John Reynolds's music store in Adelaide a friendly mecca for local and international drummers from 1968
John Reynolds was a drummer in bands such as The Dominoes and Frank Sebastian Review before opening his store in a former church in Waymouth Street, Adelaide, in 1968.
Drum stars such as Chester Thompson from Genesis, Gregg Bissonette from the David Lee Roth Band, Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Simon Phillips from The Who and Roy Burns and Dave Weckl performed and answered questions at clinics conducted by Adelaide’s legendary John Reynolds Music City.
Drummer John Reynolds founded the business in 1968 in Waymouth Street, near Light Square, Adelaide, with a focus on drum kits before it was sold, rebranded, rebought and reopened over 50 years. At one stage, John Reynolds Music City was the biggest drum store in the southern hemisphere and renowned around the globe in drumming circles.
John Stephens ran the store’s drum department from 1978 to 2013 and coordinated regular drum clinics that attracted the biggest names in world drumming.
Inducted into the South Australian music hall of fame in 2015, John Reynolds was a prominent drummer himself, playing in bands such as The Dominoes and Frank Sebastian Review. He once set a world record by drumming nonstop for 82 hours.
His store, opened on an old church site in 1968, became a meeting place for drummers; somewhere to get their kits repaired free of charge.
Reynolds sold the business in 2006 to national music chain Allans to become one of their Billy Hyde stores. When Allans Billy Hyde chain sunk under debt, with the loss of 25 jobs at Allans Music in Gawler Place, Adelaide, John Reynolds returned to business at the Waymouth Street store, keeping on the 14 Billy Hyde staff.
John Reynolds Music City finally went into administration in 2017, a symptom of the decline of the live music scene and online shopping.
In 2020, demolition started on the building that housed John Reynolds Music City to make way for The Cullinan, a $106 million twin-tower apartments building.
