a huge boost. ..Overnight, the shops were selling at the same price as online." On 3 July 2014, Jones gave a talk on the record industry at the Woodley bookstore Chapter One in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England.

Film

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, Blue Hippo Media approached Jones about turning the book into a movie. A few days later, they met at a pub having bought Jones a beer and a

Ploughman's lunch A ploughman's lunch is an English cold meal based around bread, cheese, and fresh or pickled onions.Hessayon, ''The new vegetable and herb expert'', 2014, p. 73 Additional items can be added such as ham, green salad, hard boiled eggs, and ...

while he agreed to the idea. The film focuses on an analyses of music sales in the United Kingdom. The film includes interviews with musicians

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

, Smiths'

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

, and

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

. For the film, Jones did another tour to interview independent record shop owners in the countries of England, Scotland and Wales.

Podcast

In 2020, the stories of Last Shop Standing inspired the Vinyl Revival Record Shop Podcast.

Reception

Gazette and Herald The ''Gazette and Herald'' is a local weekly paid-for newspaper, established in Wiltshire, England, in 1816 and published every Thursday. It serves the areas and communities of Devizes, Calne, Chippenham, Wootton Bassett, Swindon, Marlborough, M ...

''s Scott McPherson commented ''Last Shop Standing'' has "attracted plenty of media attention." As of

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, there have been five editions and the book "sold very well." Jones has announced that a follow-up to Last Shop Standing will be released on 21 September 2018, entitled 'The Vinyl Revival and the Shops that Made it Happen'.

References

{{reflist, 30em , refs= {{cite web, first1=Roberto, last1=Calabrò, url=http://www.linkiesta.it/it/article/2012/11/20/last-shop-standing-lultimo-negozio-di-dischi/10416/, title="Last Shop Standing", l'ultimo negozio di dischi, work=

Linkiesta ''Linkiesta'' is an independent Italian online newspaper of investigative journalism, in-depth analysis and commentary. It was launched on 31 January 2011 and, from 24 September 2019, the editor in chief is Christian Rocca. The first editor in ...

, publisher=Linkiesta Spa, date=20 November 2012, access-date=13 November 2017, language=Italian {{cite web, author=Clash staff, url=http://www.clashmusic.com/features/the-vinyl-revival-from-the-frontline, title=The Vinyl Revival - From The Frontline, work= Clash, publisher=ClashMusic.com, date=2 August 2013, access-date=13 November 2017, language=English {{cite web, first1=Caroline, last1=Cook, url=http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/woodley-bookshop-owners-share-top-7331186, title=Woodley bookshop owners share top 10 summer reads, work=

Reading Post The ''Reading Post'' (until 2009, the ''Reading Evening Post'') was an English local newspaper covering Reading, Berkshire and surrounding areas. The title page of the paper featured the Maiwand Lion, a famous local landmark at Forbury Gardens. Th ...

, publisher= Trinity Mirror, date=26 June 2014, access-date=13 November 2017, language=English {{cite web, first1=Kunal, last1=Dutta, url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-revolution-that-killed-sohos-record-shops-1971342.html, title=The revolution that killed Soho's record shops, work=

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, publisher=Independent Print Limited, date=11 May 2010, access-date=13 November 2017, language=English {{cite web, first1=Arianna, last1=Galati, url=http://www.soundsblog.it/post/128391/record-store-day-2013-tutti-gli-eventi-e-le-info, title=Record Store Day 2013: tutti gli eventi e le info, work=Blogo.it, publisher=blogo.it, date=19 April 2013, access-date=13 November 2017, language=Italian {{cite web, first1=Graham, last1=Jones, url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-12164531, title=Five treasured record shops, work=

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, publisher=

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