Rough Trade Shops

Rough Trade is a group of independent record shops in the UK and the US and headquartered in London, UK.

The first Rough Trade shop was opened in 1976 by Geoff Travis in the Ladbroke Grove district of west London. In 1978 the shop spawned the famous Rough Trade Records, which was to go on to be home to bands from The Smiths to The Libertines. In 1982 the two separated and the shop remains an independent entity from the label, although links between the two are strong. At the same time the shop moved from its original location on Kensington Park Road round the corner to Talbot Road. In 1988 a shop opened in Neal's Yard, Covent Garden. At various times there were also shops in San Francisco (on Grant St., then Sixth Street, then Haight Street), Tokyo and Paris. They were eventually closed following the rise of music sales on the internet. Rough Trade replaced these stores with an online music store. In 2007 they also opened in Dray Walk, Brick Lane in east London.

Musically, Rough Trade specialises in the post-punk genre, but carries items through a range of genres, mostly within the alternative or underground scenes. Recently the shop has released several compilation albums, each focusing on an individual genre such as indie-pop, electronica, country, singer songwriter, rock and roll and post-punk. Every January since 2003 it has released a compilation putting together the best (in the opinion of the shops' staff) of the previous year's music entitled 'Counter Culture'. 2007 additionally saw the release of 'Counter Culture 76', reflecting the music of year the shop opened. It also released a 4-CD box set for its 25th anniversary in 2001, and a special collection of songs chosen by customers was released to celebrate the 30th anniversary in 2006.

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