Eastern Bloc Records

Record shop and former label based in Manchester.
The shop was opened in 1985 by John Berry, [a=Martin Price] and Mick Power and originally located in Afflecks Palace.
It relocated to a larger space on Oldham Street in 1992 before moving to its current location on Stevenson Square in 2011.
In the late 1980s the shop gained a reputation for breaking new dance music and was involved in the early career paths of [a=A Guy Called Gerald] and [a=K-Klass].
(Price went on to establish [l=Creed Records] in 1988 to release [a=808 State]'s debut album; sub-label [l=F.R.O. Records] followed in 1990.)
The shop also helped to launch bands such as the [a=Inspiral Carpets] and hosted in-store signings with [a=The Stone Roses] and [a=Happy Mondays].
Eastern Bloc continued to be owned by Berry and Price until 1993 when it ran into financial difficulties and was bought by [a=Pete Waterman]'s Assured company.
(The shop became one of four of Waterman's Assured chain of dance outlets which included Eastern Bloc in Leeds, Unity in London and Unity in Liverpool.)
Waterman, [a=Paul Taylor (9)] and [a=Mark Hadfield] established the Eastern Bloc label in the mid-1990s.
The label was located in the PWL Church aka Castlefield Congregational Chapel where Waterman had a recording studio.
See [l=Ebul] for the related label and [l=Eastern Bloc Studios, Manchester] and [l=PWL Studios, Manchester] aka [l=PWL/Eastern Bloc] aka [l=PWL In The North] for the related studios.
Berry took back ownership of the shop in Manchester in early 1997 when the four shops were unexpectedly liquidated; he remains director of the company.
Previous members of staff at the shop include [a=Mike E-Bloc], [a=Mark Turner (9)], [a=Justin Robertson], [a=Marcus Intalex], [a=Mark XTC] and [a=Moonboots].