How do I get there?
Endless Music
418 Bury New Road
Prestwich
Manchester
M25 1BD
Telephone: 0161-772-0312
Tell me more
A few miles north of Manchester city centre you hit Prestwich �Village�, (As it�s now coined. Isn�t everywhere a village these days!?!) where you will find this little gem of a music/curiosity emporium found along the main thoroughfare from Manchester to Bury. (Bury New Road) The casual visitor may find nothing out of the ordinary as the main shop window is filled with action figure collectables and your standard Rock/Pop �limited edition� fodder, largely servicing the local area�s pre-pubescent (and geek community of course!) role playing fraternity with the rarest models of Frodo or whatever Sci-Fi/Fantasy film is a hit at the present time. Upon entering the shop you�d be mistaken for wondering that you�ve walked into a festering collection of average stock that rarely turns over and for the most of it, you�d be forgiven for thinking along those lines. However, look a little closer and there is a deep pit of goodies to be found from all genres. Anything from Belgian New Beat to the rarest of US Boogie has been found after some serious diggin�.
Stagnant shelves?
On first impressions, you might well be forgiven for thinking so. As mentioned, after a few visits the shelves in the main shop front hardly ever seem to change with the same discs (12??s in-particular) being on display albeit in an updated alphabetically/chronological order than on previous visits. To be fair, considering the volume of stock the guys really have got the records in very good order, making searching that much easier and less time consuming. The reality is a more practical one, being constraints of space in the shop front. The owner will put as many �newer� pieces as old ones to keep the shelves topped up, alas this is more often than not replaced with standard rock tat you could find on a charity shop scour. There is a fair quantity of stock available for diggers to browse through in regards to the 7??s/45�s stock being of particular interest. The owner regular visit’s the east coast of the U.S.A and ships good quality imports back (Mainly rock based) and one one such visit a story goes that his wife has a friend in the U.S whose husband was a radio jock out there. Last year he unfortunately passed away (Not unfortunate for us mind!) and his comprehensive record collection has been making its way back to Preswich in large quantities ever since! A quite vast collection of 60�s/Northern soul, Ska, Reggae, 2-Tone through to 70�s-90�s Soul, Rock and Pop can be found in 7?? format. I�ve noticed many a Northern collector happily sit in the shop for hours searching for that rare track. If you listen closely you can hear the gasps of hidden delight on someone who�s found something they�d probably be charged �150 for in city centre Manchester. I�ve personally picked out some excellent soul joints myself all ranging from �1-5 which considering the quality on offer here is more than reasonable. 12??s & LP�s are well categorised split up into 2 simple genres: 12??�s are categorised into Rock/Pop and Soul/Dance. LP�s are simply Rock/Pop but underneath these racks you will find dozens of crates of quality Soul/Reggae/Blues/Jazz and World Music on offer.
Under the counter special stuff
The shop front itself is not where the real treats lie however� In the back there is a magnitude of �black gold� in terms of underground black music from the 1970�s through to the early 2000�s is waiting to be un-earthed. This stock is currently in the process of being categorised as the owner has yet found time to move the stock to the front of the shop but this is all the better as your average customer would not delve any deeper than what�s offered out in the front. If this wasn�t enough, there is a cellar (Which runs the entire length of the shop) where a comprehensive collection of records are stored. Some major finds have been lifted from these vaults.
Service with a smile?
The owner is certainly an approachable chap but on first visit he can easily be mistaken for being a little bit unapproacable, but give me a record shop that isn’t like this! (*Note* Being Mancunian we have a right to be this way!) The owner is first and foremost an avid Cream/Clapton/Hendrix aficionado and can happily chat about his past glories, reminiscing of seminal gigs in and around the Manchester region during the late 60�s & early 70�s. It�s well worth spending a bit of time putting the effort in chatting to the guy (He�s as easily at home talking about the football or topical political issues), as your efforts will be rewarded with discounted incentives should he find you of any interest!
Listening posts
Not the latest in turntable technology but there are 2 sets of decks available in the front of the shop free for you to test run those obscure looking New York labelled 12??s you�ve just found underneath a box of Hall & Oates LP�s. This instantly up�s the amount of vinyl you�re about to purchase as if it sounds good over these headphones, it�s going to sound awesome when you get it home or play it over a decent system.
Got, Got, Got, Swaps!
More the type to buy entire collections for a ��s from some broke/desperate seller rather than make you a decent offer for a few desirable items as his usual punters are not the type to spend more than �10 a pop on one piece of vinyl. Always worth a punt though, especially if you have any classic rock to trade-in.
Buy big
The more you buy, the more chance of an overall discount is to be expected, however this is one of the cheaper stores you will find to begin with so don�t expect mega bucks to come off any haul.
Another brick in the wall
This is also a bustling collectors shop in terms of action figures �et-all� so the writing is most definitely on the wall. You�ll find his most treasured possessions displayed like a cover shots international soft focus family photo-shoot, proudly showing to one and all that if you�re willing to make him a serious offer you could have that gold disc of Bowie�s �Space Oddity� but would he really sell considering these are the equivalent of his family photos?
Pony up the green
He is strictly a �By The Book� (Record Collectors Guide) kind of guy and will keep this by his side at all times as a major weapon used in his artillery but if like me the tracks your finding are obscure 80�s Boogie or Italo-House then chances are your going to get yourself the bargain of the year. Albums will most strictly be priced up based on the current guide but build up a rapport with the chap and your stock will rise, meaning vinyl prices will fall. As a general rule of thumb, if you�re getting you�re 12??s for �2 per pop you�re doing well. It�s a similar score regards LP�s which can go for anything up to the �20+ mark for the obviously rarer, marked stuff which is always on show and easier to find but haggle and you will walk out a happy little digger.
Made the grade
Not much is marked up (Overtly rare/import LP�s) and many of the records themselves are dirty or scuffed slightly (Due to storage) but with a bit of spit and polish the stock is certainly in the VG+ category, certainly playable for your DJ types but make sure you check before you buy!
What we think
Good stock, nice prices & a friendly owner (Once you get to know him) makes Endless Music a fine addition to the Manchester record scene for those who like to dig a little deeper when finding those forgotten tracks or hard to find rarities meaning 7 times out of 10 you will leave with a warm glow that you�ve found something not likely to be played by the myriad of spinners on the local circuit churning out the same gubbins week in, week out.
