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The new Elvis-obsessed record shop on Bury Market selling old-school rock and indie favourites

Long live The King.

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 19th May 2023

A new record shop has opened on Bury Market selling old-school indie favourites – but according to its owners, nothing they have sells better than Elvis.

The brilliantly-named Off The Record has been a fixture at the market for several years, first popping up as a stall in the market’s open area before moving into its very own permanent shop front earlier this year.

Owners Bobby Horrocks and Angie Bessaad have a passion for music themselves and spend their free time scouring car boots and charity shops to build up their collection of 7, 10 and 12″ records.

They also buy collections of records from others and tell us they often have people come into the store to do just that.

Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group

In boxes at the front of the shop, you can pick up 7″ singles for as little as £1 each, whilst inside there are rows on rows of boxes housing albums for £6 a pop.

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Elsewhere, a vintage-looking old radiogram and radio set are tucked into a corner, surrounded by stacks of records on all sides, a landline, and a CD and tape casette player.

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All for sale, not just display, it feels a little bit like stepping back in time – in the very best possible way.

At the back, there is floor-to-ceiling shelving housing hundreds if not thousands of tape casettes, DVDs and CDs, and – of course – there is plenty of Elvis on display alongside the likes of Blondie, The Jam and The Beat;es.

Owners Bobby Horrocks and Angie Bessaad. / Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group

Wwhilst there are a handful of indiie and punk rockers scanning the shelves when we pop our heads in, Angie tells us that the main attraction for nearly all their customers is The King.

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Apparently, they sell more of his records than anything else by a country mile. That explains the giant lifesize cut out of him at their front door, then, and a big sign of letters spelling out his name behind it.

“Over the last three years it’s taken over my life,” Bobby told the Bury Times earlier this year. 

“We have a lot of regular customers, it’s really changed our lives, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Long live the King eh. Especially here in Bury.

Featured image – The Manc Group

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Gig tickets, signed merch and more up for grabs in important Headstock charity fundraiser

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Gig tickets, signed merch and more up for grabs in important Headstock charity fundraiser

Some huge music-related prizes have been announced as part of a major charity fundraising campaign for the music industry.

Headstock, a Manchester-based music and mental health social enterprise, is running a Crowdfunder campaign with prizes including tickets to huge arena shows, signed merch, and loads more.

Headstock has announced the campaign to raise funds for the support of MUSIC 85258, a 24/7 confidential text support service launched last year to support those working in the music industry.

The text support service is run in partnership with Music Minds Matter and delivered by Shout.

Headstock’s mission since its inception has been to deliver music-led solutions to tackle the growing mental health crisis, both within the music industry and beyond.

The dedicated mental health text support service has already drummed up loads of support, including being signposted back-of-house in key venues like the AO Arena, Co-op Live, and Warehouse Project.

Now, Headstock is running a fundraiser campaign to keep this vital service thriving, pulling together some major prizes across multiple prize draws.

These prizes have been donated by local Manchester bands and venues, and include VIP Parklife tickets, VIP to shows at the AO Arena and Co-op Live, season passes for WHP, and signed merch from the likes of Elbow, Courteeners and New Order.

To enter each prize draw, make a donation to the Crowdfunder – the bigger your donation, the more entries you will receive.

You can see all the prizes up for grabs and make a donation below – or you can just donate to Headstock HERE.

All the prizes in the Headstock fundraiser

  • Aitch – A pair of tickets to see Aitch’s headline show at Mayfield Depot + 4x signed albums – HERE
  • Courteeners – 2x signed EPs (vinyl) – HERE
  • Elbow – 5x limited edition signed EPs (vinyl) – HERE
  • New Order – A promotional ‘Music Complete’ poster, signed by the band – HERE
  • Haciena – An original Hacienda poster from Christmas 1986 / New Year 1987 – donated by the Tony Wilson Archive – HERE
  • AO Arena – 2x VIP tickets to see Wolf Alice at AO Arena – HERE
  • Co-op Live – 2x VIP tickets to your choice of Co-op Live Show – HERE
  • WHP – A pair of Season Passes to WHP25 – HERE
  • Parklife – 2x pairs of VIP tickets to Parklife 2026 – HERE

All money raised will be donated to mental health charity, Shout, who deliver MUSIC 85258 – a free, confidential and 24/7 text support service for anyone working within the music industry.

MUSIC 85258 is a de-escalation service for anyone working in the music industry who is struggling with their mental health. It is a partnership between Headstock, Music Minds Matter and Shout, with Mental Health Innovations providing the underlying service through Shout’s network of trained volunteers. To use the service, anyone that is struggling simply needs to text the word “MUSIC” to 85258 to connect with a volunteer for in-the-moment support.

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Featured image: Headstock

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Richard Ashcroft announces all-North West lineup of support acts for Alexandra Palace headliner

Danny Jones Danny Jones Support acts for Richard Ashcroft Ally Pally lineup

Wigan’s finest, Richard Ashcroft, has announced an all-North-Western lineup for his upcoming headline show at ‘Ally Pally’.

The former Verve frontman is not only riding a fresh wave of popularity thanks to supporting Oasis on their incredible Live ’25 world tour, but also recently released his long-awaited new album, Lovin’ You.

Not just a Manc music icon but one of the biggest names to have come out of his borough, specifically, the legendary lyricist is finally getting more like the kind of recognition he deserves, and is making sure to pay that exposure forward in the best way possible.

He could have picked from all manner of big British acts as supports at Alexandra Palace, but Richard Ashcroft has chosen to keep flying the regional flag by picking a group he’s spent the last few months with, as well as a fellow Greater Manchester act.

That’s right: as well as signing up Liverpool’s very own Oasis Live ’25 openers, Cast, as one of the warm-up acts, the 54-year-old has also chosen another native Wigan artist in the form of The Lathums to join him for the momentous headline show.

Much-loved not only in their hometown but across Manchester and beyond, the indie favourites – who also released their latest studio LP, Matter Does Not Define, back in February – the young band are only getting better and becoming more established as time goes on.

Having already played the likes of the AO Arena here in Manchester and booked numerous big festival slots of the past few years, we reckon you can pretty much bank on them headlining this historic and bucket list venue for themselves in the future.

In terms of Cast, the scousers continue one of the busiest years for touring in their career by supporting ‘King Richard’, having followed up supporting ‘LG’ in 2024 to both Gallagher brothers over the summer.

As for Ashcroft himself, we’re glad to see him back releasing new music, and can confirm his seventh record is a great listen.

By no means our favourite, but just a taste of his latest sound.

Now, if you were wondering why we’re talking about this show over any of the other gigs (namely the Northern ones) on his upcoming UK run, it’s because most of the tour has now sold out.

His Co-op Live date was obviously the first to go, with Cardiff’s Principality Stadium going shortly after, and extra dates being added in the likes of London, Liverpool and over in Leeds.

If you do happen to be in the capital already or are willing to make a trip to London for the show, there are still some tickets left for Richard Ashcroft at Ally Pally in July 2026.

Cannot wait to hear how this sounds in that storied room:

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Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/Audio North

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