Birthday boy Don Tuckwell, who is celebrating his 87th birthday today. Picture: Marguerite McKinnon.
One of Wagga’s most enduring retailers, Don Tuckwell, is still spinning discs today as he celebrates his 87th lap around the sun.
Born in Cootamundra on 19 June 1938, he was around two years old when he moved to Wagga, where he found his rhythm in music, and lifelong groove as a drummer.
“In my last year of primary school I played the kettle drum and led all the primary schools of Wagga and district down from Fitzmaurice Street over the Wollundry bridge, heading into Baylis Street in 1950,” he said.
Starting in his teens, Don kept time as the drummer for the Wagga City Brass Band, then put his paradiddle prowess to perfection playing for local dance band “The Riverina R-Jays” at the Coconut Grove nightspot in the Wonderland Theatre, in Wonderland Lane, which was named after the theatre.
The Riverina R-Jays supported many acts that came to town, including Roy Orbison, Johnny O’Keefe, and Digger Revell and the Denvermen.
“Honestly, I can’t remember them all,” Don confided.
“When you’ve played music for 70 out of the 87 years, there’s been a bloody hell of a lot of them.
“At one point, Prime TV tried to do a local version of Johnny Young’s Young Talent Time, and we played on that.
“Music was always part of my life.
“I worked for two other people since I was a teenager, but in the mid 80s when I was pretty old, I started my own business.”
Don Tuckwell has worked non-stop since he was a teenager at The Clef Retrovision in the Riverina Plaza on Berry Street and the Haberechts Electrical store at 78 Baylis Street.
“When Wagga first started the City to Lake run, Haberechts gave a flamin’ Betacord video to the winner. They were worth a fortune,” Don said.
Love arrived quickly for him. Straight after leaving high school in November 1953, he started work at the department store Kelly and Cunninghams, where he met the love of his life Noreen, a Lake Albert girl. They married in 1959.
“It was a bloody work romance, yes,” Don said.
They went on to have three daughters: Debra, Mandy and Jodie.
The 1980s were a great time to be in the record business, and Don branched out on his own with Don Tuckwell’s Audio at 78 Baylis Street. Back then, Wagga already had several record stores, but business was so good, Don had five staff.
His other passion was touch football, and Don helped build the sport up to strong numbers.
Time passed and video killed the radio star, then streaming slayed the seventy-eights and discs, so Don Tuckwell downsized and relocated to the arcade at 40 Baylis, where he still works six days a week, selling records, CDs and DVDs.
“Wagga is a bloody brilliant place,” he said.
To celebrate his 87th birthday, Don will be in his store for the day, before his “big girls” take him out for a meal.
“Nothing fussy. Whatever comes along,” Don said.
“I used not to say much about age, but I’ve been starting to say a bit about (getting older) lately.”
