Paul Gray… I was there and got my copy signed. Sadly long gone
Stewart Rockett… I came across Tommy just t’other day. Still cool.
Alan Esdaile… doesn’t change, still looks the same!
Mike Mitchell… You’re letting the side down there, Ken with that smile
Ken Copsey… More of an uncomfortable smirk than a smile! How did we manage to end up on the other side of the counter?
Allan Mitchell… Awesome!!
Dave Nattress… Always much revered and respected the Teenbeats, great band name, great image, fitted the time, (so-called Mod revival), and simply because they were on the face of it, the most commercially successful and “known” band to come out of the Hastings music scene since Stallion.
Stewart Rockett… From the book, ‘American Idol: The Untold Story’ By Richard Rushfield, referencing Simon Fuller, the Teenbeats’ manager…
Tony Ham……Clockwork Criminals, Young And Bold ep, brilliant. I used to go to Mason’s Music on saturday mornings, order a load of obscure records and collect the ones I ordered the week before, happy days.
Phil Thornton…..expandimod !!!!!!
Matt Thomas…..”Ad from 1984 – wish albums were same price lol”
Teenbeat ties?
Peter Fairless… Bet you still have those Barry Manilow calendars!
Alan Esdaile…..I can remember buying my first album from Jack. It was the ‘Bee Gees First’ and I paid 6d a week and he wrote the amount on the back of the sleeve until it was paid in full. I’ve still got it. As a kid ,I used to love looking in the window at all the record sleeves.
Jim Breeds….Lovely memories of the man. And I think the video I saw before didn’t have the memorial tribute tagged onto the end, though I had heard that elsewhere. Nice to see it again.
Graham Burfield….first album I got there was Cockney Rebel
Pete Fairless….I used to love the story of how he tracked down the album and went to collect it for you!
Chris Meachen…..Dear old Jack, He would occasionally come out with peculiar questions, like ‘Were you breast-fed?’ he was such a character
Jim Breeds….I mostly used record vouchers and birthday/christmas money when I was a kid and then when I was working from age 17 onwards I used to save up in my post office book 🙂 I particularly remember on one occasion I pre-ordered (as we now call it – I don’t remember that term being used in the ’70s?) a copy of the upcoming limited edition release of The Free Story LP, a best of compilation. I went to the shop on release day and you would have thought his Mum had just died. He was emotionally upset that he had been unable to source a copy due to overwhelming demand. He said he had tried everything, including phoning around to other record shops. He was still apologising for that some weeks late. What a character.
Mick O’Dowd….Jack &Sonia were one of life’s best. He actually sold me my first Dansette record player and knocked 2/6 off the price for my Mum ( God bless Her) as he suddenley found that a bit of the leather cloth was loose! it was precisely 1/8th inches wide. Great couple. He would always call me “Chiefy”. Did he call anyone else this?
Andrew Clifton…..Hello Jim, I’m Andrew’s brother, Steve. We knew Jack and Sonia for many years. We’d go to the Record Shop searching for nostalgic recordings. Unfortunately we missed his retirement in December 2006 and then of course his sad demise in June 2007. I took the video camera to the funeral to chronicle the event as he, Sonia, and The Record Shop became a significant part of Hastings social history. Fortunately the proceedings were light-hearted and sprinkled with anecdotes, so it became a ‘watchable’ record…so much that Sonia asked for several copies for friends and family.
Chris Russel…..Great to see this film of Jack and Son, but so sad to hear that they are both gone. When I worked at Swift in Bexhill in the 80’s and 90’s Jack would come in every Wednesday and buy stock. At first he used to arrive in an orange Morris Marina that was 90% rust but later would get the train over. As far as I know they never had any children but had several cats that Jack would refer to as ‘the kids’, the most famous of which was Monty. Occasionally I would pop into the shop on a Saturday and knew I would be in there at least an hour as Son would insist that I had at least one cup of tea and usually at least one cheese sandwich.
Lauren Gower….The best kind of record shop,along with Alans of course!just before they close they got me a copy of ‘songs for drella’-Lou reed,John cale…when i tried to order it in Hmv(of maybe it was virgin at the time),they asked me who Lou reed was!!! There are no words for that!
Andrew Clifton… Unfortunately Jack and Sonia. Didn’t have any children as for the railway films Jack took. I think a family friend has got them. We got a lot of records through Jack. Also from The Disc Jockey. Both Jack and Al were great people to know.
Sid Saunders… I got all my music from Jack, a true gentleman sadly missed.
Alan Pepper…..I’ll have one from the top and five from anywhere else please Bill !!
Will Cornell…..Marley “Legend” up top…video…or did ya’ll have CD Longboxes over there? The first few years of CDs had those for security purposes (hard to stuff into your pocket). Yes, ’84 or later. Curious: what’s “staff only”? The pile of stuff employees promised to buy when the next paycheck came in? My own store’s “wish bin” looked similarly loaded.
Matt Thomas……that is actually the sign above the door to the back room – well camouflaged lo. Smiths ‘How Soon Is Now’ in the charts, 1985 – just had a closer look and King ‘Love & Pride’ is in the chart and Stephen TinTin Duffy ‘Kiss Me’
Pete Fisher… I don’t remember the shop, as I lived the other side of town, and went to the Disc Jockey, but I remember the prices, and how the 11d trick was used to make it look cheaper…
David Edwards… If you lived in Hastings you always shopped at Big Al’s the Disc Jockey.
Hastings Pier, 187 Queens Road, 190 Queens Road, Grove Road Ore, Ponswood Ind Estate St Leonards.
Alan Esdaile… Now time for me to get a proper job.
Matt Thomas… I drove past earlier – something drew me to the place today.Sorry it’s come to this. End of an era as Masons Music closes it doors for the last time today, up until last year I had spent nearly 30 years at the place so very sad for me to hear today.
Chris Coleman… That must be a record
Jim Breeds… Really? Gosh. Best wishes for the next venture!
Colin Norton… Sorry to hear this, Alan! Hope that everything works out for you!
Tony May… Oh what a year this has been for you and for me. So sorry to hear this but not surprised in the current climate. If you can please pass on my condolences to all who have lost their jobs today. I may have left a long while ago but part of me shall always belong to Masons Music and the legacy that its existence played in what we all used to recognise as the music industry. Best wishes to you Alan – I will be in touch soon.
Jo Turner… Sorry to hear that
Virginia Davis… Good luck in your next venture
Diane Barton… Have the best memories 🙂 Fun times xxx
Ian Mantel… Every week on pay day in early 80’s I bought records.
Simon Payne… Masons Music played an important part in many of our Hastings lives. Sad to hear of it closing it’s doors today. Sad news Alan, I wasn’t with you long but still remember it fondly. Good luck for the future.
