The Repair Shop restores record player
The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades found himself holding back tears as a punter broke down in delight over their restoration.
Londoner Pablo Henderson brought a turntable into the famous shop to be appraised by Jay and restorer Mark Stuckey.
It was in a very battered state but he explained that he used it on his sound system in London in the 80s and 90s revealed it had been his father’s and he had started playing records on it as a toddler.
This struck a chord with Jay who explained to Mark: “I grew up on sound systems.
“It was basically a way when people came over from the Caribbean because they couldn’t get into parties or nightclubs, they set up their own where basically you had speakers, you just had a party…Had a proper knees up.
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Pablo confirmed that this was correct giving more background. He shared: “When my dad came to England from Jamacia, he came in the late ’50s early ’60s, he didn’t have a lot of family around… So it was hard for dad and his community to socialise.
“A sound system was a good way for people to socialise and come together and also it was a way of us hearing the music that we wanted to hear.
“Because we couldn’t hear reggae and calypso on mainstream radio, so our sound system was our radio station.”
Although it needed a lot of work Mark rose to the challenge straight away, lovingly restoring it. And when Pablo returned to collect it things got emotional.
“Today is very special for me. Like I’ve got so much anticipation, the excitement I can’t wait to hear the turntable that I grew up listening to and thinking about mum and dad and all the wonderful times that we’ve had with reggae music and sound system,” he said before entering the shop.
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To Jay’s delight, Pablo had even brought a record to test it which he revealed to be an original from his dad’s collection.
“I’m not even sure about my expectations,” he told Jay and Mark. “But I; ‘m just hoping to hear the beautiful tones that we used to hear out of the turntable back in the day.”
As the cover was lifted to reveal the restored piece Pablo looked astonished leaving Jay looking chuffed.
He became incredibly emotional telling them: “This is my dad all over! I’m in shock because it’s just bringing back memories of Mum and Dad and playing it.”
Jay could be seen choking back tears as Pabli continued to admire the restored player saying: “This really means a lot.”
The Repair Shop episodes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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