Retailobit: Brian Selby

Brian Selby, who founded legendary Nottingham record shop Selectadisc, has died.

Selectadisc was always the highlight of any visit to Nottingham; a place where long-forgotten Revolving Paint Dream singles would dangle tantalisingly at reasonable prices from the walls.

Brian also created The Garage nightclub in Nottingham's Lace Market, and that made a difference, too. DJ Graeme Park explains how to the Nottingham Post:

Everybody who worked there used to go there because it used to a have a reggae sound system and it was the only place in Nottingham that wasn't like a Ritzy or full of idiots.

Selectadisc opened a London branch, which is frozen in time on the front of some sort of record; Selby eventually sold up in 2008 as the changing shape of the music industry started to have an impact.

Brian was 71; his family have set up a campaign in his memory to help the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.

Record shop of horrors: Selectadisc closes

Not exactly first with the news on this one - apologies to Peter D who emailed me with the story at the end of last month and got stuck on the pending pile.

And it's not good news, either: Nottingham's Selectadisc has closed, taking with it the third most successful independent record shop in the country. And one of the best ones, although not a profitable store:

The store’s owner Phil Barton says the shop has been unprofitable for many years and he had no more money to put into the business.

“Everyone here has crawled across the field of broken glass to keep this open, but in the end it didn’t work,” he explains.

“I think it is one of the top three independent stores in Britain. But that doesn’t stop it being uneconomic. Everyone here is aware of tough things have been for the last two years.”

I have really fond memories of Selectadisc, a visit to which could always soothe the soul before embarking into the beer-soaked-carpets of hell that were Rock City; not least the day my friend spotted a copy of the Revolving Paint Dream album for a tenner there one day. Which was a steal, although I don't think the undervaluing could have contributed to the collapse of the store. This was a bit back in the past.

Music Week suggests there are now 305 indie stores left in the UK, which is better than I'd have guessed at, but a quarter down on the number last year.