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Record shop run by Ken & Betty. The same record shop that pressed eternal copies of Northern Dream right up to the 1980s. Without Bill [Nelson]'s Knowledge, until Bill discovered copies of Butt Records' Northern Dream in Tower Records in the USA whilst on a solo tour, if memory serves? I would hope above hope, sincerely, that one day the master tapes of the 1971 classic are returned to the Nelson family archive.

Name: Steve Whittle
Comment: Could you shed more light on where The Record Bar had premises in Wakefield, please? I was a very frequent visitor - and customer - of the Upper Kirkgate shop. Am I mistaken [in thinking] that The Record Bar used to occupy a small shop unit near the Essoldo Cinema in Westgate? A fellow Wakefieldian was told The Record Bar resided in a unit near the ABC Cinema in Kirkgate, but he thinks that was a store named Powell's.
Any info would provide another piece in a nostalgia jigsaw.
(2019)

Name: Steve Whittle
Comment: Many thanks for the very welcome and interesting addition. And a pic of Bill [Nelson] too!

I bought a CD of Northern Dream a couple of years ago via eBay, and I'd say it's aged passably well.

From the bulletins, it looks like Bill himself is aging even better - as productive as he's ever been. The latest one told of a guitar he was selling at a fixed price... so that he could buy another guitar!
(2021)


Comments

Deborah
23 Aug 2023 at 11:57
I worked there as a Saturday girl. I can’t imagine Ken doing anything untoward. He was very knowledgeable about music and a lovely person. His daughter Julie helped working in the shop too.
Dave
03 Aug 2024 at 10:30
Wow. Memories. The Record Bar. It was like a proper scary record shop to me at 10years old. Boots or Woolworths were less
Intimidating as was upstairs in the market or the Pop Inn. I remember JAT and EGS opening too. Wakey was awash with record shops then. The £1 7” single box was always good in the record bar as the punk singles hadn’t been plundered like the other shops. I remember lusting over the PiL metal box on display behind the counter.

Details

Location

21 Upper Kirkgate WF1 1HS Wakefield / West Yorkshire
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