Record and music shops in the city

No, wrong side of Lower Precinct! Spinadisc 83-87, Fennell's 78

Again, looking through the newspapers, Fennells had a closing down sale in July 1978, and later Forum HiFi are advertising at that address, also a health club which must have been upstairs.

I found this:

Revolver!

Been mentioned on this thread before but does anyone have an image of Cranes Music Shop on Far Gosford?

J Fennells started life as a piano retailer in Spon Street (on the left hand side going away from the city almost opposite the GEC about where the ring road is) and moved to 78 Lower Precinct when the said ring road was under construction. In time a branch was opened in Willenhall Precinct followed by another in Earlsdon Street with a workshop for repairing tvs and radios on the corner of Broad Street and Foleshill Road.

In the post this morning a tin of gramophone needles.

And mentioned in Pete Waterman's biography. Mum had a shop in the same St.

Nice find Vernon - 45 was that scarcely captured section at the western end south side of Earl Street near the Palace Yard. I can see Brocks listed in the 1929 directory (possibly others).

When I was 14, and in the radio club at school, our old black and white Alba television, which also included a vhf/fm radio tuned to the 3 BBC stations, went dead. I knew nothing about televisions, only radio, amplifiers, electrics etc., so Fennells were called out to repair it. A stocky man came out, and after fiddling for a while said he'd have to take the set back into the workshop for repair. Two weeks went buy, then Fennell's van pulled up. It was in the summer holidays, and I though great, we're getting our one and only tv back. Short stocky bloke, fag in mouth, got out tv from the back of the van and carried it up to the house. He said that it was BER (beyond economic repair), not worth bothering with, scrap etc. My dad said he recognized the man from years before as "the mad drummer". Dad said he was well known, because he had a cleft palate, and used to drum in a local band, and went berserk, bashing hell out of the drum kit, which was what he was famous for, hence the nickname. Anyway, my father being an engineer, albeit a mechanical designer with a rudimentary knowledge of electrics, made sure I did not electrocute myself when, later that evening, we set about repairing the tv ourselves. After a while, I found a 5W 2k2 wirewound resistor open-circuit. So the next morning, I got the bus to town and went to Electronic Services (remember them?) to get a replacement resistor. After my dad had finished work, the resistor was soldered in, and the tv sprang back into life. That fired up my enthusiasm for doing repairs, especially where the professionals had failed. Another bonus was that repairing tvs was lucrative, especially when colour came out, which attracted a premium price. I later learned that the resistor fed the screen grid of the PL81 line output valve. Hence no pic if faulty. Our old Alba soldiered on for a few more years before giving up the ghost. I then determined that the LOPT had failed, which was a terminal case for an ancient television with a low emission tube.

You've just described Ralph to a tee Slim, he was the delivery driver. My late Mum worked for Fennells for decades.