Sir, – In his very enjoyable review of Bob Geldof's book of lyrics and commentary, Tales of Boomtown Glory, Joseph O'Connor prominently mentions Murray's Record Centre in his opening paragraph ("A huge generational break with tradition", Books, March 14th).
Located on Lower George’s Street in Dún Laoghaire, and run by the brothers George and Jimmy Murray, the record shop provided an absolute haven for those of us in our early to mid-teens in the 1960s.
O’Connor rightly describes it as an “oasis”. You could go there and mingle with other like-minded music aficionados while listening to a staggering variety of new sounds. Even better, you could take (as I did) the brand new Beatles album into one of their booths, put on headphones and listen to the whole thing.
In 1979, while living in southern California, I went to hear the Boomtown Rats at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles. The gig was completely sold out and no ticket was to be had. I asked to speak to their manager, Fachtna O’Kelly, and explained my predicament. I said I was from Dún Laoghaire and added: “I remember these guys down in Murray’s Record Centre!” Without a blink, their manager went over to the box office and returned with a ticket for me, saying “Come by afterwards and say hello to the lads”, which I did.
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Murray’s Record Centre was a magical place for those of us growing up in Dún Laoghaire in the early 1960s.
It may be gone but the shop, along with Jimmy and George Murray, certainly have not been forgotten – by Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats, by me, nor, as his review makes clear, by Joseph O’Connor. – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY ROCHE,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin.