Memories of iconic Doncaster record shop where Jeremy Clarkson bought his first cassette

Bradleys Records – or to give it its full grand name, Bradley's Record and Tape Centre - was located at the entrance to the Arndale Centre – now the Frenchgate – and was where music fans of the 1970s and 1980s would head to to gather to snap up the latest releases.

And among them was a youthful Jeremy Clarkson, who spent his formative years growing up in Doncaster, before going on to find fame and fortune as the host of Top Gear, The Grand Tour and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, purchasing his first cassette there. But more of that later.

You might think cassette tapes were a thing of the past – however, more than 160,000 were sold last year – the highest number since their heyday in the 1980s.

If you are of a certain age, brand names such as Memorex and TDK will mean everything – as will the terms, C60, C90 and even the whopping C120.

For those not in the know, the numbers referred to the amount of time on each blank cassette – and they became a symbol of identity.

Blank tapes were more often that not used to illicitly record the top 40 off the radio, blasted out by Radio 1 on Sunday afternoons.

For a good few hours, you’d spend your time with your finger hovering over the ‘record’ button – hoping to get your favourite songs on your tape, ensuring that crucial sheen of professionalism, in that you’d do anything possible to avoid the DJ (Bruno Brookes or Mark Goodier for those of a certain vintage) talking over the track.

They’d also be put into use for creating the ‘mix tape’ – where you would lovingly compile your best songs, scribbling the titles on the little inlay card – and becoming annoyed as hell if you couldn’t quite get the end of Baggy Trousers on before your tape ran out.

And let’s not even go there about the dreaded tape jam – and its recovery with a pencil. If you know, you know.

Clarkson is among those with fond memories and in a recent interview when he was asked about his debut cassette, he said: “This is an easy memory.

“I bought Selling England By The Pound, by Genesis, from Bradley’s in Doncaster.

"I already had it on vinyl and 8-track so it made sense to buy it again on tape.”

The fifth studio album by the progressive rock band, it was released in September 1973 with a single "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", the band's first top 30 hit in the UK.

Bradley’s was a Yorkshire record shop institution, with branches across the county stocking the latest singles, albums and cassettes.

The firm even had a record label of its own in the mid-70s and released records by some local acts which charted, as well as Eurovision favourites the Brotherhood of Man.

The chain was later swallowed up by the Our Price and Virgin brands, but like Track Records, Fox’s, Woolworths and other Doncaster musical haunts, the name lives on.