It’s a name that dominated vinyl sales for decades and supplied thousands of instruments to the town’s aspiring pop stars.
Now a new book is set to feature never before seen photos of some of the early days of Hudsons – the music shop that ceased trading in 2012 after 105 years in business.
Author Pete Dodd has spent months researching the new ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1960s Chesterfield’ and says being handed the photos – which arrived just hours before the book went to print – was like hitting the jackpot.
“I thought the search for period pics of Hudsons had been exhausted,” says Pete. “So when Keith Hudson – who ran the family business – dropped by just days before the book was printed with a bunch of previously unseen gems, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m glad I gave him a call!
“These never-before-seen photos are a magnificent blast from the past and bring memories flooding back.”
The era defined by flower power and the Beatles is immortalised in the new ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1960s Chesterfield’ written by Pete – former Derbyshire Times journalist and founder member of the Thompson Twins.
It was a time when Chesterfield hosted gigs by artists that went on to conquer the world. Everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Pink Floyd played landmark shows in the town.
Pete: “Never before, or since, has a generation swept away all that came before on a wave of eager exuberance as girls’ hemlines got shorter with the advent of the mini skirt and boys’ hair got longer in defiance of convention.”
The book is set to follow the success of the ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1980s Chesterfield’ and the ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Chesterfield’ – both penned by Neil Anderson who has been working with Pete on the new book.
The ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1960s Chesterfield’ is on sale now from www.dirtystopouts.com, Amazonand all good bookshops at £13.95.
