R.I.P TEMPEST RECORDS

Well it's the end of another great independent record store in the midlands.

We will miss spending hours upon hours searching the shelf's of vast spines of cd's for that one rare gem that HMV don't have.

We will miss the pure hardcore trash metal bands played by the staff who have more musical knowledge then that of Rob Gordon.

End of over counter banter about which Sterolab record is worth my £10.

I just wish i got No Age Nouns on vinyl while it was still in there just for the art work inside the sleeve.

Birmingham Mail say-

A RECORD shop which has sold everything from reggae, ska and hip hop to generations of Brummies will close at the end of the month – ending more than 40 years of trading.

Tempest Records, in Bull Street, has become a mecca for music-lovers ever since it opened in Lozells Road in 1968 but will shut because of the growth in digital sales.

Almost 600 people have signed up to a Facebook page in honour of the independent business, begun by Keith Thornton and taken on by his son Marcus five years ago.

“It has obviously been quite a tough decision for the family, especially myself because ultimately it was my choice,” said 37-year-old Marcus.

“I was born with it and it was always in the family, so it has been quite a torrid time to come to the decision.

“My father’s seen the downturn in the industry as well and agrees. We’ve always tried to do things properly and this way we can walk away with our heads held high instead of running it for the sake of it.”

The shop, which moved to its present location about 25 years ago, employs nine people, has about 7,500 customers on a database and is currently breaking even. There were 16 staff at its peak, about ten years ago, when Marcus said every young lad in the city dreamed of being either a footballer or a DJ.

Stocked over three floors, its collection is half CD and half vinyl and has been imported and bought second-hand.

Marcus, whose family lives in Sutton, said: “It was a nice lifestyle to be around growing up. It was vibrant with music always in our lives and it probably got me a few extra friends at school. We’ve covered so many genres of music. Ska was obviously a very big movement in the late 70s, we’ve got through punk and we got quite heavily into the early hip hop scene and used to import a lot from America.

“We just followed the genres really and supplied people with what they wanted. It’s such a vast industry you can’t really know everything without listening to the customers.”

The closure follow’s that of high street chain Zavvi’s flagship store in the Pavilions last year.

Tempest Records Online store