A RESURGENCE in vinyl sales has helped Scotland’s oldest surviving record shop to reach its 50th anniversary.
Bee Gees hit Massachusetts was the UK’s best-selling single – with the Beatles’ Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band on top of the album charts – when Concorde Music first opened its doors.
The shop in the heart of Perth grew out of an earlier business owned by Scottish accordion legend Sir Jimmy Shand that went into liquidation, prompting Norman and Rena Smith to pay £2,640 to purchase the leftover stock, fittings and goodwill.
The couple’s son, Garry – who nowadays manages Concorde with his wife Hazel and son Craig – has worked in the shop since it opened on October 30, 1967.
“My father was a great music lover,” he recalled yesterday.
“In those early days I used to come down after school and do the post office run and jobs like that to help out.
“I think Dad intended to also sell books in the shop but he never got round to it.”
Concorde started in Perth’s St John’s Square, complete with three listening booths, before moving to nearby Scott Street in the early 80s and remained a haven for vinyl addicts even after CDs became dominant.
As a chart-return shop, it enjoyed regular visits from record company promoters.
Mr Smith said: “I wouldn’t say the record pluggers were underhand, but obviously they were keen to make sure you stocked their new releases. Singles were important in those days. Woolworths had a record department in Perth, as did Boots.
“Over the years there’s also been Virgin, HMV, Our Price and MVC. They’ve all been and gone but it’s amazing how many loyal customers we still have who’ve been with us right through.”
Vinyl was central to the shop’s first four decades, but changes in consumption habits meant it almost disappeared completely around eight years ago as even club DJs started turning to digital options.
Mr Smith, who admits to never having started his own personal record collection, said the recent vinyl revival had radically shifted Concorde’s focus.
“Vinyl probably accounts for about half of our business operation nowadays,” he explained.
“Kids aged 13, 14 or 15 are buying classics like Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Led Zeppelin I, the Beatles’ Abbey Road or Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon to start off their collection. All ages are into vinyl and often I’m amazed that the teenagers have even heard of many of the artists I see them buying.
“Probably our biggest market is people who either had a collection and are starting again, or they’ve dug their collection out and have started to add to it. A lot of them are replacing classic albums they’ve had for donkeys years and are battle-worn.”
Although half of its trading is done online, the buzz around vinyl has helped attract buyers from all over the UK to the shop.
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