Over on the border of Whalley Range and Moss Side, for over twenty years sat a tiny little green shed full to the brim with dusty 7, 10, and 12″ records.
A place of myth and legend, by all accounts, the shop was just as mysterious and unconventional as the man who ran it – an Irishman by the name of Mike.
Filled with box after sagging box, all overflowing with dusty vinyl, and with perhaps two square feet of floor space to stand in, the Record Shack was famously filled with thousands of records in no discernable order, mostly collected from charity shops and car boot sales.
At the door would sometimes sit a selection of racks with an A-Z of soul, funk and pop albums, with more shelves bursting with hundreds of 7″ records mostly dedicated to pop from the 80s and 90s.
Elsewhere, Mike’s own personal love of jazz was reflected in the massive collection, which reportedly spanned every genre all the way from the 1930s to 1990s.
His shop was tiny, really tiny, and we’ve heard from quite a few who visited that he wasn’t normally that pleased to see you in there, either.
“I was interested to find out what was at the back […] so I was like, erm, ‘what’s the records at the back of the shop?’ and he got really annoyed and was like ‘why does everyone always ask that? What’s wrong with the records at the front?’
Konny Kon, Children of Zeus
Rather, many speculated that the store functioned as an outlet for his own record-hoarding tenencies, and that he just happened to be there, as opposed to being on hand to help you actually find anything.
Not one to be held down by such conventional norms as opening and closing times, Mike opened the Record Shack as and when he liked. Sometimes that would be two o’clock in the afternoon, sometimes it might be five or six at night.
Manchester DJ and musician Konny Kon of Children of Zeus told The Manc: “He was always grumpy, he’d just turn up at 2pm if he wanted to.
“Sometimes he’d just open whenever he wanted in the afternoon, and it was like you were doing him a massive disservice by actually being in the shop and buying anything like he would get pissed off, like he didn’t want people to be in there.
“One day I went in there and if you haven’t been in there the back of his shop you just couldn’t reach anything because it was just records, piled on top of records, piled on top of records, like three stacks deep, like you couldn’t get there.
“So one day […] I was interested to find out what was at the back […] so I was like, erm, ‘what’s the records at the back of the shop?’ and he got really annoyed and was like ‘why does everyone always ask that? What’s wrong with the records at the front?’
“And I think that kind of sums up his whole shop.”
This disregard for opening times meant that even some of the city’s most avid crate diggers never actually got a chance to step inside.
Andy Newens, a vinyl enthusiast and long-time Manchester DJ, told The Manc: “I went many times but never saw it open.
“I often wondered what was in there and always just ended up going to Chicken Run instead.”
Those who managed to get inside would find piles on piles on piles of records, with seemingly no system of management to them whatsoever. Still, it appears that Mike did know where things were – to the surprise of one visitor.
Whalley Range resident James Greenwood, a label owner and part of the Manchester DJ collective Supernature Disco, told The Manc: “I last visited the Record Shack just after the first easing of Covid restrictions when the pandemic had first hit.
“He’d set up a few records outside so I bought a couple of disco cheapies. Then I didn’t see it open again. I’d often see him walking that way but never to the Shack.
“I first moved to Whalley Range eight years ago and went in to see what sort of stuff he sold. The shop was total chaos and seemed to have zero order to it.
“I was looking for some KISS stuff at the time and asked if he had any in. He pointed at a stack in the far corner of the shop and said to me “just behind there on the bottom shelf should be some KISS albums” and sure enough there were.
“I was pretty stunned that he knew where to find stuff amongst all those stacks and shelves. Like I say, it seemed to have no order whatsoever.”
Now closed after some twenty-odd years, the RecordfShack still lives on in the memories of many of the city’s vinyl enthusiasts.
One avid vinyl blogger wrote of a visit: “A few times I’ve tried to befriend the owner in the vain hope that once in his inner circle he would lead me quietly to the hidden stash of rare records but by this visit I had accepted that this probably doesn’t exist and the shop is not so much a shop as a glorified storage unit for a pretty chronic hoarder.
“Maybe the holy grail does exist in the melee but I was happy to pick up “Dirty Cash” and a Candi Staton version of “Suspicious Minds” for £1 and move on.”
Another enthusiast who had visited the shop wrote online: “It sells records and it really is a shack! This is a place of myth and legend and to even offer opening times would be ridiculous.
“I love this place for its chaos, confusion, dust, dirt, randomness and just pure vinyl mania. Having chatted to the owner he has always had the vinyl bug and can’t stop collecting bag after bag of stuff with perhaps little saleable value but what the hell.
“I guess the scary truth is that when I’m his age perhaps my house will resemble this shop. I understand him …now is that a good or bad thing? We both also love Jazz…enough said!”
Do you have a memory of the Record Shack? If so, we’d love to hear it. Send your stories to us on Twitter @TheMancUk.
Country star Tyler Childers is coming to town for his biggest Manchester show to date
Danny Jones
US country music star Tyler Childers is returning to Manchester for his biggest ever show in this city, and tickets go on sale very soon.
Fresh off the back of his new album, Snipe Hunter – which was only just dropped back in July – the 34-year-old singer-songwriter is riding a fresh wave of excitement after years of hard work within the genre, mixing in plenty of classic bluegrass and folk into his modern take on the classic American sound.
As one of the most-streamed and well-respected contemporary country musicians on the scene right now, the Kentucky-born solo star and understated acoustic guitarist often falls into that category of your favourite artist’s favourite artist.
Now Tyler Childers is coming to our most legendary arena as part of his UK and European tour early next year, and we’ll certainly be queuing online for tickets.
As far as AO Arena shows booked in for the new year go, we’re very excited about this one.
His seventh studio album has been well-received by his die-hard followers and newcomers alike, delivering that same traditional Appalachian storytelling and hard-bitten humour, as well as plenty of attitude and anecdotal idiosyncrasies, not to mention plenty of vocal range as always.
Having not long come back from a pilgrimage to India, Lawrence County king teamed up with legendary producer Rick Rubin (along with some help from Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn) to create one of his most eye-opening, broad and best records yet.
Post-release, the Associated Press went on to label him “one of country music’s most compelling and unpredictable artists”, and we tend to agree.
The LP immediately spawned plenty of fan favourites, and we certainly have ours – and the video has definitely had a hand in it:
It may just be his best work yet.
Experimenting with his current unique take on country rock sound more than ever, you couldn’t ask for a better time to go and see him live.
Once again, Tyler Childers comes to the AO Arena in Manchester on Sunday, 8 March 2026, with an official pre-sale available via Three+ from 9am on Wednesday, 10 September.
As for general admission, tickets go live at the same time on the following Friday (12 Sep); you can get ready to grab yours HERE.
We don’t know about you, but we’re very much enjoying our country moment at the minute…
The Last Dinner Party have announced a huge 35-date tour, including a big Manchester gig
Danny Jones
Multi-award-winning indie and alternative rock band, The Last Dinner Party, have just announced what is set to be one of their biggest globe-trotting tours ever, with a momentous Manchester gig included on the UK run.
The much-celebrated five-piece have revealed their latest run of shows will span the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe, Australia AND New Zealand, confirming a total of 35 live dates.
After coming somewhat under fire in 2024 following a series of cancelled concerts, the Londoners have responded in the best way possible: by putting their money where their mouth is and coming back with a bang ahead of their highly anticipated sophomore release.
We have every faith they’ll have the stamina to fulfil their live commitments this time around, and you best believe we’ll be going for tickets.
Speaking in the build-upto the release of the second album, From The Pyre – which is set to drop on 17 October – the band said of their latest material: “This record is a collection of stories, and the concept of album-as-mythos binds them.
‘The Pyre‘ itself is an allegorical place in which these tales originate, a place of violence and destruction but also regeneration, passion and light. The songs are character-driven but still deeply personal, a commonplace life event pushed to a pathological extreme.
“Being ghosted becomes a Western dance with a killer, and heartbreak laughs into the face of the apocalypse. Lyrics invoke rifles, scythes, sailors, saints, cowboys, floods, Mother Earth, Joan of Arc, and blazing infernos. We found this kind of evocative imagery to be the most honest and truthful way to discuss the way our experiences felt, giving each the emotional weight it deserves.”
Going on to describe the follow-up to their seminal debut, Prelude to Ecstasy (which saw them sweep up multiple BRIT and NME Awards, as well as a Mercury Prize nomination), as “darker, more raw and more earthy”, you’re definitely in for a heavily intellectualised experience with this one.
Their performances are certainly much more than a group of musicians getting up on stage too; having seen them last October ourselves, the LGBTQ+ icons definitely revel in the artistic expression of a live show, and have been praised for celebrating the female queer gaze too.
As you can see in the social post shared by the band, they’re about to have a very busy end to 2025, plus plenty of travelling in the new year, but for now, you can see The Last Dinner Party’s upcoming UK tour dates in full down below:
14 November – 3Arena, Dublin
17 November – Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
20 November – O2 City Hall, Newcastle
23 November – Bridlington Spa, Bridlington
26 November – Aviva Studios, Manchester
29 November – The Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
30 November – The Prospect Building, Bristol
2 December – Utilita Arena, Cardiff
4 December – Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth
5 December – Brighton Centre, Brighton
7 December – O2 Academy Brixton, London
8 December – O2 Academy Brixton, London
Yes, set to visit Aviva Studios – a.k.a. the home of Greater Manchester’s ever-growing artistic hub – for the very first time, we couldn’t think of a more fitting act to play the stunning dynamic space.
General admission for The Last Dinner Party tour goes live from 10am GMT on Friday, 12 September, but fans who pre-order the album can gain early access.
You can get ready to grab your tickets right HERE.