Record Label
Record shop and former label based in Manchester. The shop was opened in 1985 by John Berry, [[artist: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 [[artist:A Guy Called Gerald]] and [[artist:K-Klass]]. (Price went on to establish [[label:Creed Records]] in 1988 to release [[artist:808 State]]'s debut album; sub-label [[label:F.R.O. Records]] followed in 1990.) The shop also helped to launch bands such as the [[artist:Inspiral Carpets]] and hosted in-store signings with [[artist:The Stone Roses]] and [[artist:Happy Mondays]]. Eastern Bloc continued to be owned by Berry and Price until 1993 when it ran into financial difficulties and was bought by [[artist: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, [[artist:Paul Taylor (9)]] and [[artist: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 [[label:Ebul]] for the related label and [[label:Eastern Bloc Studios, Manchester]] and [[label:PWL Studios, Manchester]] aka [[label:PWL/Eastern Bloc]] aka [[label: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 [[artist:Mike E-Bloc]], [[artist:Mark Turner (9)]], [[artist:Justin Robertson]], [[artist:Marcus Intalex]], [[artist:Mark XTC]] and [[artist:Moonboots]].