The day the music died at Northern Sounds

Last updated 19:50, Thursday, 21 August 2008

A WORKINGTON music shop will close down after 36 years in the town.

Northern Sounds, on Oxford Street, will close when owner Brian Holmes, 63, has sold his remaining stock. Mr Holmes will retire.

The first branch of Northern Sounds opened on James Street in 1972 but the shop moved to Oxford Street in 1983 after a fire.

Mr Holmes said: “We were going to open the shop on Oxford Street anyway but when the fire burned out the old shop, it hastened the move.”

TV presenter and musician Jools Holland, comedy double act Little and Large, and Gerry Marsden, of Gerry and the Pacemakers, have all been visitors to Northern Sounds.

Mr Holmes said: “We used to get a lot of entertainers wandering in when the Rendezvous was open in what is now Wetherspoon.

“Jools Holland, who was performing at the Carnegie Theatre, also came to have a look in the shop. People were pointing at him and following him around.

“But when he first came in, I didn’t know who he was!”

Mr Holmes said that he had decided to close the shop for a number of reasons, including ill health.

He added: “I’m quite looking forward to my retirement but I will miss the place because it’s not just a music shop.

“There is a big social scene here as well. All the musicians come in here to talk and to look for new band members.”