Shopping for Music in the North West of England
Skeleton Records has a long history, opened by John Weaver in 1971 – and described as a patchouli scented Head shop that specialised in rare imports , underground press and hippy paraphernalia. The name of the shop was apparently taken from a Syd Barrett song – If It’s in You (“Skeleton Kissed a Steel Rail”). […]
Moving further afield into Greater Manchester, Tameside we thought was the only GM borough that didn’t have at least one place to buy music, however it turns out we were wrong! Music and Movies Exchange operate out of a small unit in the Clarendon shopping centre in Hyde. The shop has been trading for 18 […]
Described by legendary Liverpool music writer Paul Du Noyer as “the semi-official control room of Liverpool music” – it’s probably a bit of cliche to describe Probe Records as a Liverpool institution but…it really is. Founded by Geoff Davis in 1971, Probe has supplied Liverpudlians, nervous students and unsuspecting tourists with their musical needs through […]
Just around the corner from Oldham Street you’ll find Vinyl Revival. They’ve been here since 1997 and sell a mixture of new and secondhand records on CD and Vinyl, plus DVDs. They sell all sorts of stuff but they also specialise in Manchester music from the 1960s to present day – so you’ll find plenty […]
A bit futher afield, but well worth a visit is X-Records of Bolton, Lancashire. You can get to Bolton by train in about 15-20 minutes so you could easily do a quick detour during your Manchester record-shopping frenzy. The USP of this shop is its massive stock of back catalogue. There is a database on […]
**** UPDATE March 2019: MANCHESTER FOPP IS CURRENTLY CLOSED! **** Following the rescue of HMV (who own Fopp) this was one of the branches being closed down. The HMV store in the Arndale Centre is still open but currently the Fopp branch has the shutters down. However at the time of writing none of the […]
Where do you start with this one? As much a Manchester institution as a pint of Holts or Chips n’ Gravy! From its opening days in the shabby Piccadilly Arcade through to the rather grand Brown Street store and its current location on Oldham St. Since 1978 Piccadilly records has served generations of shoegazers, rude […]
* Note that Beatin’ Rhythm have now moved to Prestwich – This review and photos are of their original store in the Northern Quarter Manchester * This is the absolute Premier store for Rock’n’Roll, 60s Pop, Funk, Doo-Wop, Girl groups, Rare and Northern Soul, Surf, Psych, Rhythm n’ Blues, Film Themes and more. The guys […]
