Playing old 78s on a wind-up gramophone, Vintage DJ Tilly Shaw talks to Ruth Addicott about her love for old music

MOST DJs take pride in their equipment and Tilly Shaw, from Darlington, is no different. Instead of rocking up with digital mixers, high-tech decks and a built-in sampler, though, Tilly uses two 80- year-old HMV wind-up gramophones.

A vintage DJ, performing under the name of Seventy Eight Spin, Tilly plays 78 records offering a true nostalgia trip back to the 40s, 50s and 60s.

DJs have used twin decks for continuous play for decades, Jimmy Savile claimed to be the first in 1947 when he was reported to have had two single decks welded together. Like other DJs in the years that followed, he used discs made of shellac, which were played at 78rpm (revolutions per minute).

Tilly’s fascination began when she found an old Frank Sinatra 78 in an antique shop and didn’t have anything to play it on. She scoured auctions and secondhand shops for a gramophone and it went from there. She now owns more than 1,600 old records (taking up most of the spare room) along with four picnic gramophones, one horned gramophone and four vintage record players allowing her to play early vinyl from the 50s and 60s.

To complete the collection, she has also got a statue of the iconic HMV dog. “He’s called Nipper. We found him in an antique shop and I had to have him, so he sits on the table with me,” she says.

The gramophones don’t have a volume or amplification control. The sound is adjusted by using different needle types or by putting a muffler into the horn or sound box to reduce the volume (which is where the term “put a sock in it” came from). Original gramophones can range from £80 to as much as £300 depending on the colour and quality.

“I play them at least once a day,” she says.

“The most difficult part was getting hold of the needles and finding someone who still makes them. Eventually, we found someone in Cornwall and we now buy 1,000 at a time.” The other challenge was getting the volume loud enough to accommodate modern venues. With the help of music shops, a sound engineer and various sound tests, it’s now been resolved with a discreet amplification system, which means she can play in large areas, halls and open spaces.

Tilly’s collection includes all the main recording artists of the time, from Al Johnson, Glenn Miller and Gracie Fields to Vera Lynn and Marilyn Monroe.

It also spans the rock’n’roll era, featuring Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly.

WITH the last of the shellac discs produced in the late 1950s, 78s are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Made from ground slate and the shell of the shellac beetle, Tilly points out the discs are very brittle and break easily – one of the main reasons why they were replaced with vinyl. “Sometimes you put a record on and it’ll begin to slow down half way through.

You have to change the needle for every side,” she says.

Most of the records come from auctions, online and secondhand shops. Others come from friends who’ve been clearing out their homes. “I’ve got some that were in an old barn and were covered in cobwebs,” she says.

“I tried to brush them and wash them and let them dry naturally so as not to wipe any of the dust into the grooves – and they still play. A lot of them have been in cellars or lofts for years and some people are glad to pass them on to a good home.”

Tilly comes from a musical background and began learning the piano at the age of five. She first started playing records on gramophones for friends and family and elderly residents where her parents lived, but as word spread about her “talking machines”, as they were once known, she’s had requests nationwide.

She’s played at both the Baltic and The Sage Gateshead, and The Georgian Theatre, in Richmond, as well as at wedding receptions, private parties and small events with Age UK.

As much as she loves DJ-ing, it’s something she does in her spare time. Tilly also runs a business pressing flowers for special occasions – a Victorian art which has become popular with brides wanting to preserve their wedding bouquets.

“I’ve always had an interest in vintage, I collect vintage clocks and clothes and love old films,” she says. “There is a huge vintage revival at the moment.

We like to reminisce about how things used to be – you don’t just hear the gramophone, you can smell it.”