The Vinyl Countdown

VINYL MAY BE FINAL NAIL IN CD’S COFFIN ran the headline in a Wired magazine article in October 2007. Ever since the arrival of the long—playing record in 1948, the album has acted as the soundtrack to our lives. Record collections—even on a CD or iPod-are personal treasures, revealing our loves, errors in judgment, and lapses in taste. In The Vinyl Countdown, Travis Elborough explores the way in which particular albums are deeply embedded in cultural history or so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible. While music itself has experienced several different movements over the past sixty years, the album has remained a constant. But the way we listen to music has changed in the last ten years. In the age of the iPod, when we can download an infinite number of single tracks instantaneously, does the concept of the album mean anything? Elborough moves chronologically through relevant periods, letting the story of the LP, certain genres, youth cults, and topics like sleeve designs, shops, drugs, and education unfurl as he goes along. The Vinyl Countdown is a brilliant piece of popular history, an idiosyncratic tribute to a much-loved part of our shared consciousness, and a celebration of the joy of records.

Ever since the arrival of the long-playing record in 1948, the album has acted as the soundtrack to our lives. Record collections-- even they're on CD or an i-Pod--are personal treasures, revealing our loves, errors of judgement and lapses in taste. In the Vinyl Countdown, Travis Elborough explores the way in which particular albums are deeply embedded in cultural history, revered as works of art or so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible. While music itself has experienced several different movements over the past sixty years, the album has remained as a constant. The record survived the invention of the cassette, the walkman, and the CD, only to find itself on shaky ground today. In the age of the i-Pod when we can download an infinite number of single tracks and need never listen to a whole album ever again, does the concept of the album still mean anything? We're in the middle of a vinyl revival but the way we're listening to music has changed beyond recognition in the last ten years. Elborough moves chronologically through relevant periods letting the story of the LP, certain genres, youth cults and topics like sleeve designs, shops, drugs, education, unfurl as he goes along. The Vinyl Countdown is a brilliant piece of popular history, an idiosyncratic tribute to a much-loved part of our shared consciousness and a celebration of the joy of records.

'You hold in your hand a miracle. A book about a passion, and the hipsters, oddballs and old heads who share it, written by one of their number, albeit a ludicrously erudite one' - Danny Kelly A revival of interest in vinyl music has taken place in recent years - but for many of those from the 'baby boomer' generation, it never went away. Graham Sharpe's vinyl love affair began in the 1960s and since then he has amassed over 3000 LPs and spent countless hours visiting record shops worldwide along with record fairs, car boot sales, online and real life auctions.Vinyl Countdownfollows his journey to over a hundred shops across the globe - from New York to New Zealand, Walsall to Warsaw, Oslo to Ozstralia, (old) Jersey to New Jersey - and describes the many characters he has encountered and the adventures he accrued along the way. Vinyl Countdown seeks to reawaken the often dormant desire which first promoted the gathering of records, and to confirm the belief of those who still indulge in it, that they happily belong to, and should celebrate the undervalued, misunderstood significant group of music-obsessed vinylholics, who always want - need - to buy... just one more record. A mesmerising blend of memoir, travel, music and social history, Vinyl Countdown will appeal to anyone who vividly recalls the first LP they bought and any music fan who derives pleasure from the capacity that records have for transporting you back in time. 'Graham Sharpe's journey around the second-hand record shops of the UK is full of laugh out loud anecdotes and wonderful observations. A great read not just for vinyl fans, but for anybody who has ever visited a record shop' - Graham Jones, author of Last Shop Standing (Whatever Happened to Record Shops), Strange Requests and Comic Tales From Record Shopsand The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen

For nearly 60 years, since the arrival of the long-playing record in 1948, the album has provided the soundtrack to our lives. Our record collections, even if they're on CD, or these days, an iPod, are personal treasure, revealing our loves, errors of jugdement and lapses in taste. Self-confessed music obsessive, Travis Elborough, explores the way in which particular albums are deeply embedded in cultural history, revered as works of art or so ubiqitous as to be almost invisible. But in the age of the iPod, when we can download an infinite number of single tracks and need never listen to a whole album ever again, does the concept of an album still mean anything? THE LONG-PLAYER GOODBYE is a brilliant piece of popular history and a celebration of the joy of records. If you've ever had a favourite album, you'll love Travis Elborough's warm and witty take on how vinyl changed our world.

Published to coincide with the withdrawal of the last Routemaster bus in London

There’s a reason why Dave Grohl is known, however naively, as “the nicest man in rock.” A reason why millions have bought his Foo Fighters albums and DVDs, his concert and festival tickets. A reason why generations have bought into his story, his dream, his self-fulfilling prophecies. Dave may not have the savant glamour of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, but whereas Kurt dwelled in darkness, Dave was a lover, not a loner, a bringer of light. Foo Fighters: Learning to Fly is his story, and therefore the true story of the Foo Fighters—like it’s never been told before. From Grohl’s days as the new kid in Nirvana, to becoming the Grunge Ringo of the Foo Fighters, to where he is now: one of the biggest, most popular male rock stars in the world. Internationally acclaimed rock writer Mick Wall tells us how and why none of this happened by accident in a style that pulses with rock’s own rhythms. With testimony from true insiders, including former band mates, like Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic, producers, record company executives, and those closest to Grohl and the Foos, this is the first full, explosive, no-holds-barred biography of the band and their otherwise critically bulletproof leader.