Just started reading a book by David Hepworth, the music journalist and writer, and one-time Old Grey Whistle Test presenter. ("A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives")
In the first chapter, he says that in 1967, at the age of 16, he was attending a private school in the north of England, and frequented a shop called the Record Bar, run by Ken and Betty.
"Hang on", I thought, "That sounds familiar!". So I checked up, and sure enough, he attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield.
Bill, I appreciate that he is slightly younger than you, and that, in attending that school, he probably may as well have been on another planet, from your point of view.
But I'm curious. Did you ever come across him then? Or did you ever meet him later and discover your Wakefield connection?
His description:
"Ken and Betty seemed, at least to my teenage eyes, middle-aged. Ken wore a suit and Betty was always smartly turned out. I suppose if I had thought about it I would have regarded them as Sinatra people, which would have placed them on the far shore of adulthood. They were probably only in their late twenties. I remember the small shop was always wreathed in their cigarette smoke. They would place their cigarettes in the ashtray while they took the sleeve of Motown Chartbusters or Five Live Yardbirds or A-tom-ic Jones which the customer had selected from the racks. They would then reach behind them for the actual record which was always kept at the counter. They would carefully re-unite the record with its sleeve, slip it into one of their candy-striped paper bags and then resume their gasper before taking the customer's money and putting it into the cash register, finally snapping the clip that kept the ten-shilling and pound notes safe."
I wasn't aware of David's connection with Wakefield until seeing your post. That's a surprise! But, no, I've never met him, as far as I recall.