After four and a half years and nearly 500 posts, I’ve finally done it: I’ve reached the end of my vinyl shelves. Every last record reviewed, every obscure pressing dutifully described, every questionable 80s sleeve design immortalised. For a brief moment I thought, “Well, that’s it then — early retirement from blogging.” But then I remembered the notes app on my phone, where I’ve been quietly hoarding a list of albums that slipped through the cracks. Seventy of them. Seventy.
These are the stragglers — records I bought after I’d already passed their alphabetical place in my reviewing journey. Some are re‑issues, some are second‑hand gems, and a few are things I can only assume I bought during moments of poor judgement or sale‑sticker enthusiasm. Only a handful contain new music, but there are enough oddities in the pile to keep me occupied (and mildly confused) for the rest of 2026.
As I began to take stock of my journey so far I discovered some unexpected stats. I always assumed my audience was largely UK‑based — you know, friends, fellow collectors, the occasional lost Googler trying to identify a record they found in their loft. But apparently only five per cent of my traffic comes from the UK. Most of my page views are from the USA, which is understandable, but a full twenty percent purport to originate in Singapore. Even Iraq is in there at one per cent.
Now, I’d love to believe I’m a cult international sensation, but let’s be honest: it’s probably just British readers using VPNs that make them appear to be blogging enthusiasts from around the world. Still, I’ll take it. Nothing boosts the ego quite like discovering you’re "big in Singapore".
Most views are via google.com with gearspace.com another significant source. I can usually tell when a post gets liked in a forum like gearspace as the views tend to spike for a few days. The most searched terms on the blog are "fairlight" and "fairlight cmi".
The most popular "One record at a time" post has been Kraftwerk "Trans Europe Express" with "Reproduction" by the Human League a close second. Another Kraftwerk post for "Electric Cafe" has also been popular along with "Penthouse and Pavement" by Heaven 17. I've tried to work out why these post get double or four times the views of others but failed to identify a pattern.
Sometimes I think a post becomes popular as it refers to a rare record and people searching for it on Goole will get a result from the blog. Sometimes a post that is particularity acerbic or complimentary might see a peak in popularity, but again, this isn't consistent. I've also wondered if the photo makes a difference and that people find the blog after an image search—but I've no evidence one way or another. So I'm just going to carry on posting as I was and hope all the people in Singapore like it.
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