"I'm like a pig in s*** here": The iconic south Manchester shop that inspired Noel and Liam Gallagher

"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.

Above the shop's front door, a fading wooden sign reads: "New & used records bought & sold." In the window, posters advertise everything from computing classes to a house swap and an appeal to find a missing cat.

It may not look like it but Pete and his shop are part of musical history. The 76-year-old is perhaps best known by his nickname - Mr Sifter - named after his beloved second hand record shop in Fog Lane, Burnage.

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Both Pete and his shop were immortalised when he was namechecked in Oasis’s 1994 single Shakermaker. Sifters was once a favourite of a young Noel and Liam Gallagher, who would visit the shop to buy records before becoming famous.

The brothers, who grew up in Burnage, loved the shop so much that they decided to write Mr Sifter into one of their earliest songs from their iconic debut album, Definitely Maybe. Three decades on, Sifters remains a Mecca for adoring Oasis fans, who make pilgrimages from far and wide. Even now, he's asked for autographs and selfies.

"You have to sign as Mr Sifter," he said. "It can't say Pete Howard, nobody's interested in that.

"A lot of them come from South Korea and Japan. It's all youngsters that come in. They [Oasis] were way before they were born, which is incredible really."

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.

A veritable treasure trove for music lovers, Sifters is a throwback to a bygone age long before Spotify or Apple Music. Pete was just 29 when, in 1977, he left his job at Manchester Town Hall to pursue his dream of opening his own record shop.

"I was a keen record collector," he explained. "It's what I did from childhood.

"I started collecting about 1958, singles, and from then on I kept collecting LPs.

"I was a bit bored at the town hall so we got a cheap shop on Mauldeth Road in Didsbury. I opened up and put my record collection that I had in the shop.

"It looked alright at home but I spread it out it out in the shop and it looked like nothing. We then went round the houses and built it up, then we opened."

Pete named the shop Sifters as a nod to people sifting through records. His nickname as “Mr Sifter” has stuck ever since.

In 1983, Sifters move to its current home in Fog Lane, near to Burnage railway station. Pete recalls Noel and Liam visiting the shop as young men, but said he could never have imagined what they would go on to achieve.

"They never came in together," he explained. "They were just ordinary, keen customers.

"We didn't really recognise them until we saw the cover of Supersonic, the first single, then we thought 'that's that bloke who comes in here'.

"We used to take the mickey out of Liam because of Patsy Kensit. We'd say 'how did he pull a bird like that?'

"I hadn't realised they were serious. We'd had bands in before but there was never a chance of them being famous or anything.

"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.

"It was around about then that I realised that is for real. We're not talking about a few lads knocking out the odd tune."

Shortly before Shakermaker being released in June 1994, Pete said someone visited the shop on behalf of Oasis to ask for his permission over the lyrics.

In Shakermaker, Liam sings: “Mr Sifter sold me songs when I was just 16 / Now he stops at traffic lights / But only when they’re green” - a reference to the shop’s location.

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.

Pete gave the band the go-ahead but could never have dreamt what was to come when the album was released later that year. As the record soared to the top of the UK album charts, Mr Sifter found himself catapulted to fame.

"I became like a celeb," said Pete. "I was signing autographs and doing selfies in here and have been for the last 30 years.

"Kids starting coming and saying 'are you Mr Sifter?' They still do, and they all look at me doubtfully.

"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.

"We sell other stuff so the takings didn't exactly spiral out of control. We're a second hand shop. I don't have a source so we're reliant on the public."

Pete says that while he "always made a living", his newfound fame gave Sifters a "new lease of life". Music fans came from across the world to visit the shop - something they continue to do to this day.

After almost three decades, Pete says he struggles to believe the attention his shop receives from legions of Oasis fans from across the world.

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.

Despite becoming a tourist attraction, Pete said he has never been tempted to cash in by turning Sifters into a shrine to Oasis.

"I put an extra quid on Definitely Maybe to keep it in the rack a little longer," he jokes. "It doesn't work, they just fly out."

The shop has continued to hold a special place in the hearts of both Gallagher brothers. In 2014, Liam's clothing label, Pretty Green, held a fashion shoot outside of Sifters while Noel paid his own tribute to the shop last year.

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.

Pete said he last saw Noel "two to three years ago" when he turned up with a TV crew to shoot a documentary.

"They interviewed him in here," he said. "I opened on a Sunday morning for that.

"I said 'I don't open Sundays, I sleep on a Sunday'. There were several phone calls then they turned up mob-handed.

"I was digging my heels in, you see. I'm glad I didn't because people are always asking when did you last see them, and I've now got something to tell them.

"I've not seen Liam for a long time. He's got a tremendous fan club though, and that takes some doing."

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.

After three decades at the top of the music industry, Pete says he is filled with "admiration" for both Noel and Liam.

"It's the number of songs," he explained. "Most people only have a few then they fall by the wayside.

"They have had two classic albums in Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory, then the other albums have got two or three good tracks on them. If you take two or three good tracks on each one of their albums, you've got yourself quite a catalogue."

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.

"If you say you come from Burnage, most people say 'Oasis territory'," he said. "They've put us on the map. I've had a leg up from Oasis, and that's been a big help."

Pete's favourite Oasis album is (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, but described his own musical taste as "all the commercial stuff".

"All the stuff that people laugh at, I like," he laughed. "Things you can't admit to liking.

"I don't really have that many favourite artists, I just like thousands and thousands of different songs."

Turning to his own longevity, Pete says that while the Mr Sifter title has done him no harm, his insistence on ensuring the shop remains true to its roots has also been key.

"You can come ten times and there will be nothing there but on the eleventh you might strike gold," he said. "That's why I've managed to stay open.

"I found a price people will pay and stuck with it. That's the secret, don't be greedy. If there is something that doesn't sell, you just reduce it."

These days, Sifters sells more vinyl than it does CDs - with the former having undergone a resurgence in popularity in recent years, especially among younger people.

As we speak, customers stand on the battered grey carpet, thumbing through racks containing records of almost every genre - many of which are a bargain at less than a fiver. It's not hard to imagine Noel and Liam doing the exact same thing. After all, Sifters has not changed much at all over the intervening decades.

But for Pete and his loyal customers, its no-frills appearance is part of its charm.

"I like a bit of filth," he said. I'm like a pig in s*** here, I love it."

Despite his age, Mr Sifter has no plans to retire any time soon.

"You don't work until you're 76 if you don't enjoy it," he said. "If I can make the odd shilling out of it then I'm more than happy.

"I don't need much so I don't have to make a fortune. If I can get to being 80, that's a goal.

"It will finish me off. They will probably find me dead by the 50p rack one morning."