Australia’s last Sanity store has closed its doors for the final time. This is terrible news, not least for its staff. The demise of Sanity in the physical realm (it survives online, for now) marks the official end of a bygone age – the era of the high street music franchise. An era when awkward teens with ambitious haircuts could find a first job that so perfectly captured their interests – loud music, standing around doing nothing and being rude to strangers.
As someone who spent a formative decade working in record shops, I grieve that my children will be denied this important rite of passage. Will they care? Probably not. No doubt they’ll find their own virtual spaces to share and celebrate music, but permit me this brief tribute to the halcyon days of music retail.
