Rough Trade Records: Selling More Records Than Ever?

The legendary record label and independent record shop says it has sold more records than ever in the second decade of the 21^st Century, sign that the vinyl LP revival is alive and well?

By: Ringo Bones

When the BBC ran this story a few days ago, I thought that it was part of their “This Week In History” series and they were featuring a mid 1990s vinyl LP revival news story that features the legendary Rough Trade record label. Stranger still, it was a current report on the state of the vinyl LP revival in the second decade of the 21^st Century. But what makes Rough Trade records so special?

Rough Trade records occupies a special place in the hearts of everyone who’s into hard-to-find alternative rock and punk rock albums, or just about any album censored by the Reagan Administration that won’t be displayed at your local K-Mart during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by Geof Travis, it serves as a launching point of independent rock bands that were later signed into a major label. But during the 1990s, Rough Trade was often seen as the “British equivalent” of the American Go-Kart record label that was famous for the NYC based punk rock band Lunachicks.

I don’t know how the under 30s perceive Rough Trade records in its current form but for anyone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, the Rough Trade record label will forever be associated with Scrawl, Young Marble Giants, Miracle Legion and Mazzy Star. Though newer bands – as in post 9/11 era bands – like Alabama Shakes, Arcade Fire and British Sea Power are also signed with Rough Trade records. And to audiophiles pushing 50, Rough Trade records was better known during the 1980s for their “rough-sounding” CDs because virtually all bands in this era signed to Rough Trade were submitting their digital master tapes on the early JVC DAS-90 digital recording system.