Broadcasting pioneer and retail shop owner in Derby, 1920’s to the 1970’s.
Derby, Nottingham and Leicester beat groups used the facilities at Victor Buckland’s store to produce demo discs.

Born in Derby, Victor Buckland 1897 – 1988, married for 70 years to his wife Trudie who lived until 1993, was a broadcasting pioneer bringing Radio and TV to Derby in the days of the Writtle Transmissions before even the BBC was launched. He set up and ran his own business from 1921 selling electrical goods. He had his own dance band in the mid 1920’s and was known to place a wireless in his shop doorway to broadcast the FA cup final for football fanatics in a time when only he and a handful of others would have access to a radio.

He organised in London one of the first ever speaker recitals in this country and in 1933 he broadcast the first TV pictures in Derby at the Temperance Hall.

There was ever increasing interest in High Fidelity sound during the mid fifties. Test records were starting to appear, although usually American and difficult to obtain in Britain, like RCA’s “Adventure in High Fidelity” and Capitol’s “Further Studies on High Fidelity. British companies like PYE, GCE and Goodmans were galvanised and lecture style demonstrations would be arranged to create interest and organised in conjunction with local record and radio dealers.

One of the larger of these recitals was arranged by Victor Buckland, electronic and acoustic engineer of Derby, at the Rolls Royce Welfare Hall in 1955. 500 people turned up to hear more than just a playing of records but a brief history of sound with examples of early phonographs then coming up to date with the latest speakers, tape recorders and stereophonic sound set ups. Victor Buckland produced elaborate live and recorded demonstrations to emphasise the progress made in quality sound.

His retail shop was originally at 16-18 Howe Street and later at 37-39 London Road until September 1962 when he opened a new three storeys high store at 41-49 London Road, Derby.

Victor had three studio’s in his establishment. These were not studio’s in a conventional recording sense but spaces for recitals and demonstrations but he did have recording facilities. In amongst these recording facilities was a recording cutting machine and it was here groups could cut a demo record in a rudimentary way. The band would set up with a couple of microphones around the room and a recording would be lathe cut as it was performed live. From novelty to choirs and for an affordable price you could produce a record. St Marks Church of Francis Street, Derby made a 78rpm record there in the late 1940’s and it became a place to visit for the local sixties youth generation as they embanked on their embryonic pop journeys.

Some of these early sixties records featured Derby, Leicester and Nottingham beat groups as they made their own demo discs to try and further their careers. From Nottingham there was The Beaconsville Rhythm & Blues and Trenchard. S, the Gill Ellis Four from Derby, the Farinas from Leicester (soon to become Family) and 4 By Four from the Stapleford/Long Eaton area.

Hear both The Beaconsville Rhythm & Blues and Trenchard.S. on the John Maslen page.

Hear The Farinas on youtube Bye Bye Johnny. Hear All You Gotta Do & Twist & Shout