Liverpool family-run record shop to be honoured with a blue plaque as the oldest in England

A Liverpool record shop is to be honoured with a blue plaque recognising it as the oldest independent record shop in England.

The Musical Box in Tuebrook has become a much-loved part of the city’s music history, open for an amazing 78 years and run by four generations of the same family.

It’s not only a well-known landmark in Liverpool, connections with the early days of The Beatles have helped the store’s reputation to spread and it regularly attracts customers from around the world.

Now its legacy will be there for everyone to see, with a blue plaque to be unveiled on Saturday September 27 by Antiques Roadshow expert Wayne Colquhoun, who’s played his own part in The Musical Box’s story.

Impressed by the huge amount of original archive material he saw on a visit to the shop in West Derby Road, it was Wayne who suggested that the family create a museum on the first floor to display some of the memorabilia.

That has not only proved a great success with music history lovers, but it also resulted in current owner Tony Quinn, his wife Paula and son Craig unearthing sales logbooks which proved John Lennon and Pete Best had been customers.

Since his visit, Paula has kept in touch with Wayne and, as well as a recent update to their story on Antiques Roadshow, she was able to invite him to perform the grand unveiling.

She says the idea for the blue plaque came after conversations with Alan Smith, who is Liverpool’s Head of Heritage Preservation and Development, and Kevin McManus, Head of UNESCO City of Music for Liverpool.

She explained:

“The Musical Box holds the title of the oldest independent record shop in England and we’re also the oldest in the whole of the UK to have the same family and same building,”

“Alan and Kev suggested we should have a plaque to recognise that, and we’re so proud of it we thought it would be good to have something on the outside of the shop that tells everyone.

“We’re deeply honoured that The Musical Box has been awarded this plaque, and this isn’t just a proud moment for our family, but a celebration of Liverpool’s long and rich musical heritage. 

“Music has always been at the heart of this city and we’re extremely honoured to have played a small part in that over the decades. We’re so thankful to the generations of music lovers who’ve walked through our doors over the years and kept us alive.”

Paula says the unveiling will be a special moment for her, Tony, Craig and for Tony’s mum Diane, now in her 80s, who took over the family business from her mother Dorothy. 

“It’s also a lovely thing for the community of Tuebrook because they’ve always been so supportive of us. We recently renovated the shopfront, returning the paintwork to its original colours and design, and we had so many people who stopped to chat to us while we were doing it.

“They were telling us they’d known the shop all their lives, and how much it meant to them, so this isn’t just our history, it’s theirs too.”

The blue plaque unveiling will be at The Musical Box on Saturday September 27 at 1pm. 

Find out more about The Musical Box here.

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