Coventry Music Museum Curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer.
ONE trend I can’t get enough of is the current trend for people buying their music on vinyl, like the old days.
With the resurgence of vinyl comes the trend which sees more record shops opening up around the area.
One such shop is ‘Music Is the Answer’, based at Unit 3 Barley House in Nuneaton, off Queens Road,
Already established in Birmingham, ‘Music Is the Answer’ has given Nuneaton’s record buying public a chance to do some quality crate digging right in their own town.
We took a trip over last Wednesday, and it’s like a record shop should be, stacks of crates full of records, LPs and singles, and the man in charge here Mark who was so very welcoming and knew his stuff and could talk music for England – the perfect record shop man,
It was well-stocked despite having only been open five days, and it caters for all tastes.
I even found a rare album by an obscure Leamington band there (The Joyce McKinney Experience) and it was at a bargain price too.
I talked to the owner John based in Brum before my visit and asked him why Nuneaton?
He said: “My part time guy Mark comes in and says I’m selling my house and moving to Nuneaton.
“That night I went home and wondered what retail opportunities there were in Nuneaton and I found the perfect spot.
“I’m always looking for opportunities to grow and this seemed like the next step.”
I asked him what people could expect from the store.
He added: “I’d like to think we will be able to cater for all tastes from house trance drum and bass to reggae rock and everything in between.
“There will be plenty of 45s to go through that’s for sure.”
So, it’s now over to Warwickshire’s record buying public – they have built this so hopefully they will come – it’s too good to miss, please support.
Gangsters handwritten lyrics
It’s been all over the media, so I must mention it here, but last week auction guru’s Bonhams released details of handwritten lyrics apparently by Jerry Dammers of the iconic Specials song ‘Gangsters’, they were given by Jerry to Sounds journalist Dave McCullough back in the day and now they were up for sale.
Their estimate was £800 to £1,000, museum visitor and Ska fan Jonathan Hunter asked me if I was interested, of course I was, but the museum didn’t have resourses like this.
So, Jonathan set up a funding page and in three days it raised a staggering £1,000.
I really can’t thank Jonathan and everyone so much, on top of that one-star Dave donated outside the page £500.
On the day we tuned in to watch the live auction only to see it go to someone else for and eye watering £4,864.
MISSED THE LAST MUSIC MATTERS? Click here to read Pete’s ten unusual places to visit in Coventry.
