Probe Records is a small independent record shop in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England. Founded in 1971 by Geoff Davies, the shop was originally located on Clarence Street, off Brownlow Hill with a second location soon opened in the basement of Silly Billies clothes shop. The shop relocated in 1976 to Button Street around the corner from Eric's Club on Mathew Street and found itself at the centre of the city's emerging punk and new wave music scene, acting as a supporter of local independent bands and musicians. Davies admitted that he was far more a music enthusiast than he was a businessman. In order to supplement the takings in the shop itself, Davies also set up an independent wholesale arm of the business, through which he would promote up and coming talent. Many larger record retailers throughout the north-west of England such as

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

and

Our Price Our Price was a chain of record stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 1971 until 2004. History Founded in 1971 by Gary Nesbitt, Edward Stollins and Mike Isaacs, their first store was located in London's Finchley Road. Until 1976, the ...

bought most of their independent label stock from Probe. The business became successful enough to eventually set up its own record label. Initially called simply Probe Records, it was re-branded

Probe Plus Probe Plus was a record label based in Liverpool, England. It was founded by Geoff Davies, an enthusiastic promoter of small, unsigned bands, who describes the label as "Music to drive you to drink".De Burgh, Simon (1991) 'Probe Plus Records', ' ...

in order to avoid confusion between the retail shop and the record label. The decision of which bands and musicians to sign up to the label was a collaboration between Geoff Davies and two friends,

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

-born writer Andrew Kenyon-Smith and DJ John Peel. Local musician

Pete Wylie Peter James Wylie (born 22 March 1958) is an English singer/songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, Shambeko! Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah! and Wah! The Mongrel. Career Early b ...

, record producer Julian Cope, Dead or Alive front man Pete Burns, and

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...

vocalist/dancer Paul Rutherford all spent a number of years working in the record shop between 1977 and 1984. Among Probe Plus' signings is

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band Half Man Half Biscuit, who have remained with the label for the duration of their careers. By the 1990s, the shop had again relocated, this time to Slater Street off

Bold Street Bold Street is a street in Liverpool, England. It is known for its cafés and for the Church of St Luke, Liverpool, Church of St Luke, which is situated at the top end. The bottom end leads into the area surrounding Clayton Square, which is par ...

around the corner from The Zanzibar on Seel Street, where it stayed until 2010 before moving to

Bluecoat Chambers Built in 1716–17 as a charity school, Bluecoat Chambers in School Lane is the oldest surviving building in central Liverpool, England. Following the Liverpool Blue Coat School's move to another site in 1906, the building was rented from 1907 ...

on School Lane in the centre of the city.

Famous alumni

* Pete Burns – singer * Julian Cope – producer/performer * Paul Rutherford – dancer/singer *

– musician

References

External links

*
Contemporary photograph of the shop, at Flickr.com
Scouse culture of the early 1980s Liverpool Music retailers of the United Kingdom {{retail-company-stub

Famous alumni

See also

References

External links