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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(in full
here )