Before the Steinway: the room in 1968

A coal cellar, a borrowed upright and a licence that only allowed music on Thursdays.

The basement at 12 Example Street held coal until 1966. When the first owners cleared it, they found the vault was almost perfectly round in section, and the sound went everywhere at once.

For two years the only instrument was an upright piano borrowed from the church hall, carried down the eleven steps by six members of the rowing club.

The licence allowed music on Thursdays only. The other six nights were "listening evenings", which meant records, which is how the shop upstairs began.

“The other six nights were listening evenings, which is how the shop upstairs began.”

LINER NOTES BY THE BLUE HOUR STAFF · PHOTOGRAPHY: HOUSE ARCHIVE · PRESSED AT 12 EXAMPLE STREET