IT WAS interesting to see the retirement photo of Banks' music director Ken Stabler (March 7). I was a raw schoolboy in 1958 and had also applied for a job at Banks at the same time as Ken so we may have answered the same advert.

I was a regular visitor to the shop during the next 20 years, buying song copies for all the 60s and 70s hits - most of which I still have - so Ken became a familiar face behind the counter.

Rachmaninov didn't survive those 45 years quite as well. His second piano concerto is now a lot of crumpled separate pages in my music cupboard as page turning was never my strong point. Anyway, good luck in retirement Ken and stay active.

Allan Denney,

Catesby House,

Holgate Road, York.

Updated: 12:10 Tuesday, March 19, 2002