They still do, and 'kids' of all ages should be pleasantly surprised at just how many places in this city they can still buy records from. So this is our one-stop guide to the fantastic record shops of Greater Manchester, from the 'Vinyl Valley' that is Oldham Street in the Northern Quarter, to the windswept streets of Bolton, Lancashire. Browse the menu on the right hand side and go shopping! 
Visit Manchester
| Address | Good Grief!, 3rd Floor, Afflecks Palace, 52 Church Street, Manchester M4 1PW |
| Opening Hours | Monday to Friday 10.30-6pm. Saturdays 10am-6pm. Closed on Sundays |
| Phone | |
| goodgriefshop at googlemail dot com | |
| Website | http://goodgriefshop.blogspot.com/ |
| Sells: | Art, Books, Zines, Comics, Posters, Tapes, Records |
For those visitors to this website not local to Manchester a little background is called for here. Afflecks Palace at the heart of the Northern Quarter has, for the past 28 years, been the beating heart of Manchester’s alternative music and fashion community. ‘Madchester’ was virtually created here as was the original Fat City Records, Pelicanneck and many many other homespun independent shops and labels.
The building was recently marked for closure due to the usual gentrification + increased rents madness so often seen in our great cities. However a concerted campaign to keep Afflecks open led to a turnaround and the famous Palace is back and really buzzing, which is why I was mooching around there on Saturday afternoon. As usual the place was packed with all things thrifty, vintage, trashy, kooky and cool and teaming with all species of pop tribes. I happily stumbled upon a new hidden gem and left with a smile the size of a Cheshire cat.
Good Grief! follows a long tradition of shops and attitude that I really thought had come to a close. Here in Afflecks I found the tiny, fragile, bloody, opinionated, beautiful heart of the experimental and alternative music and zine scene.
Although not solely a music shop Good Grief stocks a small, but wild and crazy selection of truly underground vinyl, CDs and tapes (currently making a comeback as a medium for experimental soundsmiths). Everything is unusual, esoteric, beautifully crafted, mostly in limited runs and often homemade. This is the gentle yet twisted home for drone, free jazz, punk noise, surf fuzz and all other manner of wonderful oddness. Typical artists and labels include David Thomas Broughton, Insects Awaken, Golden Lab records, Upset the Rhythm and Rayon Records.
The shop also carries a great range of art, books, Zines, comics, hand-drawn posters and minimum run prints. David is the man behind all this and I can only offer my huge plaudits and limitless pleasure to see Manchester and Afflecks once again stocking records that are truly off the styleguides.
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