In the late 1970s and 1980s Manchester became hugely significant in the evolution of post punk and then dance music.
Factory records was an independent record label that was started in 1978 by a duo called Alan Erasmus and Tony Wilson. Early releases on the label included singles by A Certain Ratio, Cabaret Voltaire, The Durutti Column Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark. The first full album released on the label a certain LP called ‘Unknown Pleasures ’ by a new band on the scene called Joy Division.
Joy Division was formed of singer Ian Curtis, Guitarist and Keyboard player Bernard Summer, Bassist Peter Hook and Drummer Stephen Morris. They developed a sparse and melancholy style of playing - driven by angular guitar riffs and direct drums that made them one of the pioneering bands of the post-punk movement.
Joy Division have gone on to become a cult band of legendary status but in 1980 only 2 years after the release of Unknown Pleasures, on the eve of the band’s first tour of America and 2 months before the release of their 2nd Album Closer, Ian Curtis the band’s singer committed suicide. Since then, Joy Division have been canonized as catalysts of a hugely important moment musical history and we can only imagine what they might have gone on to achieve.
Without their singer, and on the crest of a huge wave of musical inspiration though, the other members of Joy Division formed a new band called New Order that in turn would go on to become equally as influential in the development of dance music and as we’ll hear, bring about a huge moment in Manchester’s musical history. At first the music that New Order released was similar in style to the material that they had released as Joy Division but as the 80s moved on, they began to increasingly adopt the use of synthesizers and drum machines and move in a generally more electronic direction. In 1983 they released a track that went on to become the best selling 12” vinyl single of all time - It was called blue monday and this new electronic dance sound was about to set Manchester on fire. After the success of Blue Monday, the members of New Order, along with Tony Wilson of Factory Records decided to open up a nightclub.
In 1982 the Hacienda nightclub opened and quickly became a hub for manchester’s thriving young clubbing culture. The cheap entrance fees and bar prices lured people in but The Hacienda went on to become an iconic venue in the history of UK club culture and at the same time it acted as an extension of the Factory Records label output.
By the late 1980s, the Hacienda had become one of the most iconic clubs in the world, hosting boundary pushing DJs that were the among the first in the UK to champion the sound of House Music which was making its way over the Atlantic from Chicago. One young producer that was active in Manchester’s clubbing scene at the time was guy called Gerald Simpson who went by the name of ‘A Guy Called Gerald’ he was one of the first people in the UK to use a Roland TB303 bassline synthesizer to create a genre called Acid House which would ignite a whole youth movement around rave culture in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The Hacienda closed in 1997 and has now been replaced by a block of flats but the history of the place is still preserved through the countless amounts of hit records that were created either in direct relation to the club or as a result of its influence.
These Days Manchester is still one of the clubbing capitals of the UK. Every month, thousands of dancers attend huge raves at a venue called warehouse project and clubs like the White Hotel play a hugely important role in pushing the boundaries of modern club culture. Both of these places exist in a direct lineage from the hacienda and are continuing Manchester’s legacy of a clubbing capital of the world.