Vinyl Countdown

A revival of interest in vinyl music has taken place in recent years—but for many of those from the "baby boomer" generation, who made their acquaintance with the music of their youth in this way, 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 Countdown follows his journey to over 100 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 mesmerizing 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.    

"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, former NME editor

"Hugely enjoyable." —TBL: The Led Zeppelin Magazine

"Vinyl Countdown is a treasure trove of memory and music, as well as a diary of obsessional collecting. Sharpe tells his story with a great deal of charm, his writing is entertaining and light and never gets bogged down in ‘train spotting’ detail. It’s a memoir of record buying, a particular disc recalls a particular event or person. Readers of a certain age will find themselves picking up on the crossing points between their own musical inspiration and Sharpe’s, a trip down memory lane. Perhaps for younger readers this is a slice of social history. . . . Among the many topics Sharpe muses on are compilation albums, the bizarre concept of bands with no original members, collecting as addiction, morality and pop stars, grammar and Jimi Hendrix, Muhammad Ali’s record player, Ed Vuillamy destroyed collection and auctions, fakes and bootlegs. Sharpe introduces readers to the people in the record trade, he has made many friends and contacts developed over the years. Sharpe was also a friend of David ‘Screaming Lord’ Sutch, when Sutch killed himself in 1999 Sharpe found a cassette tape of unreleased material that he is still trying to get released. Vinyl Countdown has a lot of humour, good vibrations and a complete lack of self-importance and show off, Sharpe has a chatty easy style. Life goes on, collecting goes on, 57 years and counting." —NB

Graham Sharpe has been involved in the betting industry for over 30 years and has written over 20 books with a gambling theme. He's collected vinyl for over 50 years. Danny Kelly is a music journalist and former editor of NME.