Paris (AFP)

Elton John, Taylor Swift and New Order: musicians are mobilizing in favor of independent record stores, threatened by the economic impact of Covid-19 and confinement, with the global campaign #Loverecordstores on social networks.

The approach ("#aimerlesdisquaires"), driven by Jason Rackham, director general of the Pias label for the United Kingdom, is twofold. Artists or anonymous are invited to post short videos or messages about their favorite store, what they discovered there. And to encourage purchases from independent record stores, when possible.

In these times of pandemic and containment, this support can take the form of online orders or vouchers to be used later, but the immediate payment of which allows the treasury to be filled pending the reopening of the doors.

"A good record store is like the ideal older brother, the one who plays the perfect music and shows you the light", exposes to AFP Jason Rackham, who fears for the financial survival of these links of the cultural chain .

- "Magic" place -

Elton John, a tracksuit top and red smoked glasses, was one of the first to post a video on his networks. Sitting in his kitchen, he says that if he hadn't broken into showbiz, he would have liked to open his record shop. A "magic", "fascinating", "vital" place for him.

Megastar Taylor Swift made a donation - the amount of which has not been revealed - to a Nashville record store. Enough to pay the salaries of employees according to indiscretions in the press.

Other artists or groups have posted messages of support for record stores like New Order, Franz Ferdinand, Peter Gabriel, Paul Weller (ex-pillar of The Jam), Marc Almond (founder of Soft Cell), Primal Scream, The Divine Comedy, or Keane. The young soulful voice Joy Crookes poses her with the vinyl of the first eponymous album of The Clash. One of the hotheads of the Sleaford Mods relays a funny little sequence - filmed before confinement - where he sways in a robot fashion at a record store on one of his tracks. With the message: "Where else in the world can you do this?"

The Beggars record company offers an internet address that maps out the record stores that sell online by country (https://indieretail.beggars.com/).

- "Treasure chest" -

Jason Rackham remembers his young years spent dragging his hands in the bins of Revolution Records, a shop in Windsor, near the Faculty of Arts.

"You could sit there, have a coffee or even smoke while listening to the news. I think that's where I heard bands like Sonic Youth, Pixies or My Bloody Valentine for the first time. the impression of a treasure chest, full of discoveries and sounds ".

He now likes to frequent the "Rough Trade" spot, that of West London, the same city, moreover, by Elton John. Jason Rackham's memories aren't just about records. Upstairs was the office of the press officers who worked for England with Nirvana. "When I was a music journalist and I remember interviewing Kurt Cobain on the roof while Courtney Love (the singer's widow) smoked all my cigarettes."

Like Jason Rackham, the vinyl addicts are just waiting for one thing. "When the confinement ends, I go to the restaurant and to the record store. No, rather to the record store first and then to the restaurant," said AFP Christian Eudeline, editor of the new French bimonthly "Vinyle & Audio ", whose release for the next issue has been postponed until June.

© 2020 AFP