Art Nash

A shop that had a wide stock or everything espcailly American imports and was requented a lot by Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones) in the early 60T's. This is just one of many shop the Stones are linked to as customers.

To see a film clip of the shop from 1964

Art Nash opened c.1955 and intitally was much frequented by Jazz fans,having a large stock of Jazz EP's and L.P.'s. I've come across a few Vogue Jazz EP's from the mid-50's(Gerry Mulligan,MJQ etc.) with Art Nash's stamp on the back.The shop's window display of L.P.'s was always popular-especially as it was right next to the 75 bus stop-and young bus queue-rs could pass the time perusing the covers of the latest albums while waiting.By the time I started buying records in earnest in the late 70's,they were more of a musical instrument shop(a number of record shops sold instruments too) Their stock of records was uninspiring&limited-just the Top 40 singles and Top 20 albums,along with the ubiquitous Easy Listening section.I don't recall every buying a record from there,in fact,although I did buy my first-and last-electric guitar from there when I was 13 or 14.Art Nash closed down in July 2000 . Comment: Michael Viner

The owner was a very heavy smoker and not very pleasant, at least, he wasn't towards me anyway LOL. Had a lot of mid priced guitars. The shop was always filled with cigarette smoke. I used to frequent to shop in the mid-late 1990s. I realise though that the shop was a pivotal force on the South London music scene in the 1950s-1960s. I could tell from the postcards and pics on the wall. Comment: Peter Lee

(June 28, 2014) Barbara Spice said:I grew up in Penge and well remember buying my first record and endless sheet music from Art Nash s shop, a saturday morning "must visit",, unfortunately and sadly I left Penge in 1963... seems like a great mistake now.....

(Aug 1, 2012) Neil Partrick said:This picture (from 12 years ago as it closed down?) suggests that it was/has become a second hand car show room! I share your memory of it from the late 70s. I last visited it in 1976 and it was a few albums ans sheet music, but mostly, very attractive, instruments.

(Mar 15, 2012) Simon Lloyd said:I grew up in Penge in the 60s and I remember speaking to Bill Wyman outside Art Nash in about 1965 (I was 10). I used to buy records and sheet music there and I bought my first little guitar amplifier there. I remember there was an old Vox AC30 for people to try out electric guitars. It would be worth a fortune now.

(Feb 20, 2012) jd said:The owner had a very nice daughter back in the '60's.

(March 1st, 2015) I am the grandson of Arthur Nash and I lived above the shop in the 1960's. I worked in the shop when my grandfather had died. He was not a very nice man and when he was alive my sister and I had to call him Uncle. He didn't have a daughter only two sons, who he disinherited. He was a horrible git and I have never been back to the place since I left London 33 years ago. Comment: Howard Charman Nee Nash

( March 8, 2016) While watching a recently-transferred colour cine film to VHS video with my brother-in-law, some local beat groups playing on a stage in the open air at the New Addington Carnival in the early 1960’s caught my eye. One of the groups I recognised as the Martin Jae Five (aka Group X) from photos I had seen in a recently published book called ‘Rockin’ and Around Croydon’ by Chris Groom (published by Wombeat in August 1998). I had read in the book that Mick Hack, the lead guitarist, later became a record company sales rep, who called on Art Nash in Penge. The people who owned it were retiring at the time and Mick and his brother bought the shop. I telephoned Mick at the shop and arranged to deliver him a copy of the VHS tape. He was still in touch with the remaining members of the group, including Martin Jae (whose real name is Martin Nighy, brother of actor Bill Nighy). Before I left I had a browse through their CD racks and bought one by ‘The Flames’.

The chapters on Martin Nighy and Mick Hack in Chris Groom’s book make fascinating reading. They formed the group while they were all employed by Dees (a Ford motor dealership in South Croydon), along with Dave Newton, who later worked at Potters Music Shop in Croydon. Jeff Beck worked at South Croydon Motors just down the road. They played gigs above the Pyramid record shop in Broad Green, Croydon and the Co-Op Hall at Peckham (where they played alternate weeks with the Dave Clark Five). What crazy times the sixties were! Dave Harwood.
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Howard Charman, yours 1/3/2015 Believe he had a son, Keith. A good friend of mine for many years.
Name
Brian Rollinson

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I was a teacher at the Royston ballroom run by Frank and Peggy Spencer. So was my job to go to Art Nash for all the new records every week. Have to say l always found Art very helpful.l also used to see Bill Wyman there. Crystal his wife used to come to the Ballroom for lessons. Once the Royston closed. My husband and l opened our own studio, and Crystal would come to our classes and have private lesson with my husband Sammy Harris. I have very fond memories of both Art and Crystal Nash.
Name
Ann Harris
(2020)

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I used to visit Art Nash regularly in the sixties. I was a member of the Steal Drivers Skiffle Group and the Yarg Nibor Spasm Band and we used to buy records and musical instruments there. I bought my first banjo there and our base player bought an Art Nash two stringed base. There were several special Art Nash instruments. One I had and for years I have looked for another was a small circular guitar. It was called a SKIFFLE JO. I long to find another. I used it in the 70s when I was a member of the Taverners and later the Four Square Circle and people who saw us at the Railway Tavern inCatford were always fascinated by the skiffle jo which the band called 'Robin on his funny thing'
Art Nash was just down the road from where I went to school; Beckenham and Penge Gramar schoo. It was a school that produced lots of fine skifflers and rockers, also some excellent jazz musicians.
Name
Robin Gray
(2020)

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I worked in Art Nash for a while after I left Hawes Down school, West Wickham in 1969.I remember sitting in a small side room at the back of the shop, on the left, with a man and a pot of really smelly hide glue, putting thick cardboard covers together.
Name
Peter Goodchild
(2021)