Ron's Music Shop And Redbridge Photographic
The former Ron Pakeham (spelling?) owned one of the stores in Pioneer Market and sub-let half (and eventually all) that store to Redbridge Photographic, where I worked some evenings and Saturdays whilst at school and later college. The manager was Val Goldstein, who knew everyone in the trade! Chick ran the musical instruments side for Ron, and was a real character who enjoyed liquid refreshment... High points were a certain old gentleman called Frank Fl**ker who used to come in and buy the 'risque' 8mm shorts from David Hamilton, which were so tame by today's standards even the vicar would not blush, and a weird guy who dressed up in half of a truly ancient cinema commissionaire's uniform and claimed he had been in the Mounties which is why he had defaulted on his camera loan.
Ron sadly died but Redbridge soldiered on until the new traffic layout was instituted (late 1970s?) and much of the area redeveloped. I returned a couple of years ago (I now live on the Pacific West Coast of the USA) and recognised - nothing! I even got lost walking around. Oh dear, oh dear....
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RE: RE: Ron's Music Shop And Redbridge Photographic
I bought my first Tape Recorder from Ron's Music store in 1957, it was a Tandy, I think, with 7 inch reels
Comment from Ray Helliar on Tuesday, 1st February 2011.
RE: RE: Ron's Music Shop And Redbridge Photographic
Some interesting memories of Pioneer Market and Ron's Music shop. The owner was Ron Pakin as I remember and my father, who was the manager at the music store during the 1960s and till he left, was also called Ron, they all called him 'Stan' to avoid confusion. However this confused me when I used to visit. My father 'Stan' was a classical specialist and people used to come from miles around to use his knowledge on composers and conductors. Ron Pakin died in the mid 1970s of an heart attack at the shop. This affected my father at the time until he left the shop in 1977.
Comment from Malcolm Fowler on Wednesday, 26th October 2011.
RE: RE: Ron's Music Shop And Redbridge Photographic
In October 1963, when I was 14, my mum took me to Ron's Music Shop and bought me an electric guitar, my first. It was a 1962 Gretsch Tennessean, with a hard case. I was young and did not know that there was such a thing as an original case, so they palmed me off with a cheapie. I could have had a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender Stratocaster, but I stuck out for the Gretsch. The amazing thing is I've still got it!
In 1979 I opened Baj Music in Dagenham with my partner John and in 1983 moved on to Chadwell Heath and started Music Village. I left the company 10 years later and under the name Digital Village it went on to be probably the biggest retail chain of music strores in the UK. The Gretsch and I now live happily in Asia.
Comment from Brian GILL on Tuesday, 14th February 2012.