BOOK AND PODCAST SERIES LAUNCHED TO DOCUMENT THE HISTORY OF SPECIALIST BLACK MUSIC RECORD SHOPS

2Funky Arts’ project, documenting the history of England’s independent record stores that specialised in Black music, has followed up the preview of its documentary film with a collectors’ hardback book and podcast series.
Front Cover.jpg02. RSBM Book_v7_PRINT_1.jpgThe limited-edition book ‘The Record Store & Black Music, England’s Tastemakers,’ is now available to purchase. It takes you from the early days in 1920s through to the heyday of Soho’s record shops and examines the demise and resurgence of the record shop, including the impact these shops have had on the music industry today. Featuring, contributions from Mr Scruff, DJ Swerve, Ronnie Herel, David Rodigan MBE, Carol Leeming MBE, Claudia Wilson, Ammo Talwar MBE, and David Nathan, with the foreword written by Trevor Nelson MBE.
A four-part podcast series, hosted by Ronnie Herel, is now also available on streaming platforms, with episodes being released weekly, and explores each of the regions – South, North and the Midlands – in turn. Featuring interviews from Morgan Khan, Ben Bell, Claudia Wilson, John Simmit and Gary Dennis.
Black, African & Caribbean experiences have been illuminated, through oral history interviews and photographic memories. 2Funky Arts has also created an education pack for secondary schools, which is free for teachers. The documentary film, which premiered to coincide with Black History Month, will soon see its release via www.theblackmusicrecordshop.co.uk. This was directed by Simon ‘Schooly’ Phillips and features Jazzie B, Marcia Carr, Claudia Wilson, Carol Leeming MBE and many others.
The project is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players. It is being rolled out by 2Funky Arts (Leicester), in partnership with Sound/Image Research Centre (University of Greenwich, London), Brighter Sound (Manchester) and music:defined.

2Funky Arts itself grew from 2Funky Records (1997-2012) – an independent music store in Leicester, with an international reputation, that specialised in Black music. 2Funky Arts Director Vijay Mistry said: “We are thrilled to be able to celebrate this fascinating history and have worked with talented specialists to develop the book and podcast, including writer/researcher Sean Dudley, and producer Sandro Martins.”

The limited-edition book is available to purchase at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1399991264

The podcast episodes will be released weekly, and available on:

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/3XgOEAaK4AYR2DdbqnyQWR…

Apple Music – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/id1778101944