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Gifts from The Morning Star
A evocative history of British record shops
Going For A Song by Garth Cartwright

THE return of the vinyl album and record fairs teaming with “pre-owned” albums, 45s, CDs and even 78s has generated a new interest in the history of Britain’s music industry.

A new book Going For A Song: A Chronicle of the UK Record Shop by music critic Garth Cartwright recounts a time when it seemed every town had at least two record shops catering for all tastes.

The book recalls some of Britain’s most loved record shops including Spillers (founded in 1894) in Cardiff which is, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s oldest record shop, and many fondly remembered shops selling jazz, blues, rock and roll, soul, country, folk and classical as well as chains such as Woolworths (and its fabled Embassy record label), HMV, Our Price, Tower and Virgin.

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