Last Shop Standing (film)

Last Shop Standing: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Independent Record Shop is a 2012 British documentary film directed by Pip Piper. The film is based on the 2009 book Last Shop Standing by Graham Jones.

Last Shop Standing
Film poster
Directed byPip Piper
Based onLast Shop Standing
by Graham Jones
Starring
CinematographyDavid Cawley
Edited byDavid Cawley
Production
company
Blue Hippo Media
Distributed byBlue Hippo Media
Release date
  • September 10, 2012 (2012-09-10) (United Kingdom)
Running time
50 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Background

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Last Shop Standing was based on the 2009 book Last Shop Standing by Graham Jones.[1][2][3] In 2012, Blue Hippo Media approached Jones about turning the book into a movie. A few days later, they met at a pub having bought Jones a beer and a Ploughman's lunch while he agreed to the idea. To finance the film, the makers posted a clip online informing people they were making a documentary on record shops and asked those interested to invest $25 to receive an advanced DVD copy of the film as well as a "thank you" credit in the end credits.[4] For the film, Jones toured England, Scotland and Wales for interviews with independent record shop owners.[5] Director Pip Piper said he visited record shops every weekend in his early teens in the 1970s.[6] In 2016, the same producers of the film created a documentary film on Norwegian dance music.[7]

Synopsis

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The film focuses on an analyses of music sales in the United Kingdom.[8] In the 1970s, there were more than three hundred millions records sold.[9] In the 1980s, there were in the United Kingdom around 2,200 independent record shops. By 2012, however, there were only 269.[10][11][12][9] The film primarily blames the music industry as well as the new competing media of cassettes and compact discs.[10][9] Multiple independent record shop owners cited the advent of CDs as the end of the boom period for record shops.[13] The film includes interviews with Billy Bragg,[14][15][3] Norman Cook,[5][14][3] Richard Hawley,[5][14][3] Smiths' Johnny Marr,[5][14][15][3] and Paul Weller.[5][10][8][15] Record shops featured in the film include Brighton and Hove record shops as Borderline,[3] Chesterfield's C.E. Hudsons,[6] Birmingham's the Diskery,[16] Rounder Records (where Norman Cook worked),[3][6] Rough Trade,[10] and Sister Ray.[10] Rounder Records owner David Minns was interviewed for the film.[17]

Soundtrack

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The Last Shop Standing soundtrack was donated by independent bands and musicians like Clara Luzia, Half Man Half Biscuit, and the James Clarke 5.[4]

Release

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International

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In March 2013, Last Shop Standing played at the 2013 BAFICI international film festival in Argentina.[18][19]

Record Store Day

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On 20 April 2013, Last Shop Standing became "the official film of Record Store Day." The DVD release was exclusive to record shops participating in Record Store Day and contained 75 minutes of bonus material including interviews with Sid Griffin, Richard Hawley, Johnny Marr, and Paul Weller.[4] The filmmakers encouraged audiences to buy the DVD locally.[20] In Italy, for Record Store Day, DeeJay TV acquired the rights to play it on television and played at five theatre locations: the Astoria Studios in Turin, Centro Sociale Brancaleone in Rome, the Cineteca di Bologna in Bologna, the Flog in Florence, and the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan.[14] Italian radio station Radio Capital gave away free copies of Last Shop Standing.[8] Bristol record shop Rise had a screening in their Friska cafe.[21]

Reception

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Last Shop Standing has received critical acclaim from around the world.[15] Il Fatto Quotidiano's Chiara Felice described the film as "interesting."[11] Gazeta Wyborcza's Robert Sankowski reviewed it favourably with "[m]uch better than any story."[10] Le Soir's Didier Stiers called the movie "good."[22] Wonderland's Zing Tsjeng remarked the film was "a love song to the British independent record shop (as well as its surprising resurrection)."[6]

The stories and shops in the Last Shop Standing film partly inspired the Vinyl Revival Record Shop Podcast.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Clash staff (2 August 2013). "The Vinyl Revival - From The Frontline". Clash. ClashMusic.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. ^ Prisco, Francesco (19 April 2013). "Torna la giornata del disco in vinile: 400 edizioni limitate per collezionisti". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). General Confederation of Italian Industry. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g The Argus staff (19 November 2012). "Cult film charts last days of popular Brighton record shop". The Argus (Brighton). Newsquest. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Jones, Graham (20 April 2013). "Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops?". HuffPost. huffingtonpost.ca. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e Calabrò, Roberto (20 November 2012). ""Last Shop Standing", l'ultimo negozio di dischi". Linkiesta (in Italian). Linkiesta Spa. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d Tsjeng, Zing (3 September 2012). "LAST SHOP STANDING: The rise, fall and rebirth of the indie record shop". Wonderland. wonderlandmagazine.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  7. ^ DJ Mag staff (24 October 2016). "LONDON PREMIERE OF NORWEGIAN DANCE DOCUMENTARY, NORTHERN DISCO LIGHTS, ANNOUNCED". DJ Mag. Thrust Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Galati, Arianna (19 April 2013). "Record Store Day 2013: tutti gli eventi e le info". Blogo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  9. ^ a b c Javůrek, Adam (13 September 2012). "Hudební průmysl je prý chtěl úmyslně zabít, teď se ale vracejí. Kdo? Gramofonové desky". Reflex.cz (in Czech). Czech News Center. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Dębowska, Anna S. (8 August 2013). "Gorączka czarnego złota". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Agora SA, Cox Communications. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  11. ^ a b Felice, Chiara (17 April 2015). "Record Store Day, la 'festa' dei negozi di dischi indipendenti: Dave Grohl testimonial di quest'anno". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.A. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  12. ^ Hdez, Clara (19 April 2013). "Las pequeñas tiendas de discos resisten como pueden a la crisis... y lo celebran a lo grande". 20 minutos (in Spanish). Multiprensa & Mas S.L. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  13. ^ Chick, Stevie (26 October 2012). "You're Not Gonna Get Yours: Chuck D Of Public Enemy Interviewed". The Quietus. thequietus.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  14. ^ a b c d e Gattuso, Ferruccio (20 April 2013). "Che musica quel fruscìo Milano festeggia il vinile". Il Giornale (in Italian). Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Fininvest. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  15. ^ a b c d Griffin, Mary (22 April 2014). "Coventry Transport Museum help two Midland filmmakers turn the spotlight onto cycling". Coventry Telegraph. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  16. ^ Dunford, Martin (8 August 2013). "Cool Place of the Day: The Diskery, Birmingham". The Independent (in Polish). Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  17. ^ Roberts, Anna (13 December 2012). "Another independent Brighton record store set to close". The Argus (Brighton). Newsquest. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  18. ^ Otros Cines staff (26 March 2013). "BAFICI 2013: Todos los títulos de la 15ª edición del festival". Otros Cines (in Spanish). Piso Tres. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  19. ^ Ramos, Sebastián (20 April 2013). "La revancha del vinilo". La Nación (in Spanish). Bartolomé Mitre. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  20. ^ Nastasi, Alison (10 September 2012). "A Photo Survey of Abandoned Record Shops". Flavorwire. Flavorpill Media. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  21. ^ Maine, Sammy (19 April 2013). "Drowned in Bristol: Record Store Day 2013 special". Drowned in Sound. Silentway Ltd. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  22. ^ Stiers, Didier (15 September 2016). "Quatre primeurs pour Moaning Cities". Le Soir (in French). Rossel & Cie, S.A. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Vinyl Revival Record Shop Podcast".
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