Rough Trade-In the 70's

THE 70'S


The Rough Trade story began on 20th February 1976. The Rough Trade offererd an alternative to the middle-of-the-road rock music that dominated the music scene

Rough Trade began as a Punk focused shop.Punk  at the time was the furthest reach from mainstream music possible, but over time the genre basis expanded and Raggae Rough Trade was interested in characters and individuals. They weren't interested in musicians who wanted to be famous. In January 1977, when a record by the Buzzcocks appeared in store, Rough Trade found itself in the right place at the right time to make an impact. When Spiral Scratch was released in 1977, the idea of putting out a single without the support of an established record company was the most original idea to hit the music world at the time. Rough Trade was to become the headquarters of a revolt against this corporate monopoly  it was stocking records by bands inspired by the idea that they could do it themselves. In 1978 Rough Trade had a distribution system and was taking and selling records from bands benefiting from an emerging DIY culture. It was logical, then, that they should start a record label.

 Early independent labels had to hand over their distribution to the likes of EMI or CBS. But one man at Rough Trade challenged that monopoly. Richard Scott joined Rough Trade in 1977 and became the architect of a grand scheme that was nothing short of revolutionary: independent nationwide distribution. Due to the distribution system in Rough Trade, it seemed logical, then, that they should start a record label. By the end of 1979, a number of bands now commonly associated with Rough Trade had started to release records on the label, including Scritti Politti and The Raincoats. When Rough Trades first album, Stiff Little Fingers’ ‘Inflammable Material’, was released later in the 1979, it became the first independent record in history to sell over 100,000 copies and charted at number 14.

Rough Trade- The Noughties

Over the last few years the record industry has not escaped the economic downfull and one result of that has been  between Rough Trade and Sanctuary in July 2007 when the label entered an equal partnership with the Beggars Group. The Beggars deal ensured ‘stability, dynamism and expertise to grow on a worldwide basis'. Rough Trade now has a stronger US presence, one that may continue to grow and serve rising artists.

The Strokes first release ‘The Modern Age’  revitalised Rough Trade and the British music industry. Geoff’s and Jeannette’s journey to a New Jersey bar in search of the band they would bring back and promote before attending to the small detail of signing them to a contract paid off. Subsequent releases by The Strokes through 2001/2 and beyond would give their label its biggest commercial success since The Smiths.

Rough Trade- The 90's

The 80's wasn't the end of Rough Trade after a move to Finsbury Park, in  the early 90's, following a series of unfortunate business decisions affecting distribution, Rough Trade International, the parent company, went into Administration.  The Rough Trade story, at least for the moment, was over and it would be the best part of a decade before Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee could reuinite  and get the rights to the Rough Trade name and begin again as a record company with the help of  a trading partner . All of the assets, including the record company and the rights to the Rough Trade name itself, were sold off in an attempt to cover Distribution’s debts. Rough Trade were also helped to start back up through trading partner Sanctuary.

Rough Trade- The 80's

  Around the mid-1980s, riding high on the success of The Smiths, Rough Trade decided to get into the distribution system. They were trying use their position to give other indie labels a leg up in the competitive distribution world, but unfortunately it soon became apparent that Rough Trade had taken on too much. Rough Trade Distribution went bust 1990,  the label went  with it. The collapse of Rough Trade Distribution was also a tragedy for other indie labels who worked with them, and several other smaller labels went under aswell. Rough Trade made an effort to get refinanced a couple of years ago and start over again with One Little Indian. This relationship wasn't working for Rough Trade due to their culture and the way they work. It didn't fit in with Rough Trades ideals and the way they had always worked.

Rough Trade was a small handful of people. It was a cooperative collective from the beginning to end . It was collective because it wasn't a traditional workplace. There were not bosses . People were payed equally. There was a political purpose to Rough Trade as they built a distribution system in this country which took a lot of organization . Rough Trade were interested in characters and individuals.

They were looking for the best people.A stifled independent music scene was gradually giving way to what would go on to be recognised as ‘indie’ The Smiths, found themselves at the front of the emerging scene. Before that, Rough Trade was seen as a post-punk label, but when Geoff signed The Smiths it becamemore mainstream and The Smiths became one of the biggest bands ever. Specialising in vinyl, foreign imports, and punk and reggae music, Rough Trade was – and still is – considered by many as revolutionary and unique. Other small labels were few and far between and had only a relatively small impact on the overall music business in comparison.