On 20th February 976 Geoff Travis (Cambridge graduate) opened a small, but hit independent record shop on Ladbroke Grove, London. They sold an alternative to mainstream music by obtained records from America that were being sold for 25 cents to $1. The summer of 1976 was all about punk rock and Rough Trade catered to this taste in music with such artists as The Clash and their debut album The Crash (they demonstrated that alternative could be mainstream) and they imported Punk Mag from New York.
They later recruited Austin Palmer, a reggae DJ, to take care of their reggae section. Buzzcocks, a Manchester based band, came along in 1977 and proved that you don’t need a major record label as they did a 1000 press run that were funded, produced and distributed by the band. Rough Trade also sold records by Desperate Bicycles in March 1977, there was also the band Scritti Politti that made and assembled their record sleeves at home they were enabled to produce their own record labels without being signed to major record labels.
At the time Virgin, CBS, EMI and Island control what was distributed in the shops i.e. radio play for example Rod Stewart and Elton John were dominating the radio play as they were signed to major record labels. Rough Trade’s rule was that they always took records to sell in their shop even if it was only 25 copies. They then recruited Richard Scott in 1977 and then offered a mail order service to people. They were then approached by other shops to sell their records as they weren’t available to buy them from wholesalers. Similar shops then popped up around the U.K. in other major cities like Revolve in Bristol.
Rough Trade took on experimental music that was rejected by major record labels other record labels started to appear such as Mute Records setup by Daniel Miller in 1978 signing Depeche Mode and Yazoo. There was also Factory Records and Postcard Records, then in 1977 Rough Trade formed their own label for post-punk records. They were up against some labels such as RCA, Decca, CBS and EMI.
If an artist was signed to a major record label, they are likely to be contracted for 4 albums and receive only 10% of the profit. If an artist were signed to Rough Trade, they were signed for as long as their agreement lasted and they received a 50/50 split.
In 1978 Rough Trade signed Stiff Little Fingers and it was the first indie (the alternate to mainstream) album to sell over 100,000 copies and it reached No. 14 in the charts. In 1980 they had an appearance on Top of the Pops. In 1976 there were approximately 12 independent record labels, but by the late 1970’s there were about 800. The punk artists challenged Margaret Thatcher’s ideology who, at the time, was PM.
In 1983 they signed Aztec Camera who later went on to be signed by a major record label. Robert Wyatt signed with them he was the keyboard player for Scritti Politti and released a single in 1982; “Shipbuilding” reached No. 36 in the singles chart. The lead singer had wanted to make hits and it was thought you were granted more success with a major record label in 1981 they changed their musical direction and released “The Sweetest Girls,” it reached No. 60 in the charts.
They started to work with Cartel, a distribution service. Also in 1982 Rough Trade brought in an accountant and found that due their lack of money they had to shut down the shop. The shop was then sold off to 3 former employees in December 1982. Richard took over the distribution and Geoff managed the record label, but a rift started to appear between them.
Two Mancunian songwriters, Morrissey and Johnny Marr, they were part of the band – The Smiths. In April 1983 they took a demo tape to Rough Trade and indie music began, but they were offered a conventional contract of at least 4 albums. Rough Trade then hired London Records for an expensive advertising campaign. The Smiths started to move further up the charts. Rough Trade became more business orientated, they then went international and had offices in Europe. Following this they handed over trade to a management trust as a result all staff no longer received the same pay.
The Smiths got a No.1 album and 6 top 20 hits, but they had no manager so this meant that they dealt with record label themselves. In 1980 they attempted to sign to EMI, but were unable to due to their contract with Rough Trade. After their 4th album they signed to EMI, but never released a follow-up. Indie then became the mainstream.
In July 1990 Rough Trade moved to a new office and then their financial peak came crashing down. Rave and dance became the new mainstream. Cash flow projections were ignored and they were forced to ground to a halt. In 1991 two thirds of staff were axed and Rough Trade’s assets were frozen. They ceased trading in June 1991. They had written the “rulebook” for independent music and record labels.
In 1991 Geoff moved half a mile from the original shop with Jeanette Lee. 1993 brought them Pulp, who they started to manage and ’95 brought them a No. 2 position with “Common People.” They had 5 consecutive top 10 singles.
On their 25th Anniversary Jeanette and Geoff decided to bring Rough Trade back. New York based band, The Strokes released their E.P. on Rough Trade even though they hadn’t yet signed a record contract. 5 months later they signed The Libertines and then Arcade Fire followed along with Andrew and the Johnsons. They had been managing Duffy for 4 years under a development deal she then released “Mercy,” this became the first No. 1 for Rough Trade.
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