A bit of Rough
How the launch of Rough Trade Records in 1977 opened the door for generations of renegade music-makers
Theoriginal RoughTrade shop in West London
YoungMarble Giants: dreamy apocalypse
Stillinspired:joint label-owners JeannetteLee andGeoffTravis
Slysubversions: TheRaincoats rehearsein London,1979 (GinaBirch,right)
JANETTEBECKMAN
“IT was a time of musical liberation,” says Jeannette Lee, remembering how a small West London record shop with a big soundsystem became the nerve centre of the punk revolution. “Until then, you had to go to these pompous concerts where everybody just sat on the floor gazing up at supergroups. With punk, suddenly you felt connected to everything. The Rough Trade shop became a focal point. All the interesting people would gravitate there. We didn’t have the internet that told you where everything was – you had to go looking for your people.”