Great Record Shops - Piccadilly Records in Manchester
Piccadilly Records
Smithfield
Buildings, 53 Oldham Street, Manchester M1 1JR
01618
398008
Monday-Saturday
10am-6pm
Sunday
11am-5pm
Established
1978
Stock:
Vinyl, CD, Merchandise, Tickets, T-Shirts
Piccadilly
Records prospered in the post-punk 1980s, selling a mixture of rock, pop, indie
and alternative music. In 1990 the current management took over and continued
to build upon its reputation as one of the world’s best independent record
shops. In 1997 the shop moved to its current location in the vibrant Northern
Quarter area of Manchester.
Known
for its passionate support of new music and especially the local scene,
Piccadilly Records started life as Edwin P. Lees, a white goods retailer
selling fridges and washing machines, with a chain of shops throughout the
North West.
In
1978, they opened a record department in the Manchester branch based in the
Piccadilly Plaza and the Piccadilly Records brand was born.
As
the record department established itself, they started employing the store’s
most knowledgeable customers to work there. That is how the current owners
Laura Spencer and Darryl Motorhead, came on board. Laura nearly didn’t start at
all. She had a dental appointment before she was due to start work on her first
day and, while the dentist was working on her teeth, he dropped a file, which
Laura swallowed. She was packed off to casualty to get the piece of metal
removed from her stomach. After an x-ray, Laura was informed that the file
would come out naturally when she went to the toilet, and no operation was
necessary. On her next visit to the dentist, she noticed he had a file attached
to a finger chain.
In
January 1983, the Edwin P. Lees chain closed, making all the staff redundant.
The staff took out bank loans, signed on to the government-based Enterprise
Allowance Scheme, which provided valuable financial support, and re-opened
Piccadilly Records in a new location on Brown Street.
One
of the first things they did was to change the antiquated filing system used in
the old shop. Most record shops would file records under the band or artist’s
name. But for some reason Piccadilly had always filed records by catalogue
number. This system only worked smoothly when the customer brought the record
to the counter. If somebody asked for a record by its title or the name of an
artist, the staff would need to look up the catalogue number for a record they
had filed away. If anyone needs to know the catalogue number of an independent
record from the mid-1980s, ask the team at Piccadilly. Hundreds of the numbers
are ingrained in their memories. Should any of them appear on Mastermind, Catalogue Numbers of 1980s
Records would
be
their best bet for a specialist subject.
The
mid 1990s was a booming time for the shop. At the height of the Madchester
scene, it was common for them to order around 750 copies of a new 12-inch
single by the Stone Roses. Nowadays they would deem a new release a good seller
if it sold 10 copies.
One
of the successes of this period was the “Cool as Fuck” T-shirts and hoodies
produced by the band Inspiral Carpets. At the band’s peak the shop would sell
around 20 a day. The only problem was that they were popular with shoplifters,
so a decision was made to hang them from the ceiling out of reach – from most
customers, but not all. The legendary basketball stars Harlem Globetrotters,
who were in Manchester for an exhibition match, called in, and effortlessly
reached up to pull down the hoodies. The whole squad bought one, which made for
quite a sight as they walked out of the shop.
The
saddest day in the shop’s history was June 15,1996. A red and white Ford truck
was parked on Corporation Street, outside the Marks & Spencer store. CCTV
footage showed the truck abandoned on yellow lines by two hooded men. Within three minutes a traffic warden had
issued the vehicle with a parking ticket. At 9:43 a.m. Granada TV Studios
received a telephone call claiming that there was a bomb in the car that would
explode in one hour. The caller had an Irish accent and gave a code word so
that police knew the threat was genuine. Thousands of people were evacuated
including the staff and customers of Piccadilly Records. They were moved to King Street where they watched
the events unfold.
The
bomb disposal unit arrived and estimated that the truck contained a 3,000lb
bomb. They attempted to defuse the bomb
using a remote-controlled device, but they ran out of time. The bomb exploded
at 11.17 a.m. initiating an estimated £1 billion damage. Marks & Spencer and the iconic sky
bridge connecting it to the Arndale Shopping Centre along with neighboring
buildings were destroyed. Piccadilly Records was one of the businesses badly
damaged, all the windows being blown out. Due to structural damage caused by
the bomb it was two weeks before the staff were allowed back to survey the
damage. It took another two weeks for the shop to get up and running
again.
As
is often the case, the insurance company policy did not pay them as much as
expected and in a double whammy their premiums more than doubled. The team took
stock of the situation and decided to move to a cheaper part of town. They
found suitable premises in Oldham Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter where
they have remained to the present.
Stocking
an across-the-board variety of genres including indie, disco, funk, house,
Balearic, psych and everything in between, Piccadilly has a wealth of
undiscovered music available on both vinyl and CD. Though this could be a daunting
prospect, each release features an entertaining, informative and occasionally
insane review by a different member of staff, intended to guide you towards
your new jam. And if you’re still not sure, you’re welcome to give anything a
spin on the in-store listening decks.
With
an emphasis on friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic service, the Piccadilly
staff enjoy nothing more than across-the-counter conversations about
long-forgotten janglers, recommending their latest obsessions or naming that
“one dance tune you heard in the club last week.” This fervour for new music is
reflected in their annual Best of Year
booklet, an essential compendium of their favourite LPs, compilations,
reissues, box sets and singles.
The
Piccadilly team can be proud of their efforts, because despite some stiff
competition they are the city’s most famous independent record shop and a must
visit for any vinyl fan heading to the North West.
In
recent years, they have been voted Best Independent Record Store at the
prestigious Music Week awards and
Best Record Store at Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards. They have also
featured in The Observer’s World’s
Best Shops, The Guardian’s Best
Record Shops and at No.1 in The
Independent’s Top 50 UK Independent Record Shops.
Top tip – If you
would like to know the full story behind Piccadilly Records, pick up a copy of The Piccadilly Records Book, by Michael
and Gwen Riley Jones, an excellent account which was published to celebrate 25
years of the shop. It is on sale in the shop.
220 independent record shops are featured in The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen
https://recordstoreday.co.uk
The
books of Graham Jones are available in record shops or online. The latest book
The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen' has been turned in to a
film. It is released on 13 April on DVD and is available in record shops.
Distributed by Proper Music.
www.thevinylrevivalfilm.com
@Revival_Vinyl
For
film screenings and talks contact Graham at graham@lastshopstanding.co.uk
Some of this account doesn't ring true for me. I recall Piccadilly Records late 1970s shop very well. It was opposite the main bus station in Piccadilly square on the ground floor of the Piccadilly Plaza, Parker Street. I bought dozens of records from the place, not least the jazz and classical basement section. Edwin P Lees still had a record outlet within the Piccadilly Plaza, and also had Marshall's Record Centre on the ground floor of the other side, on New York Street. Edwin P Lees was trading until at least 1986 because I bought a couple of classical box sets from them, and I have the receipts to back up my memory. So they couldn't have gone bust in 1983.
ReplyDeleteMy recollection is that the shop then moved to Market street around the early 90s. I recall that I bought a stack of my first CDs from the Market Street shop in 1993. I was still regularly buying records from Manchester throughout this period. But I am certain they did not move to Brown street in 1983. That is simply not correct. Did you mean 1993? That might make sense?
As for friendly staff - I had the worst experience ever when I bought the Beatles MMT double EP around 1984. It obviously didn't meet with her tastes - but I bitterly regret not telling her to **** and to have taken my trade elsewhere.
As an academic historian, I think the history of records shops is a very worthwhile subject, but it needs to be accurate!
DR JP