VISIONARY electronics expert Mat Mathias gave many Huddersfield people their first taste of live and loud music.

His wife ran a sweet and tobacco shop in King Street in Huddersfield town centre.

But in the back Mat had a recording studio and many people who tried to find fame in the early 1960s recorded there.

It can now be revealed that Matamp kept all the master tapes, along with the original Connoisseur disc-cutter.

Only six are left in the world and Matamp has two of them. They are reputed to be of better quality than the equipment used by The Beatles at the Abbey Road studios.

A book is now being written about the history of Matamp and people involved in those early recording sessions are urged to step forward to help the research.

It may well be that their old recordings still exist. Jeff Lewis can put them on tape or CD for anyone who helps the book project.

He said: "They may also be able to identify people on the many photo we have."

In the 1970s and 80s Matamp provided the sound system in the White Lion pub, a major rock venue in Huddersfield town centre.

Jeff said: "It was just to give them the best chance possible to show what they could do."

Mat - who died aged 66 in 1989 - came to Britain in 1939 as a Jewish refugee. His parents later died in the Nazi Holocaust.

He was always a radio enthusiast and founded a radio engineering company called Radiocraft in 1945. This evolved into amps and sound systems under his tradename, Matamp.

* Anyone who can help the book project should phone Matamp on 01484 854883.