See also Disc Imports Ltd.
"I ventured into this place called Rare Records on John Dalton Street in Manchester, I went into the basement and I remember to this day it was like a sea of future happiness. I'd never seen so many old 45s, all in covers, really well organised. It was a defining moment for me because it gave me somewhere to remember physically and mentally for a few years until The Smiths were formed. I bought The Monkees' Valerie, I'm Not Your Stepping Stone because I knew the Pistols covered it, and the Isley Brothers' This Old Heart Of Mine with Behind A Painted Smile on the other side and that kicked off a relationship with Tamla Motown which I've had to this day."
- Johnny Marr, Mojo 184 March 2009
Comments
Dave Harwood
20 Nov 2023 at 05:50
I found this advert in the 'Manchester Evening News' dated 21st August 1958: “RARE RECORDS LTD. 5-7 BARTON SQUARE (BETWEEN ST. ANN'S SQUARE AND DEANSGATE), MANCHESTER 2. Tel: DEAnsgate 3265. OPEN 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (EVERY DAY EXCEPT SUNDAY).”
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Name: Brent Cunliffe.
Comment: The Marr boy is correct - the basement was the place for killer soul singles. I never knew James Brown released that many - There Was a Time, my first purchase. The younger of the store guys (Steve?) went on to promote some wonderful Saturday night gigs at the old original Band On The Wall club. Until Goldmine Records this was THE shop for soul fans in central Manchester.
Name: Steve Forster
Comment: Blimey, that was me that worked in Rare Records. I promoted gigs for the New Manchester Review at Rafters and Band On The Wall (also wrote for NMR) before working full-time for Band On Wall in the 1980s. Happy to see we may have helped Johnny Marr's musical education. A great shame record shops seem to be dying out now. I now work as a publicist based in Norwich.
(15 January 2013)
Name: Cliff Lee
Comment: Aznavour EP in a charity shop with a Rare Records sticker on the back that says they were also in Barton Arcade, round the corner a bit... was that pre-John Dalton Street?
(2018)
Name: Gareth Williams
Comment: Rare Records started on Oxford Road Station Approach in the fifties. They specialised in Hi-Fi and classical records. From there they moved to Barton Arcade with classical records on the ground floor and Hi-Fi in the basement. They branched out into pop and opened the John Dalton Street shop.
(2023)