Best record shop ever???

Manchester was the absolute dogs bollox back in the day.

My favourites were EasternBlock, VE, Piccadilly (when it near the underground market area, now covered over with a tesco or sommet), SpinInn when it was down the lower market then up the street from Piccadilly, but the one I now miss most is M1. The crazy 'whispy' guys who looked like they were stoned on a regular basis, were class! and were as honest as the days were long, a fair price with no hype, everyone was a winner. Where are they now? Its a hiphop clothes shop now .

I used to really enjoy Manchester, but now, its all 'fake' and full of 'collectors' as far as tunes go in my opinion . No bargains really, and a bit moody .

Everywhere else was just shit in comparison to manchester. lol.

Sirius.

beat street .. by a mile .. . that place should still be open

george in "factory" is a great bloke, used to have the records in the back of the bong shop.

The bloke up stairs in afflecks was great though, I picked up my 1st copy of denise lopez for £20....u can't go wrong.

the top floor in afflecks has better records under the racks (for a quid) than the one above...recently picked up a q sounb ep and the ace shi-take "don't look back in anger"

MANC said:

was M1 the one on oldham st. down the steps with the top chatty blokes - it was the only one i felt comfortable singing lyrics to :$

btw anyone been in that fac record shop across the road from afflecks, had a quick look in (5 secs) don't look too bad

got a new job so i can start shoppin again, but i think fatcity will be my first port of call, i wanna get some old skool hip hip and funk reissues

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nah dont like that factory records mate stick to vinyl ex.. (i wish beat street was still open on tib st )
or e.bloc still sold old skool

Lets not forget the most excellent Manchester Underground Records and the then near by Corn Exchange.......before some IRA fekwit dicided semtex would give it a nice makeover.

Manchester underground was ace, they had some studio gear in a back room from what I remember, and you used to hear banging piano rocking out whenever somebody opened the studio door, lol. They had that fantastic plastic strips on the entrance door too....like you were delving in a secret tune store, lol.

My brother baught rare Sykick promo's. the rare Ultracynic white, the promo of Awesome 3 and loads of screamers like MANIC for under 20 quid! lol. Quite silly really!.

I knew they moved to the buiding that was Split Skates (coloseum now?) down the steps, but theyve gone now havent they?. There was also some obscure shops I never found, even to this day.
Sirius.

I posted this elsewhere, might as well stick it in here too:
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I remember one afternoon bunking off school to head down to Spin Inn records in Manchester, where MC Buzz B was to perform his first live gig, actually in the shop! I got there early, and watched them set up, and was shocked as it was the first time I'd seen Stu Allan, and you know the whole thing of Radio presenters you'd never seen, the minds eye makes up a description of them, which of course was blown away, I'd thought of him as actually looking like Chris Buckley, and Chris Buckley looking like Stu Allan (how odd eh?)

Trying to remember the names of the guys who used to run Spin Inn back then was it Russ and Ken? I know when it went pear shaped, one of them went on to start up Manchester Underground records, but sadly it lacked the same feel, there was something magical about Spin Inn and the people who visited it regularly - 'Proping up the counter in Spin Inn, you'd often see Stu Allan in the corner, taking requests for his next show' - very true that, and I always thought he was really down to earth and easy to talk to.

It really was a ritual for me, every Saturday and sometimes mid-weekdays (if I'd bunked off school again) I'd be down to Manchester to check out the latest sounds, and buy at least two 12"s a week, I remember being in Spin Inn and asking for Corporation Of One - The Real Life, and being told it was out of stock, then minutes later them getting a delivery and Ken (think that was his name) calling me back as I was just about to leave saying "hey, we've just got Corporation Of One!!!" they were really helpful and if you wanted to reserve something, they'd do it, no questions asked, they also didn't have any of the elitism that other shops had, where they seemed to sneer at people they thought didn't quite 'know as much as them' and would often tell you "sorry mate, we haven't got that" yet, half an hour later, they'd somehow manage to find a copy when a well-known DJ walked in.

Then again I think that attitude only really came about after Eastern Bloc moved from Afflecks Arcade and whilst they were there, again that felt like another magical shop, and I heard in there for the first time Hybrid 'Twisted Tambourine' which blew me away! When the shop moved over the road, it looked too new, too shiny, and felt very numb.

Another great shop was Piccadilly Records, who were originally situated in Piccadilly Plaza, and concentrated on Punk/Alternative and some Hip Hop, but I always remember their prices were really good - ahh the days where an import hip hop album was £5.99!

I felt their best location was Brown Street, as when they moved to there, they expanded and just as the House explosion kicked off, they started selling all that. You'd have 2 great shops closeby, cutting through the underground market to get to Spin Inn.

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nice link to your forum m8, lol.

I too used to record the dancier/rappier stuff off the top 40 in the early days and went mental for the rough hip hop sounds!. Also, likewise at school, I was the outcast into 'wierd' dance music whereas everybody else was into Bon Jovi, new kids on the block and other pap. There were a select handfull of us in the know back then and although we didnt tend to hang around much together in the same group, there was definately a special respect and knowing nod that we were into something special.

Theres too many vinyl hunters after the same tunes these days, it spoils my ventures out to record shops thesedays as you know its goona either be well pricey or some astute record dealer has rifled through the bargain racks at the crack of dawn.

Pehaps its just me, but although I still buy new house music, its so vast and 'common' that although the tunes are good tunes there isnt that 'spark' that was there in the early days.
For the first time in ages Im excited at some of the new dance music coming out, its getting quite good again on the underground scene I think. we seem to have bore the brunt of trumpet trance and are now remerging into something more fresher.

I hate it when record shops move, lol. There was one I used to go to that every time I went (say every 3 months) it had moved!!!! very confusing and worying that it had shut totally.

Beat Streat was fantastic. I even managed to get down the Cellar in there before where the B.I.T operation stemmed from and the extra stock was kept . Its a shame it went tits up, and a shame it closed the Bolton branch too. The manchester one was good, but short lived.

Vinyl Exchange - miles better than the second hand shops in London..

Underground Records Belfast!!

Underground Records in Belfast used to be in my eyes the Dogz Bollox in record shops, many a day spent in there with Pablo Gargano testing all the new tracks ready to mince heads at the next Hellraiser or Vengence!!

Bring it all back.... All is forgiven....... phones: phones: phones: phones: phones:

Jules031272 said:

Vinyl Exchange - miles better than the second hand shops in London..

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Has consistently been the best place for bargains, altho less so these days.. :|

Ive a couple of gripes with VE tho, its too small downstairs and they should get some more decks for listening to tunes. It gets on mi tits queueing up to listen to my 3 records...especially if some turkey has pulled out 3 soundtracks and wants to listen to every bloody bit of each album

Beat Street I found to be full of pretentious cunts, sorry to anyone who 'enjoyed' it's delights, but it weren't for me.

X Records, however, was superb, shame when they lost their vinyl section, ahhh memories...

RABBITCITY said:

beat Street !

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