It's made a meteoric comeback with a 15 per cent year on year rise in sales, now vinyl is getting the love it deserves with an exhibition of iconic record sleeves.
UK figures show that 2022 marked the biggest year for vinyl sales since 1990 - which is the year chosen to mark the release of 33 legendary albums.
Named after the speed of a long playing record, The 33 ⅓ Vinyl Exhibition also references the 33 ⅓ birthday of Islington vinyl manufacturer Key Production Group, and of albums such as Pixies’ ‘Bossanova’, Madonna’s ‘The Immaculate Collection,’ and ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’ by Happy Mondays.
Original album sleeves by decade-defining artists Charlatans, Ride, George Michael, Kylie Minogue, and Prince will also be on show at The Vinyl Cafe in Tileyard, off York Way, accompanied by a Spotify playlist of tracks.
Music fans and vinyl lovers can journey back to a year when digital streaming was just a distant vision of the future.
The exhibition is open to the public from November 30 for two weeks, and is curated by Key Production Group, which is based in Tileyard Studios, and has been at the forefront of manufacturing vinyl, cassettes, CDS and DVDs for the music industry since 1990.
Their services include pressing, design and packaging of vinyl and they have worked on physical releases for artists such as Eva Cassidy, Björk, Radiohead, Dizzee Rascal, and more recently Little Simz and Ezra Collective for their Mercury award-winning album Where I’m Meant To Be.
Karen Emanuel, CEO of Key Production Group said it wasn't just about nostalgia but was a chance to celebrate vinyl's bright future: “The exhibition is a trip down memory lane to where it all started for us, when these records were the sounds of that time. But more than a look backwards, it’s a chance to celebrate the present and future of vinyl. We welcome everyone, 90s music fans old and new, to come by the Vinyl Cafe, grab a drink, and immerse themselves in a journey through vinyl!”
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