Ode to Fat City

And so it came to be…rumours and whispers drifted across the late summer afternoons,  swirling around the Oldham Street detritus and buzzing anxiously through the windows of Manchesters’ soul brothers, beat junkies, funk merchants and just plain old believers. I consciously chose not to believe it, swatting away the ides of August with the Evil D’s and a back catalogue of Truth and Soul wax.

So the shop went and it was down to the basement, still trading Friday and Saturday, perhaps not as Fat, but hey many of us need to lose a few pounds. Three visits later and one quick cigarette break with Chris and it was gone, relocated to London in the back of Jazzman’s van.

So the Jazzman and our big city brethren get Fat City. What can never be traded however are the friends, joy, inspiration and moments created over the past 15 years. Chubby Grooves, Treva Whateva, Central Heating, Rae and Christian, Frying the Fat, First Priority, Tony D; so many grooves and faces which became friends and family. Relationships and pure love for the music built Fat City and that relationship followed me from hand shakes in Afflecks to the aforementioned fag break with Chris on the last day of trading. People come and go in our journey and I know that without Fat City my story would have been different and my shelves and soul considerably bereft.

Fat City take a bow as Manchester salutes you, now can we please have another soul and funk specialist asap.

Carl’s Top 5 Fat City purchases

1. [wpaudio url=”http://www.recordshopcity.co.uk/media/FatCity/J_Dilla__Time_Donut%20of%20the%20heart.mp3″ dl=0]
2. [wpaudio url=”http://www.recordshopcity.co.uk/media/FatCity/Madlib_The_Payback.mp3″ dl=0]
3. [wpaudio url=”http://www.recordshopcity.co.uk/media/FatCity/first%20priority_Jazz_Hypnosis.mp3″ dl=0]
4. [wpaudio url=”http://www.recordshopcity.co.uk/media/FatCity/jacobs_optical_stairway_Jacobs_optical_illusion.mp3″ dl=0]
5. [wpaudio url=”http://www.recordshopcity.co.uk/media/FatCity/Mayer_Hawthorne_Just_Aint_Gonna_work_out.mp3″ dl=0]