Inside an early Victorian town shop (it had been an ironmongers before) in the middle of the city centre, Impulse was a bit of a hippy emporium in the Seventies, selling posters, novelties, cards and masks according to their bag. I think they also did cheesecloth shorts and other cheap fashions. But beyond that was a sort of long extension to the shop (tin roofed if I recall correctly at the back end) stuffed with records, new and old. I certainly remember seeing my first vinyl bootlegs there too, but beyond my own hazy memories I don’t know much about the history of Impulse. An earlier photograph suggests is was called just The Record Centre incorporating Mathews Boutique. A couple of years later it was rebranded Impulse.
My brother found an Impulse paper bag (below) at a car boot recently. The whole of Cambridge Street was a rare survival of the old city development, and The Albert pub at the end was a regular haunt for people attending rock concerts in the City Hall across the square for decades. Needless to say this and the Impulse block were bulldozed around 1979 and replaced by rubbish 80s architecture. 35 years on they are about the trash the rest of it.
Back to the list of Record Shops and Music Shops – if you have any information or images about this shop, we’d love to hear from you.
