In 1948 an invention was launched that was to change the world forever – the long-playing vinyl record, the LP. Before then music came on 78s which were restricted to four minutes of scratchy sound per side. Artists suddenly had over 40 minutes to play with. The listener was able to kick back with the sleeve, and possibly a large martini in hand, and listen with uninterrupted pleasure.
Join Travis Elborough, author of The Long-Player Goodbye, as he explains how artists and record companies responded to vinyl records and charts their life and times, with the aid of a few discs from his own collection. The book inspired the BBC Four documentary When Albums Ruled the World, in which Travis Elborough also appeared.
Travis Elborough has been a London-based freelance writer, author and cultural commentator for more than a decade now. His books include The Bus We Loved, a history of the Routemaster bus; Wish You Were Here, a survey of the British beside the seaside and A Walk in the Park, which was the subject of his talk at The Wanstead Tap in July 2016.
“Elborough has the passion of a true enthusiast… But he’s also an indefatigable researcher, who has somehow seen a clear path through the vast amount of material he has accumulated to write a book that reads not only easily and well but wholly coherently… I’d like to think the long-player has a little life in it yet. Anyone who agrees will relish this richly enjoyable book.” – Marcus Berkmann, Mail on Sunday
Interested in learning more about Newham Bookshop and some of the people connected with it? We have four lessons for classroom or family use developed from On the Record’s oral history project centered around Newham Bookshop, Writing and Reading Newham. Click here for full details.
We are proud that Newham Bookshop is LoveReading’s Bookshop of the Month. The article features a Q&A with Vivian Archer, which you can read here.