'Mr Sifter sold me songs when I was just 16.'
"I'm like a pig in s*** here," declares Pete Howard, perched behind the same counter he has manned for almost half a century. Shelf after shelf of vinyl records, CDs and cassette tapes surround him on all sides.
But to reduce Sifters to its Oasis links would be to do it a disservice. For 47 years, it's been a fixture of south Manchester and a haven for the city's record collectors. Pete named the shop Sifters as a nod to people sifting through records. His nickname as “Mr Sifter” has stuck ever since. "I was saying things to Noel like 'you're going to have to watch what you say, you don't want to end up like John Lennon' but he didn't see the funny side at all.
In a 2004 documentary about the making of Definitely Maybe, Noel revealed that he came up with the final verse of Shakermaker after passing Sifters in a car on the way to record the song. "It was great fun and it really injected life into the business. The majority came in especially for Oasis stuff and I hadn't got any.
For somewhere that has become a must-visit for Oasis fans, there are relatively few nods to the band inside the shop. There are a couple of posters on the walls and a handful of CDs by the counter, which Pete says he has a job keeping topped up. To coincide with the release of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' fourth studio album, 'Council Skies', he released a series of haunting photographs of his favourite Manchester landmarks, including Sifters.
To mark the 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe, Liam is due to go on tour next month playing songs from the album alongside original Oasis guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs. This week, it was also announced that a new edition of the album featuring unheard tracks will also be released in August. While Liam and Noel have long since left Manchester, they regularly return to Burnage to visit their mother, Peggy. Pete says that although the pair initially made Burnage "sound like a slum", he is grateful for what they have done for his shop and the wider area.
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