History
The Music Shop
The first music shop to grace The Arcade was established by a Mr George G. Blackburn in 1907 and took up residence at Nos. 6 & 8. Blackburn’s sold gramophones, phonographs and a ‘full range of machines and records’. They also sold the new-fangled auto pianos, which they described as ‘the most wonderful musical instrument of the century’. As well as the premises in The Arcade, the business boasted a showroom on Corporation Street.
By 1933, Blackburn’s had moved to Nos. 12 & 14. It was at this point that the business was bought by a Mr Fred Normington, the premises duly changing its name to F. Normington’s.
Normington’s were one of the town’s main suppliers of radios and radiograms. They were an authorised dealer for His Masters Voice, providing demonstrations for those who were less familiar with the still relatively new technology. Other receivers available included those produced by Ecko, Ultra, Philips and Marconi.
In 1949, the business was bought by a Mr Charles Thomas Auty, one of the most famous names in the history of The Arcade.
Charles Thomas Auty, known universally as Tom, was a professional drummer who had his own dance band. He played in the orchestra pit in Dewsbury’s famous Empire Theatre, which was just opposite the Town Hall, on the site where Empire House now stands. He also played regularly at the Marmaville Club in Mirfield. In the late 1940s, however, he decided to open a music shop. He was assisted in this endeavour by wife Mary, who had until then been part owner of the D. Douglas shoe shop in The Arcade. Mary sold her shares in the shoe shop, Charles sold his drum kit, and C.T. Auty ‘The Music Shop’ was born.
During the 1950s and 60s, C.T. Auty ‘The Music Shop’ confirmed its status as a firm favourite amongst the townsfolk. The newly named shop was an authorised agent for Columbia radios and radiograms as well as for Decca and HMV Records. An impressive range of piano accordions and drums were stocked, as well as Challen, Chappel and Eavestaff pianos. Piano tuning, reconditioning and instrument repair services were also provided.
The shop was a veritable Aladdin’s Cave in those days. It sold guitars (both acoustic and electric), trumpets, cornets, clarinets, flutes and penny whistles (though they used the proper name for penny whistles – flageolets). It also sold more modest instruments like harmonicas, jaw harps, recorders and kazoos, as well as all kinds of musical related toys.
The Music Shop had lots of interesting customers and saw a few famous faces over the years. On one occasion, Labi Siffre visited the shop to buy some manuscript paper. A regular customer was local favourite Sammy King, of Sammy King and The Voltaires fame. Sammy is best known for writing Penny Arcade, which was a huge worldwide hit for Roy Orbison in 1969. Sammy and the band would visit the shop to buy guitar strings, which they might otherwise have had to go to Leeds to buy. Moreover, many musicians that were performing at Batley Variety Club would pop in for essentials, like saxophone reeds, violin bows, etc.
In the 1970s, The Music Shop was bought by local musicians and business partners Keith Pearson and Bill Price. Shortly after, Bill sold his shares in the business to Keith’s brother, Gerald.
The Pearson brothers ran the shop successfully for many years. Record sales were a very important aspect of their business model, and the shop had accounts with all the major record companies, from whom they bought direct. The brothers took great pride in being able to get any record, however rare, for even the most discerning customer. Later, the shop sold cassettes and CDs, but also had contracts with schools for the supply of recorders and recorder books and provided sheet music for piano teachers. Guitar sales were profitable, especially at Christmas, as was the sale of Yamaha and Casio keyboards. The shop was always local musicians’ first port of call for accessories like reeds, strings and plectrums.
The Music Shop provided a number of services too, including guitar lessons, which were held in one of the upstairs rooms every Saturday. Moreover, the brothers both did instrument repairs, Gerald repairing guitars and Keith repairing violins, including restringing bows. There were other unique aspects to the business, too. Gerald’s main employment was as an industrial chemist, working with dyes. He used his knowledge to make and colour tassels for majorettes’ maces and batons. The shop also sold some unusual instruments, such as the bell lyre, a hand-held glockenspiel which is used by marching bands.
The week before Christmas was always the busiest period in the shop. A Christmas club allowed customers to make regular payments over the course of the year and to thereby build up credits towards festive purchases. As a result, Christmas Eve was always absolute chaos, and the shop would often sell out of many items.
In the late 1990s, however, the business changed hands yet again, subsequently moving across The Arcade to No.15. In the twilight of its years, the shop would go on to sell CDs, guitar effects pedals and electronic tuners. However, due to ever dwindling sales, the last owners finally flicked the off switch on over 100 years of musical tradition in 2009. By way of consolation, all those with associations with The Music Shop can take pride from the fact that it was one of only two businesses that can boast a tenure of over a century in The Arcade.