WORLDBEAT
The premier used CD and record store in Wales, Cob Records, began as a backroom sideline to an existing Cob business way back in 1967 in the small seaside town of Porthmadog. The first vinyl sold was in the form of seven-inch singles taken from old jukeboxes, each commanding the princely sum of one and sixpence (before decimalisation in 1970, we used pounds, shillings and pence in the UK) or less than eight baht.
As there were few record stores in the area, the store became very popular and demand rose quickly. New LPs were quite expensive for many people and Cob's staff knew this so they came up with the idea and slogan: "Any three of your old LPs for any one new of ours". The basement of the current shop site was fitted out with racks and set up as the record store, and before long Cob had built up a large collection of used and new LPs.
The final step in Cob's rise to international fame was to advertise internationally, offering new LPs at discount prices, as well as a part-exchange service.
It was a good move and so successful that Cob ditched its other business line and concentrated solely on the record business. By 1971, Cob, now with a staff of 25 employees, was mail-ordering about 7,500 LPs a week to around 25,000 customers, many of whom are still trading and dealing with the company, in 50 countries. While most of Cob's customers were and are private consumers, the store has done specialist orders for some interesting customers, such as the three 1000 orders for cassettes sent to troops during the Falklands conflagration in the 1980s.
What amazes me about Cob is that it has risen to such international prominence from a small coastal town in North Wales and stayed there for nearly 50 years. In the 1970s, many radio and TV programmes were made about the store as it attracted worldwide attention.
Eventually, the mail-order side of the business wound down as people stopped ordering new releases and today most of the orders are for specialist LPs and CDs. More emphasis was placed on the part-exchange service, the seasonal tourist trade and specialist orders. Cob staffer Jackie told me that the store would try and get any LP, CD or old movie titles (on DVD) that customers wanted. If Cob can't find it, you'll be hard pressed to find it anywhere.
Collectors travel from far and wide to visit the store, usually for rarities in the 25-50 bracket, and holidaymakers often tell staff how they have found music that they played in their youth. So you can guess that this isn't a store devoted to house or dance music, but rather one for more mature consumers. Cob staff say sales are largely for second-hand titles on CD and LP from the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s (though new releases are available). The store has some 15,000 second-hand music titles available _ from classical to rock _ but my interest has always been on the rare blues, soul and jazz LPs and CDs and I've found some great ones over the years (my folks live in a town down the coast, so I make a pilgrimage there every time I go home). Jazz collectors can browse through 2000 second-hand collectible LPs, while DJs can sift through an interesting collection of seven-inch vinyl.
The store has a world music section and a few older LPs, but this isn't the main focus _ I think that it is better for blues and jazz.
Nonetheless, I did find some CDs I'd been looking for a long time on this trip, including a marvellous recent release, Eclipse (Lusafrica, 2009), the fourth album by the Cape Verdean singer Lura. This is a beautiful, haunting collection of songs in some of Cape Verdes' most well-known styles such as morna, funana and coladera. In contrast to Cape Verdes' most well-known singer, the late diva Cesaria Evora, Lura has brought more contemporary influences to her style, partly due to recording the album in Lisbon, Paris, Brussels, Naples as well as Praia. Look out for this talented singer and check out Eclipse, her best album to date. Highly recommended. Visit www.lusafrica.com. For Cob Records, visit www.cobrecords.com.
John Clewley can be contacted at: clewley.john@gmail.com.
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About the author
Writer: John ClewleyPosition: Reporter
Source: http://www.news.thethailandlinks.com/2012/09/25/music-store-a-high-note-for-collectors/
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