The 'old' West End

[Stingray5]

I thought of posting this following the discussion about 'Denmark Street' and a certain bass retailer a short time back, then promptly forgot.
Now seeing Happy Jack's post with the old Selmer catalogues and talking about Bell's Music and Pan's Music, I couldn't resist.
I'm wondering how many BCers used to frequent the various music stores around Shaftesbury Avenue, Charing Cross Road and Denmark Street, etc.
For myself, I used to get the bus or tube and go 'up West' to check out as many music and guitar stores as I could in one day.
Shaftesbury Avenue had the two-floor [i]Rose-Morris[/i] 'superstore'; [i]Guitar Village[/i] was opposite; down the street was [i]Take Five[/i] plus the dynamic duo of [i]Music City[/i] and [i]Sound City[/i] - not to mention their little brother [i]Drum City[/i] on Charing Cross Road where [i]Maccari's[/i] also still are today. Right around the corner on New Compton Street there was the small [i]Orange[/i] shop.
Denmark Street had [i]Andy's[/i], of course, plus [i]Roka's[/i] and later on [i]Rod Argent's Keyboards[/i] and [i]Hank's[/i]. (Can't remember a couple or so others here!?).
The original [i]Fender Soundhouse[/i] (another two-storey superstore) opened on Tottenham Court Road (where I bought a lovely Epiphone 12-string acoustic) who then down-sized with a move to Soho Square becoming the [i]Soho Soundhouse[/i] and tied-in with [i]Turnkey[/i] on Charing Cross Road. Lastly, you had/have [i]Ivor Mairant's Music[/i] just off Oxford Street.
So, anyone else know the above-mentioned stores - or maybe fill in the gaps of those I missed?
One other thing was who else might have had any work done by an excellent Chinese (I think?) guitar repairer and luthier named [i]Sam Li[/i].
Around 1973, I had a Gibson EB2-D bass in sunburst which I took to Sam for a complete re-finish -- in blonde with black binding!! Looked great and was a superb job but why I did it, I don't know. I sold it just a few short months later.

[OldGit]

Yup I was there .. from about '73 through to about I'd get the tube in from the East end where I was at college and drool over the gear in the same shops ...
I had a fine little rig and very little GAS in those days so I seldom actually bought anything

[lonestar]

Me too. ca 1975-78
Awayday ticket to Charing Cross for 25p. burger from Wimpy and cruise up and down Shaftesbury Avenue/ Tottenham Court Rd and Denmark St.
I remember all the shops you mention plus the sheet music/ songbook shop upstairs on Shaftesbury avenue.
I used to go with my mate Ian who was also 14/15 years old and was never treated snottily or refused a go whether it was a Rick 4001 or a Les Paul. Try that with the clowns that work Tin Pan alley and the B**tard cellar now.
I really liked Macaris who I think had 2 shops at one time?
I bought my HH VS amp there and sold it back to them several years later for the £100 I paid for it.
Aah nostalgia.....It ain't wot it used to be.

Mike

[NancyJohnson]

I started going up there 1977/78. Cheap day return from Egham to Waterloo - early 80s was all about the Virgin Megastore, Forbidden Planet, a swift visit to as many guitar shops as my then girlfriend/now wife would tolerate, then over to the Hard Rock Cafe for a late lunch/beers, then home before the rush started. I remember a lot of the places you've mentioned.

I do remember a dealer that was in the building on Charing Cross Road that became Turnkey (there's an alleyway by the side of it)...for some reason I seem to remember it as being FD&H Music (may be wrong). They were a big Ibanez dealer - I bought my sunburst Ibanez Roadster bass there and my then guitarist bought his Ibanez Paul Stanley Iceman. I remember when they were closing down they had a few Gibsons going at very low prices - I remember a pink Gibson Flying V for £225.00.

Have avoided the area for some years - wasn't there a shop called Rhodes Music?

P

Edited December 15, 2008 by NancyJohnson

[Stingray5]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' post='355265' date='Dec 15 2008, 06:44 PM']I started going up there 1977/78. Cheap day return from Egham to Waterloo - early 80s was all about the Virgin Megastore, Forbidden Planet, a swift visit to as many guitar shops as my then girlfriend/now wife would tolerate, then over to the Hard Rock Cafe for a late lunch/beers, then home before the rush started. I remember a lot of the places you've mentioned.

I do remember a dealer that was in the building on Charing Cross Road that became Turnkey (there's an alleyway by the side of it)...for some reason I seem to remember it as being FD&H Music (may be wrong). They were a big Ibanez dealer - I bought my sunburst Ibanez Roadster bass there and my then guitarist bought his Ibanez Paul Stanley Iceman. I remember when they were closing down they had a few Gibsons going at very low prices - I remember a pink Gibson Flying V for £225.00.

Have avoided the area for some years - wasn't there a shop called Rhodes Music?

P[/quote]
Yeeeh - Rhodes Music. That's the other store I was trying to think of. They were in Denmark Street.
And FD&H - that was Francis, Day & Hunter. Though they were actually publishers as I recall.

[Off topic, sorry] I loved 'Forbidden Planet' too. I remember going in there one time after 'Star Wars' first came out and they had some of the original props on show.
There was also a similar store in Carnaby Street called 'Dark They Were And Golden Eyed'.
What an awesome name for a shop. Beats Marks 'n' bleeding Spencer!!

[lonestar]

Before it was taken over by the leather jacket shops Carnaby St had some pretty cool shops, well cool to a teenager with hippy tendencies anyway. Shops selling wave machines and Roger Dean posters, plus a shop selling really cheap imported albums. Strange thing was that they were in single rather than gatefold sleeves. I had a couple of Genesis and Yes albums from there.
We often called there en route from Denmark St on the way to warm up in the Sony showroom in Regent St where you could stick on a pair of headphones and listen to Santana on a really expensive system.

[NancyJohnson]

Also in a musical bent, does anyone remember a basement record store a couple of hundred years from Centrepoint called Simons? They were on the Wardour Street side of Oxford Street. I always remember everything was hideously cheap in there...usually European imports.

The shop always smelt fragrant (not in the dope way)...something they pumped through the air-conditioning. Fruity. I got in someone's car the other day and they had a smelly thing in there and I was transported back to 1980 again. I just kind of blurted out 'your car smells just like a record store I used to go in in my teens'.

P

[Stingray5]

[quote name='lonestar' post='355399' date='Dec 15 2008, 09:43 PM']Before it was taken over by the leather jacket shops Carnaby St had some pretty cool shops, well cool to a teenager with hippy tendencies anyway. Shops selling wave machines and Roger Dean posters, plus a shop selling really cheap imported albums. Strange thing was that they were in single rather than gatefold sleeves. I had a couple of Genesis and Yes albums from there.
We often called there en route from Denmark St on the way to warm up in the Sony showroom in Regent St where you could stick on a pair of headphones and listen to Santana on a really expensive system.[/quote]
Hah - I used to do the same in Lasky's hifi store on Tottenham Court Road!

[Stingray5]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' post='355424' date='Dec 15 2008, 10:10 PM']Also in a musical bent, does anyone remember a basement record store a couple of hundred years from Centrepoint called Simons? They were on the Wardour Street side of Oxford Street. I always remember everything was hideously cheap in there...usually European imports.[/quote]
I remember Simon's. I worked for a record retail/wholesale company who used to stock them up. Loadsa deletions and cut-outs, many from Warner Bros and CBS as I recall.
I used to also work for a record chain that had stores in the city and west end. We had a shop in Dean Street too and one time (c.1976) I decided to pop in one evening (they were open late) and to my surprise a band was setting up to play in store.
It was Landscape with a very young looking Andy Pask on bass. Blew me away they did.

[7string]

Back in the day (late 80s early 90's) 4 or us used to drive into London in my 'W' reg yellow Mini (now THAT's travelling in style ).

We'd go around Rose Morris, Rhodes, Roka's and Soho Soundhouse and the rest of Denmark Street. Later Bryants Music turned up in the road opposite Denmark Street (can't remember the name).

Nowadays you don't get the opportunity to haggled from one shop to the other. Even an extra set of strings would swing the deal one way or another

[chris_b]

This was a long time ago, but, did anyone go to the Burns music shop (the guitar and amp maker) which was under Centre Point? I played my very first bass through an amp in that shop!!! It was a Rickenbacker. They had individual booths to try out the gear and all the assistants wore ties!

[chris_b]

I was lucky, growing up in Ealing, West London, I was within a stones throw of the original Marshall shop and the Simms-Watts shop. I used to see the Who's Marshall stacks in for repair. They were always completely destroyed!

[Stingray5]

[quote name='chris_b' post='355514' date='Dec 15 2008, 11:48 PM']This was a long time ago, but, did anyone go to the Burns music shop (the guitar and amp maker) which was under Centre Point? I played my very first bass through an amp in that shop!!! It was a Rickenbacker. They had individual booths to try out the gear and all the assistants wore ties![/quote]
Wow, yeh, the Burns shop. that's one I did forget about. Probably because I didn't really go in there much. We used to regard it as 'outside the zone' or 'a bit posh and not one of the lads'. Chappels of Bond St was another (later on though, my classical guitar came from there). Ah, the naivete of youth!

[YouMa]

Love this stuff,i think the internet killed a lot of things off,wish i had been old enough to play then.Any newcastle boys remember grott guitar and those 2 nutters who used to run it.Fantastic shop.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='7string' post='355500' date='Dec 15 2008, 11:30 PM']Later Bryants Music turned up in the road opposite Denmark Street (can't remember the name).[/quote]

That's Manette Street, running alongside Foyles. Chris Bryant is still in business, still one of the nicest guys in the trade. He now has the shop on the corner of Denmark Street and Charing Cross Road, the one that used to be a Prontaprint.

[planethead]

[quote name='Stingray5' post='355468' date='Dec 15 2008, 10:59 PM']I remember Simon's. I worked for a record retail/wholesale company who used to stock them up. Loadsa deletions and cut-outs, many from Warner Bros and CBS as I recall.
I used to also work for a record chain that had stores in the city and west end. We had a shop in Dean Street too and one time (c.1976) I decided to pop in one evening (they were open late) and to my surprise a band was setting up to play in store.
It was Landscape with a very young looking Andy Pask on bass. Blew me away they did.[/quote]

Just following this thread and thought who's going to mention Simon's discount records. Fantastic. I still have my copy of The Skids 12" EP on Red vinyl.

Bought my first no name EB short scale from Macari's - I remember Andy Pask from sessions at Lansdowne. Excellent

ttfn

[Old Horse Murphy]

What was the name of the guitar shop that was almost opposite the Astoria? I had the choice of buying an Aria TA60 (??) semi acoustic guitar or an Epiphone Semi Acoustic bass (60's model- not sure what but similar to the Jack Cassady model) for £200 years and years ago when I was 15 or so.

Guess which one I chose

[brummie]

[quote name='chris_b' post='355517' date='Dec 15 2008, 11:54 PM']I was lucky, growing up in Ealing, West London, I was within a stones throw of the original Marshall shop and the Simms-Watts shop. I used to see the Who's Marshall stacks in for repair. They were always completely destroyed![/quote]

The Marshall shop is Tony's barbers now or 'F in Tony' to those who use his shop, he can't stop himself swearing all the time.
I go to Peter Cooks occasionally - that's a great shop, Pete Townsend used to get his guitars set up there.

[Earbrass]

[quote name='Stingray5' post='355229' date='Dec 15 2008, 06:01 PM']For myself, I used to get the bus or tube and go 'up West' to check out as many music and guitar stores as I could in one day.
Shaftesbury Avenue had the two-floor [i]Rose-Morris[/i] 'superstore'; [i]Guitar Village[/i] was opposite; down the street was [i]Take Five[/i] plus the dynamic duo of [i]Music City[/i] and [i]Sound City[/i] - not to mention their little brother [i]Drum City[/i] on Charing Cross Road where [i]Maccari's[/i] also still are today. Right around the corner on New Compton Street there was the small [i]Orange[/i] shop.
Denmark Street had [i]Andy's[/i], of course, plus [i]Roka's[/i] and later on [i]Rod Argent's Keyboards[/i] and [i]Hank's[/i]. (Can't remember a couple or so others here!?).[/quote]

Of course, when I was a lad it was all just fields. But try telling that to the young people of today....

[lonestar]

[quote name='brummie' post='355720' date='Dec 16 2008, 10:32 AM']The Marshall shop is Tony's barbers now or 'F in Tony' to those who use his shop, he can't stop himself swearing all the time.
I go to Peter Cooks occasionally - that's a great shop, Pete Townsend used to get his guitars set up there.[/quote]

I bought my US Jazz from there and a Str*t about 10 years ago from there. I've always found it a nice shop and competitively priced too.

[Musky]

[quote name='Earbrass' post='355726' date='Dec 16 2008, 10:36 AM']Of course, when I was a lad it was all just fields. But try telling that to the young people of today....[/quote]

Blimey - how old did you say you are?

[attachment=17304:Strypes_1720_map.jpg]

[chris_b]

I brought my Precision Delux at Peter Cook's shop in about 1985. Peter used to make Ned Callan guitars.
Another out of town music shop was Maurice Placquet's in Acton.

[leschirons]

[quote name='chris_b' post='355514' date='Dec 16 2008, 12:48 AM']This was a long time ago, but, did anyone go to the Burns music shop (the guitar and amp maker) which was under Centre Point? I played my very first bass through an amp in that shop!!! It was a Rickenbacker. They had individual booths to try out the gear and all the assistants wore ties![/quote]

Burns, as you said, under Centre Point was where I saw my first "star" in the flesh. I was in there with my brother who was our guitarist, and, out of the Rolls Royce stepped Bruce Welch and Olivier Newton John, with a guitar case. He was dropping it off for Hank Marvin for some repair work. I wasn't in awe of stars but couldn't take my eyes off Olivier Newton John. She was seriously fit. That was 40 years ago when I was 16.

I used to go every Saturday on the central line to Tottenham Court Rd and do the lot. In fact, my brother bought his first "real" guitar from Pan's music. A Grimshaw SG. Bet he wished he'd kept that one. And, I remember the famous "Orange" double drum kit appearing in the front window of the Orange shop in Denmark Street.

Cool days, aaahhhh. Nostalgia.

[planethead]

[quote name='chris_b' post='355788' date='Dec 16 2008, 11:29 AM']I brought my Precision Delux at Peter Cook's shop in about 1985. Peter used to make Ned Callan guitars.[/quote]

... I'm (hopefully) breathing life back into one of them over in the build diaries. Any info on PC's NC's very much appreciated..

ttfn

Edited December 16, 2008 by planethead

[chris_b]

[quote name='leschirons' post='355858' date='Dec 16 2008, 12:26 PM']....Cool days, aaahhhh. Nostalgia....[/quote]
Indeed. For me it was a magic time, but I'm not really one for reminiscing, especially when I think about all the opportunities I should have grabbed but didn't!