The 1980s brought with it the CD and what seemed to be the death of the phonograph cartridge. Demand dropped and the natural decision was taken to discontinue the product.

Jimmy Lawson was given the task of streamlining the department to concentrate only on audiophiles, but his research into possible new markets led him to attend DJ competitions run by the organisation known as the DMC (Disco Mix Club). He was surprised to find that many of the winners were using the M44-7s.

It was a rather incongruous picture. “If you can imagine a 60 year old gentleman”, says Bill Oakley, “white hair, wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt just showing up and hanging out - that was pretty much Jimmy.”

Jimmy approached the DJs:“Where did you get them? We don’t make these anymore. Why are you using them?”

“Oh these things are great! They stick to the record like glue and we get them in the Philippines and Japan. We bring them back here by the suitcase-load and sell them to our buddies for $150 in the street”.

Ritchie Desuasido (aka DJ Yogafrog), member of DJ crew ‘The Invisibl Skratch Piklz’, confirmed this was happening in 1997 and that stocks had virtually run out: “On a trip to Japan, our stores [the outlets that sold their breaks records] informed us they had the last batch. I personally bought them all.”

You can see some of the footage on the Youtube video ‘Turntable TV 4’. QBert exclaims to the camera: “You’ll never ever see this fuckin' needle in history!”

So Jimmy naturally saw an opportunity relaunch the needle, but he had to convince the company. Firstly, he took engineer Bob Kita to New York to see Roc Raida do his turntablism body tricks. Then he flew DJ QBert into Shure’s HQ to introduce turntablism to the executives in the boardroom itself.

QBert says: “I remember that! They were looking and calling people in the room to check out why their needles are selling again... They never saw skratching and were like... "Come in here Bob, you gotta see this! Go call Mary too!"

And so it was that Jimmy “Needlz” Lawson single-handedly brought the 44-7 back into production with the entire marketing strategy based around turntablism before any other manufacturers had really cottoned on to the idea.

Now, instead of streamlining, the phonograph department now grew, with each new addition taking on the “Needlz” moniker. Greg Riggs became Greg Needlz who would then become mentor to Bill Oakley and together they became known as the Needlz Brotherz.

Shure was the first to bring artist endorsements into the world of turntablism which Yogafrog and QBert’s company, Thudrumble, helped to coordinate. Yogafrog says: “We brought ISP, Beat Junkies, ATrak, X-Ecutioners, PTrix, and Magic Mike on board to help reintroduce the needles. It really made a powerful impact back into the market.”

It was not only good for Shure. It proved a powerful injection for the turntablism movement, lifting the status and visibility of the artists and, most of all, giving them commercial confidence.

But not everyone was entirely happy with the way this was happening. Tony Prince, head of the DMC, says:

“It was a great move on their [Shure’s] part although I rankled that they were dealing with our champions without working directly through us. All equipment companies do this even today and it hurts when we are struggling financially to keep the events alive to see everyone capitalising on our initiative somewhat through the back-door. But hey, that’s life and it’s good for the DJs they use.”

Shure and the DMC formed a strong bond in 1997 when the 44-7 relaunch happened to coincide with the end of an exclusivity deal the DMC had with Stanton, a rival phono cartridge company.

Prince says that, ever since then, they have been strong international allies over the years. He paints the picture of a mutually beneficial, almost conjoined, relationship: “The M44-7 held the grooves better than any other stylus,” he says. “It was irresistible for the championships to improve. They developed deep roots with our American office and branches around the world. We needed each other.”

Jimmy is remembered fondly by Bill, not just as an excellent businessman, but also as a “great human being”.

“He was open-minded and just fascinated with how our phono cartridge products worked. He took a lot of interest in the art [of DJing], he was genuinely appreciative of the DJ and the artform so he kind of built a relationship with members of those crews and realised that there was something starting here.”

After ascending to prominence with the jukebox and rock ‘n’ roll, then almost disappearing into the analogue abyss created by the CD, turntablism and hip-hop had given the 44-7 a new lease of life. Like the groove of a record, the 44-7 was expertly riding the peaks and valleys of music’s violent evolution.