After a stint as a volunteer in the Israeli army, my father returned to the UK and opened a blue-beat record shop in Moss Side, Manchester. Between the early 1960s and mid '70s he supplied the hottest Rocksteady and Bluebeat imports to the Jamaican emigre community. In that time the likes of Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker and Prince Buster frequented his store. He was befriended by the late, great Lord Kitchener, and was the supplier of '45s to the neighborhood Rude Boys, Sound-Systems and all-night 'blues' jams... On my last visit to the UK, I managed to video-tape my father as he discussed his tenure at the store and reminisced about the music. These interviews will form the basis of a short film detailing his store and humorous exploits. Entitled: MR. MAURICE - A GREAT WESTERN TALE, the film will feature stories, photographs and a pilgrimage to the now defunct location of his shop, on Great Western Street...
VISIT the Store via Google Maps
BLUEBEAT on Wikipedia
CELEBRATE Lord Kitchener
WHAT IS A Rude Boy
