Do it yourself...

'Do it yourself - the history of Rough Trade' is BBC4's excellent feature length documentary on the rise and fall (and rise) of Rough Trade - the record shop, turned indie distribution giant, turned record label.

The Rough Trade shop opened in 1976 and quickly became a successful distributor of small indie labels such as Factory, Postcard, Mute and numerous others. Founder Geoff Travis then started the Rough Trade record label and quickly found moderate success releasing the debut Stiff Little Fingers LP 'Inflammable Material'. As the distribution arm (run by Richard Scott) continued to flourish, the label failed to hold onto their promising bands until signing The Smiths to a four album deal in 1983. The success of The Smiths covered a lot of cracks in the business practises of Rough Trade, which was being run almost as a worker's collective (each employee was paid the same wage regardless of position!) Increasing divisions between the label and distribution arms, and the demise of The Smiths in 1987, were a major factor in increasing financial problems, and cash flow ground to a halt in December 1990. Assets were frozen and Rough Trade was disbanded in June 1991.

Travis and new business partner Jeanette Lee (a former PiL member) went into artist management and were instrumental in solving Pulp's legal issues - resulting in the band signing a lucrative deal with Island Records. Perhaps encouraged by their success with Pulp, Travis and Lee re-acquired the Rough Trade name, and relaunched the label. Their success was almost immediate - turning The Strokes from an unknown NYC band to the biggest indie band in the world, and launching the careers of indie guitar bands such as The Libertines...

The documentary features extensive interviews from the main protagonists in the Rough Trade story such as Geoff Travis, Richard Scott, Green Gartside (Scritti Politti), Johnny Marr, Jarvis Cocker and Jeanette Lee as well as excellent archive interviews and footage of the bands. A very entertaining 90 minutes...