Does anyone remember Violet Mays

[thecyclist 10]

Used to go here in the 70's for records. They could get you anything you wanted. Often I would be told to come back in a few hours and they would have the record, and they always did. Scruffy shop off the moor, loads of ciggie smoke, racks and racks of records. I spent most of my saturdays in there searching out the albums I wanted. Cant do that today at HMV or Virgin. Ask them for something obscure and all i get is a blank stare. Does anyone know what happened to violet. I know the shop shut but don't know why.

[firthandy 10]

They were talking about her on Radio Sheffield last week, phone rony.

 

A couple of men are writing a book on her

 

May be email radio sheff for infor

 

Andy

[Tarquin 10]

Yes, I remember that shop.SUPERB.

[maurice1 10]

Remember that she had a shop of Sheaf Street (I think) in the late 60's.

 

Quiet a character and the shop was packed with records

 

[goldenfleece 11]

I bought half my vinyl collection from Violet over the years back then...she had EVERYTHING, and could get ANYTHING.......she really did know her music so well she could lay her hands on a dusty old classics under massive piles of wooden record cases with no apparent filing system

 

.....I remember trying to get hold of GIMME LITTLE SIGN by Benton Wood, a rare Northern Soul type gem from 1967, and she dug one out for me (in its Original sleeve as well) in less time than it takes to to say Strawberry Fields forever backwards.....

[sirglyn 11]

I remember Violet with great fondness and,like Goldenfleece,I must have bought half my collection from her.She had to give up the shop because of ill health in the late 70s early 80s.The blokes who wrote 'Not Like a Proper Job' the story of popular music in Sheffield, are writing a book about her and are eager to hear any reminiscinces.

[Timbuck 10]

I remember Violet with great fondness and,like Goldenfleece,I must have bought half my collection from her.She had to give up the shop because of ill health in the late 70s early 80s.The blokes who wrote 'Not Like a Proper Job' the story of popular music in Sheffield, are writing a book about her and are eager to hear any reminiscinces.

 

I've just been reading about her in the same book..It apears Violet had her shop in 5 different places in her career the first in Duke St, then Park Hill,followed by South St, Broad St, and finally Matilda St.....She retired and sold the shop in 1978 aged 68...so if she's still around she'll be errrr.....97.

[sandie 11]

I remember Violet Mays in the late 60's at the bottom of Duke Street, my first Car Radio for £6 pound 19shillings in proper money.

 

That place was an Alladins Cave the best shop in Sheffield, as I Started to run a mobile Disco late 60's early 70's Violet Mays was a great place for old singles and albums. There was and never will be a place like that.

 

Fond Memories

[yorkshiregal 10]

My Grandmother used to work for Voilet May and my Mum knew her too. We spent many an hour in her shop but not sure what happended to her as my Grandma died over 15 years ago

[gabby 10]

I remember buying a copy of Yessongs from there about 1980. It was a triple album with a sleeve that folded out forever. Them were t'days!!

[PopT 10]

This is a repost from an older posting on the forum

Memories came flooding back when I read the letters with comments about Violet May. As a young teenagerI used to go to her record shops in the early days searching for jazz records. One shop was on South Street opposite the Old Corn Exchange opposite the bottom of the old Rag and Tag market.

 

She moved to a shop on City Road above Bernard Street. Later she moved to a corner shop at the back of the Moor near the Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant.

 

She used a cigarette holder to smoke her cigarettes and seemed to have quite a collection of them, everytime I saw her she had a different one. She attended all the jazz concerts at the City Hall and cut quite a figure dressed in long dresses and smoking from a very long cigarette holder. She knew most of the musicians and her knowledge of jazz music was extensive. I remember her guiding my choice of records knowing what little money I could afford and Ithank her for developing my education in the music.

 

I once picked up two metal master cut recordings of Charlie Parker from her shop on City Road only to sell them back the following Saturday. At that young age I was disillusioned with them as they contained lots of false starts and stops. Little did I know that this was normal for 'The Bird', any jazz fan today would give his high teeth for those two unique recordings today.

 

Does anyone else remember this Sheffield character and the early jazz days in Sheffield?

 

Pop T

 

Happy Days

[steelcityuk 10]

I spent quite a few Saturday afternoons there in the early eighties. Was unlike any other record shop I'd been in until then. I also spent quite a bit of time in Amazing Records opposite Coles.