Vinyl Exchange opened in 1988 back when the Northern Quarter was merely a scruffy part of Manchester with reasonable rent. I'm pretty sure only Dry Bar and Afflecks Palace were around at the time.
Our shop deals mostly in second hand vinyl, CDs and DVDs with a small selection of books, selling through the shop itself and via our website but also through Discogs and Amazon.
Record Store Day has really helped to raise the profile of record shops over the last few years. We'd always found that we've been too busy on that day to actually take part, with so many folk are in town and in the mood to buy records, but this is the first year we've officially been able to be part of the day. It makes sense too now that our section with brand new vinyl has become so popular.
So, what vinyl is the most exchanged at Vinyl Exchange? These are the bands which sell really quickly - almost as soon as they hit the racks we sell out. It's actually a relatively unsurprising list of artists showing that people still tend to buy the same old stuff and, whilst there are newer artists such as Arctic Monkeys, The National or Elbow who sell quickly too, it does tend to be the same old names which people want to buy. It's like punk never happened!
Our most popular artists are:
LED ZEPPELIN - in particular the first four albums
PINK FLOYD - especially 'Dark Side Of The Moon'
DAVID BOWIE - in particular 'Low', 'Heroes' and 'Ziggy Stardust'
JOY DIVISION - anything by them
OASIS - 'Definitely Maybe' and 'What's The Story Morning Glory'
THE SMITHS / MORRISSEY - all of it flies out (and quite right too!), but if I had to choose one I'd say that 'The Queen Is Dead' sells fastest
THE STONE ROSES - anything but in particular the debut LP
QUEEN - there is nothing else to say
FLEETWOOD MAC - 'Rumours' in particular. Astonishingly it now sells regularly for £15-20 despite being one of the world's biggest selling albums
THE BEATLES - 'Revolver' and 'Sgt Pepper' in particular
JIMI HENDRIX - 'Electric Ladyland'
SEX PISTOLS - 'Never Mind The Bollocks'
THE FALL - anything and everything
MY BLOODY VALENTINE - 'Loveless'
BLACK SABBATH - 'Black Sabbath' and 'Paranoid'
We also sell reggae, jazz, dance, techno and all the rest and of course many newer and more trendy indie or rock/pop acts, but these areas tend not to have many multiples from a particular artist and it's acts like those listed above which people still sell into the shop in large quantities and which people still want to buy.
Visit Vinyl Exchange
Find out about other events for Record Store Day in Manchester and see our favourite record stores in the city.