After all these years, it’s still the soundtrack to the lives of millions of people, the artform which changed the world...

Nobody can argue about the influence of rock and roll in the second half of the 20th century, a once in a millennium explosion of creative talent which shook society to its very foundations.

The forefathers of the 50s, from Chuck Berry to Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis, through to 60s pioneers such as Dylan, the Stones, Beatles and others, lit a blue touchpaper which still flares to this day, albeit of a slightly different hue.

The principal medium of delivery for those artists, who turned the world upside down and dragged America and the UK from drab post-war austerity into the glorious swinging sixties and beyond, was vinyl. A man who did more than most to bring the vinyl revolution to Birmingham died last week.

Jazz fanatic Morris Hunting was 82 years old, and was the founder of The Diskery, now just one of three vinyl stores in Birmingham.

The Diskery became a magnet for music-lovers from throughout the Midlands and further afield. Starting in Moor Street in 1952, it later relocated to Hurst Street before moving to its present home in Bromsgrove Street in 1972. 60 years on, it is still going strong, vindicating Morris Hunting’s early vision.

Just as it’s impossible to put a price on the lasting legacy of visionaries such as Herbert Austin on this region, so the shop that Morris Hunting founded will always remain an irreplaceable slice of Birmingham’s cultural heritage.

The Diskery will mean different things to thousands – probably tens of thousands – of different people. Music – in particular the 50s, 60s and 70s innovators – has the capacity to cut across time, evoking precious memories of childhood, adolescence, first love affairs, the lot.

CDs and the Internet may have largely seen off scratchy old vinyl but no technology can ever wipe out the sounds that shook the planet. Elvis blew away dull post-war conformity, Dylan’s early protest songs helped bring the Vietnam War to an end.

Morris Hunting did more than most to bring artists like Elvis and Dylan to the attention of Birmingham. Rock on Morris, wherever you are....