Heart of a Punk - Soul of a Rasta

A Madchester away day.

Bigot, during December I took my daughter to see ******** at the MEN Arena Manchester. Can I say ******** in this Fanzine? Are obviously I can't. The band called ******** ******** ******** ********. It doesn't matter how many times I write it it's not going to appear is it? Nope! Who is the editor here? You are, but in name only. Right anyway I took my daughter to see the band with the lead singer whose name is ***** ******, who's married to that Hollywood actress ******* *******, has a child named after a fruit. Well anyway the day after “the show” because that's what it was, we went into the centre of Manchester and did the usual: Aflecks Palace (yea its changed in the same way the Oasis Market has changed in Birmingham get over it) but I was still able to buy some badges that I will never ever wear, several posters that will never ever come into contact with a wall and a studded belt that I'm sure will go round my girth, once I've added several extra holes. Change, what change?

Then we traipsed round the records shops from Vinyl Blee to Vinyl Blah, of course I didn't want to but you can't but spoil your kids. Whilst in the parish of Oldham Street we decided to visit the Manchester Museum of the Record which is now situated in what used to be Piccadilly Records. It's a shame that a record shop with such an illustrious past (where Howard Trafford Devoto advertised for the band members of Magazine) is now a museum, but it's still worth a visit. When I've been there on a couple of previous occasions I've seen tourists enter the museum believing it's a real record shop. Laughable I know. Once I saw one guy pick up an exhibit (a vinyl record sealed in plastic with several paragraphs of explanatory notes) take it to one of the curators and actually try to buy it thrusting money into the poor girl's hand, demanding a receipt and a bag! Luckily on this occasion we were spared any embarrassment of this kind.

In the Gallery area of the Museum there was a fine exhibition of Smiths photographs by Stephen Wright - completely excellent, go to: Smithsphotos.com and enjoy or buy if you're minted.

Apparently the hermetically sealed temperature regulated vacuum packed dry frozen dust free homogenised institutionalised Manchester Museum of the Record is celebrating the 30 anniversary of Piccadilly Records this year and to commemorate they have produced a free booklet in which each curator has listed their top 20 favourite albums from the past 30 years. I think it's a wonderful thing and urge everyone on the planet to visit what was once Piccadilly Records or to somehow get hold of a copy - have you had chance to look at this freebie Bigot?

Yes. But I just don't understand, why do people need to make lists like this?
Why do they have to make such a song and dance about what music they like, really get a life. Anyway I agree it's a good read, a third of me was amused by it, a third of me was terrified. Oh and the last third of me was f'in f'in f'in enraged!!!!! No reggae album in any of the top 20's. Who are these people? What are these people? Can you actually be alive and feel normal emotions without a single reggae album in your top twenty? I feel an abusive letter coming on.

Mmm calm down Bigot it's only their opinion. As I said I went to many real record shops in Manchester and was able to get you a Christmas present - Goldblade and Poly Styrene “City of Christmas Ghosts” on red vinyl!

Thanks, but have you got my copy of Identity by X Ray Spex on pink vinyl?

No Bigot you swapped that with someone in the fifth year for the first Sham 69 album.

I couldn't of, I wouldn't of, I shouldn't of. Anyway, wasn't that you?