Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 20/06/2026 18:27:00

The building at 81 Renshaw Street in Liverpool holds a notable place in the city's music history: in the early 1960s the office above what was then an off-licence became the home of Mersey Beat, the regional music paper founded by Bill Harry that chronicled the emerging Liverpool scene and carried early stories, photographs and writings connected to the Beatles. The paper grew to a circulation of tens of thousands and became known locally as the teenagers bible. Today the address operates as 81 Renshaw, an independent record store and bar stocking new and second-hand vinyl across a wide range of genres. For a period it ran as a live-music venue with a stage and events programme, but the difficulties of the pandemic pushed the business back toward selling records, and the former venue room now houses its second-hand section, open at weekends. The interior keeps an open, exposed-brick character, and the shop maintains daily deliveries of new releases alongside its collectable and bargain stock. Its long association with music runs deeper than the venue years: the same premises operated as a record shop in the 1970s, well before the current incarnation. Renshaw Street sits between the city centre and the Georgian quarter, close to Bold Street and a short walk from Lime Street station, in an area known for independent shops, cafes and bars. For visitors it combines record-shop browsing with a bar and a direct link to one of the foundational stories of Merseybeat. Bill Harry founded Mersey Beat in 1961, borrowing fifty pounds to take the office above the bar, and the fortnightly paper ran through the first half of the 1960s as the chronicle of a scene that at its peak counted hundreds of active Liverpool groups. The Beatles had a close association with it, contributing writings and advertisements, and its circulation climbed into the tens of thousands before the national press took over the story. That history makes the address a point of interest on the city's music-heritage trail, alongside the nearby Cavern Club and the venues of Mathew Street.