Neil Taylor is now a dynamic publishing agent, back in the day he was war correspondent for the NME on the frontline at the Mary Chain riots and oversaw the tracklisting of C86. He’s currently writing an oral history of Rough Trade: Document & Eye Witness: Rough Trade & The Collective Ideal / Neil Taylor – Orion 2010. I’m told the label and shop’s beginnings in the squatting counter culture of the mid to late 70s of Ladbroke Grove are brought to life in true bohemian, if not fecund, detail. In the meantime there’s a celluloid taster:

DIY: The Story Of Rough Trade
This Friday – 13 March – BBC4 – 9pm
(repeated Sunday 15 March – BBC4 – 10pm)

Richard Scott, Smiths sleeve designer Jo Slee, Richard Boon and of course RT founders Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee all put in appearances (and maybe even yer man Johnny Marr) to provide authority and insight into this remarkable moment in UK social history. According to Neil it’s 90 minutes of high idealism, principles before profit… and a bloody big crash at the end – bit like publishing really, sort of (all played out to the soundtrack of your lives).

Richard King