Max Millward was renowned among soul fans for his collection of rare Northern Soul vinyl and popular DJ sets. The shop closed in 2008 because of growing competition from larger stores.
- Obituary: Northern Soul DJ Blue Max dies aged 67
Name: Tom 'n Our Kid, Soulsource
Comment: What a top bloke! Back in about 1974 me and my brother wagged school on a Monday as I recall and set off for Max's. Got there and it was shut! Asked the butcher nearby what the score was and he said he didn't open on a Monday but he'd see if he could get in touch with him.
Sure enough Max came in to open up for us 'nuisances from Manchester!' Had a real learning experience afternoon with loads of new tunes fired in our ears. Max really appreciated our meagre budget and added loads of ace cheapies to make our trip worthwhile.
Funny upshot of it all was - got back home and tanned the record player to death. Anyway, the old man came in from work and had found out (God knows how) that we'd wagged school. It was a mortal offence and oh yes, he knew what had caused it - 'that bloody soul music' and was he gonna get it out of our heads once and for all, yes sirree! Being Irish he went for the basic approach - legged it upstairs to our bedroom, swept up the nearest records to the deck (you've guessed it - we'd only just begun tannin' em) and decided to grill 'em! Yup, grill 'em (not the verbal variety).
Well, 35 years later it's still in our bloody heads - we've managed to re-collect all the charcoaled tunes - the old man finally had to admit we woz hooked, and yes, very fond memories of that day.