Earlier this week I zoomed down to Coventry - my first visit for a few years - at the invitation of Coventry's Retro Pop historian and journalist / author - Pete Chambers.
We both had ideas towards a possible Coventry Music museum separately and more recently shared those ideas. Pete approached Roger Vaughan of the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery and Roger set up a meeting between his staff and various intersted parties including Pete and myself and Roger Lomus (Ex Sorrows and Two Tone Producer).
The Herbert complex is currently being re-developed and includes the Depot recrding studio and re-opens in 2008. We met in the temporary accomodation at the Canal Basin where the famous Specials Cover photo was taken. Roger wanted to consult some of the people involved with the Coventry music scene and those who currently charting it's history and develping new projects.
The meeting was quite to begin with but soon cranked up and got quite heated at one stage - such was the enthusiasm for the idea. The idea is to stage an exhibition that will hopefully lead to a permanent Coventry music focus / museum. It was thought the exhibition should create atmosphere, contexted by what was going on in both wider youth culture and the Covnetry take on it, layered so that people can view the exhibits and those that want to can dig a little deeper in to it's social history. It was thought that it could involve school workshops for schools and adult education and much more. Pete's message was not to forget the music in all the brilliant ideas. Now Roger's staff have the challange of marshalling all those diverse ideas into a coherent and achievable plan and get it funded. There will be follow on meetings periodically and the Hobo, Broadgate Gnome, Rex Brough and Tim James sites will provide source materials and inspiration along with all of Pete Chamber's books on Coventry music.
Like the sites, the exhibiton won't just be about history or nostalgia but inspiration and hopefully will provide a springboard for new developments for Coventry musicians.
It was great to see the idea starting to become a reality. Long way to go but it's begun it's journey - and in the same week that long proposed Coventry Co-operative Gnome label has started to develop with the proposed Retro Cov podcast and possible CD and much more.
Exciting stuff.
Meanwhile if you have any suggestions for the exhibition - in terms of who should be represented (famous or not famous but important to the Cov Scene) or for artefacts, or whatever - use the comments below. I won't gurantee your ideas will be taken up but they will be looked at.
Visit TWO TONE CENTRAL MUSEUM http://www.2tonecentral.co.uk/
Brilliant idea guys and hopefully one that will come to fruition. My involvement in the Coventry music scene is restricted to just the 90`s, but as co-founder of Rockhouse Studios, aka Backbeat, if I can help with this era please ask.
Posted by: Dean Lovell | 12/10/2008 at 01:05 AM