“I worked at Rare Records 1980-81 up to the time they closed & moved to Wilmslow. I loved working there. I worked with Malcolm and Maggie.. wish I could remember their surnames. They were great and used to speak about Ian Curtis a lot, as both had worked there with him, it was only a few months after he'd died so the memories were all brought back. The basement had closed then which was a shame, but all the listening booths were still there.. it was like a ghostly 1960's record shop.
There was a assistant manager called Mr Scrivens, who's 1940's suit my dad reckoned had been his demob one.. he was always on at me to polish the wooden record browsers... it was nicely old fashioned and there were lots of regular customers. Some US imports, but loads of people came in disappointed that we didn't really sell anything that was rare and as we were told to always take the record out of the sleeve to show the customer, I remember a lot of people assuming the records were 2nd hand which they weren't. I remember getting into trouble playing Monty Python's Contractual Obligation to a full shop.
Another big memory is ordering on the phone one morning in December John Lennon's Just like Starting over one morning in December and the managers son in the Wilmslow branch phoned me to tell me John Lennon was dead, I didn't think his 'joke' was funny and said but of course it was no joke. Everyone wanted to buy Imagine then, but it wasn't available on a single at that time.
Some great comments here bringing back memories of Manc record shops, I loved Robinsons on Blackfriars Street & Yanks on Chepstow Street. Does anyone remember Bradleys that was in the Arndale. Malc from Rare Recs went onto work here, there was nothing he didn't know about music.. he was like a walking 'Music Master' which was the big reference book on hand to research record titles. I learnt a lot from him.
I've started a facebook page to try and make contact with staff & regulars I knew there and to get more info on... please like if you're interested: www.facebook.com/RareRecords36JohnDal...”
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There was a assistant manager called Mr Scrivens, who's 1940's suit my dad reckoned had been his demob one.. he was always on at me to polish the wooden record browsers... it was nicely old fashioned and there were lots of regular customers. Some US imports, but loads of people came in disappointed that we didn't really sell anything that was rare and as we were told to always take the record out of the sleeve to show the customer, I remember a lot of people assuming the records were 2nd hand which they weren't. I remember getting into trouble playing Monty Python's Contractual Obligation to a full shop.
Another big memory is ordering on the phone one morning in December John Lennon's Just like Starting over one morning in December and the managers son in the Wilmslow branch phoned me to tell me John Lennon was dead, I didn't think his 'joke' was funny and said but of course it was no joke. Everyone wanted to buy Imagine then, but it wasn't available on a single at that time.
Some great comments here bringing back memories of Manc record shops, I loved Robinsons on Blackfriars Street & Yanks on Chepstow Street. Does anyone remember Bradleys that was in the Arndale. Malc from Rare Recs went onto work here, there was nothing he didn't know about music.. he was like a walking 'Music Master' which was the big reference book on hand to research record titles. I learnt a lot from him.
I've started a facebook page to try and make contact with staff & regulars I knew there and to get more info on... please like if you're interested: www.facebook.com/RareRecords36JohnDal...”