23 Is The Magic Number.

An email just went round here at Rough Trade. It said Happy Birthday Rough Trade Shops - 36 today.
I looked at the date and saw that it was indeed the 23rd, and so yeah, it is the venerable old girl's birthday.
36... is that old? For a fast bowler? Yes. For a writer? No. For a rock star? Probably. But let's not labour that point. It might offend a few people.

Is it old for a record shop? Sadly in this day and age, it seems ancient. It's getting on for a whole life.

But in reality that is what this place is. It's life. Record shops offer an idea of life. A bit of life for all those albums and 7"s and 12"s. A bit life for the customers who come in. And a bit of life for those of us who work here. It's all life, real and in full colour. With spilt coffee and power cuts. Arguments and love affairs. Drink and drugs and clothes and books and people. Real people.

So don't download some shitty piece of code masquerading as art when you next want some music.
Go to a shop. Interact with a human. Take home the artifact. The thing. A person made it. A real one.







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