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.[1]
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, Virgin Records and Our Price 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 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-born writer Andrew Kenyon-Smith and DJ John Peel.
By the 1990s, the shop had again relocated, this time to Slater Street off Bold Street around the corner from The Zanzibar on Seel Street, where it stayed until 2010 before moving to Bluecoat Chambers on School Lane in the centre of the city.[2]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Probe Records (shop).
Death of Geoff Daviesedit
Geoff Davies died on the 12th of September 2023, 2 weeks after his ex-wife who took over the shop after the couple had separated with Geoff taking over the label.
probe, records, shop, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, notability, guideline, music, please, help, demonstrate, no. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guideline for music Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Probe Records shop news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Probe Records shop news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Probe Records is a small independent record shop in Liverpool England Probe Records relocated to Bluecoat Chambers in 2010Founded 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 1 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 Virgin Records and Our Price 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 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 born writer Andrew Kenyon Smith and DJ John Peel Local musician Pete Wylie record producer Julian Cope Dead or Alive front man Pete Burns and Frankie Goes to Hollywood 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 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 around the corner from The Zanzibar on Seel Street where it stayed until 2010 before moving to Bluecoat Chambers on School Lane in the centre of the city 2 Contents 1 Famous alumni 2 Death of Geoff Davies 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksFamous alumni editPete Burns singer Courtney Love rock singer and musician Julian Cope producer performer Paul Rutherford dancer singer Pete Wylie musician nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Probe Records shop Death of Geoff Davies editGeoff Davies died on the 12th of September 2023 2 weeks after his ex wife who took over the shop after the couple had separated with Geoff taking over the label See also editThe Armadillo Tea Rooms 1980s LiverpoolReferences edit A Brief History of Probe Records Archived from the original on 19 October 2010 Retrieved 3 September 2020 New home for Probe record store News bbc co uk 16 August 2010 Retrieved 3 September 2020 External links editOfficial website Contemporary photograph of the shop at Flickr com Death of Geoff Davies nbsp This retail business article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Probe Records shop amp oldid 1175201437, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
