Prior to my taking over as manager of Gough & Davy in Grimsby in January 1978,their record department specialised in M.O.R. from James Last to Norrie Paramor, and the charts were looked down upon as a bit low-rent. Coming straight from a year working for Polydor Records, and before that, managing both Pop and Classical Record departments at G&D's head branch in Hull, which had a staff of 8, I set about bringing the Grimsby store into the 20th century. We were soon THE place to go in Grimsby if you wanted The Sex Pistols or The Damned. I got into a lot of bother from HQ in Hull for over-ordering blues and jazz albums, and on Saturdays every punk in town used to assemble in the shop to check out the top 30. Unfortunately, our bread and butter trade was organs and pianos, but I like to think that in those final 3 years of G&D in Grimsby, we had the best pop selection in town, and this gained me a lot of young friends and we're still all in touch. Comment: Roy Bainton
Never quite as trendy as Stardisc or Syd Scarborough's, Gough and Davy helpfully doubled as an instrument shop and ticket outlet so was generally worth a visit on a Saturday afternoon. Most notable LP purchase: The Blue Ridge Rangers in 1973. The shop is still in existence but now sells musical instruments only. Comment: Peter Greendale.
(Nov 18, 2013) Roy Bainton said:A bit of clarification here. Gough & Davy exists today only by name in one location, under the City Hall in Hull, selling musical instruments. When I joined them in Savile Street, Hull, where they'd been for almost a century in 1975, as manager of their busy records department, they had stores in Scarborough and Grimsby, and in 1976 we opened a big store in York, and I was given the task of organising the grand opening, with the pianist Joseph Cooper cutting the ribbon, and professor Mellors of York University in attendance. That store, as well as Scarborough and Grimsby, has now gone. I believe the Grimsby branch today is an outpost of Gregg's - very apt when I consider all the sandwiches we used to consume behind the counter and in my office. ROY BAINTON, EX-MANAGER, GOUGH & DAVY GRIMSBY.
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Fascinating stuff? I wonder if anyone knows who was the name and origin of the Gough who started the company?
Name
Norman Gough
(2021)
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I am just listening to an episode of the podcast Word in Your Ear - it’s about record shops and it reminded me that the record shop of my youth was Gough and Davey in Grimsby Victoria St. This would have been around 1973. I remember the joy of the listening booth. Choosing an album - or LP as we called them - and going into the small curtained booth with a friend to listen to a track. We probably didn’t have the money to buy it! For a time I was obsessed with a boy who worked there. He had long dark hair and I think he was called Rick. I think I even managed a couple of dates with him. I left the area to go on to Uni and never moved back but occasionally I visit family and the memories are still there.
Name
Bea Fitzpatrick
(2022)
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First job from school Gough & Davy 1967-69 when it was on Saville Street(still going strong, now on Paragon Street.. I keep in touch with the new owner).. We had 3 booths in the Pop record dept, they were always crammed with about 5 teenagers listening to the latest sounds.... we put the records on for the customers, record players under the counter as far as I can remember...
On the Classical counter was a sit-in booth with carpet & a red velvet covered seat...we also put on the desired music for the customer.. I worked in both departments as well as the Sheet Music dept... many more stories/memories to share.. .. happy days..Varenka Allam (2022)
