MADCHESTER & THE BANDS

The scene mixed indie rock and dance music. Artists associated with the scene included the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, the Inspiral Carpets, 808 State, James and A Guy Called Gerald. At that time, the Haçienda nightclub was a major catalyst for the distinctive musical ethos in the city.

The music scene in Manchester immediately before the Madchester era had been dominated by indie bands such as The Smiths, New Order and The Fall. These bands were to become a major influence on the Madchester scene, but just as important was the Haçienda nightclub.

The Haçienda had been opened by Factory Records in 1982. For the first few years of its life it played predominantly indie music, but gradually began featuring more disco, hip-hop and electro (in this respect, the club enjoyed a relationship of mutual influence with its part-owners New Order).

In 1986, it became the first club outside the US to take house music seriously, with DJs Mike Pickering and Graeme Park hosting the Nude night on Fridays. This night quickly became legendary, and helped to turn around the reputation and fortunes of the Haçienda, which went from making a consistent loss to being full every night of the week by early 1987.

Other clubs in Manchester started the follow the Haçienda's lead: The Boardwalk, Konspiracy, House, Soundgardens and Man Alive in the city centre, the International (and later the International 2) in Longsight, Bugsy's in Ashton-Under-Lyne and the Osbourne Club in Miles Platting.

Another key factor in the build-up to Madchester towards the end of that year was the sudden arrival of the drug ecstasy in the city - legend has it that a friend of the Happy Mondays was a pioneer in bringing the drug into the country from Amsterdam. According to Haçienda DJ Dave Haslam: "Ecstasy use changed clubs forever; a night at the Haçienda went from being a great night out, to an intense, life changing experience" [1].

Although the Madchester scene cannot really be said to have started before the autumn of 1988 (the term "Madchester" would not be coined until a year after that), many of its most significant bands and artists were around on the local scene before then.

The Stone Roses were formed in 1984 by singer Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire, who had grown up on the same street in Timperley, a leafy suburban town to the south of Manchester. They had been in bands together since 1979, when they were both 16, but the Stone Roses was the first to release a record, "So Young", in 1985. The line-up was completed by Alan "Reni" Wren on drums and, from 1987, Gary "Mani" Mounfield on bass.

The Happy Mondays were formed in Salford in 1981. The members between then and the break-up of the band in 1992 were Shaun Ryder, his brother Paul, Mark "Bez" Berry, Paul Davis, Mark Day and Gary Whelan. They were signed to Factory Records, supposedly after Haçienda DJ Mike Pickering saw them at a Battle of the Bands contest in which they came last. They released two singles - "45", produced by Pickering in 1985, and "Freaky Dancin'", produced by New Order's Bernard Sumner in 1986 - before putting out an album produced by John Cale and bearing the snappy title Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) in 1987.

The Inspiral Carpets were formed in Oldham in 1986. The line-up was Clint Boon (organ), Stephen Holt (vocals - Tom Hingley would not join up until the beginning of 1989), Graham Lambert (guitar), Martyn Walsh (bass) and Craig Gill (drums). They released a flexi-disc a year later, and in 1988 the Planecrash EP (on their own Cow Records) brought them to the attention of John Peel, placing them well in the frame for the onset of Madchester.

James were formed in 1981 by Paul Gilbertson and Jim Glennie (after whom the band was named), recruiting Drama student Tim Booth on vocals and Gavan Whelan on drums (Gilbertson and Whelan were to leave the band before it attained commercial success). They released their first EP, Jim One on Factory Records in 1983, and attracted critical enthusiasm, as well as a loyal local following and the patronage of Morrissey. However, sales of their two albums for Sire Records, Stutter in 1986 and Strip-Mine in 1988, were disappointing and, at the time Madchester hit, the band was using t-shirt sales to fund its own releases through Rough Trade Records. Madchester helped bring them their belated commercial success and the single "Sit Down" became one of the most popular anthems of the era.

808 State were formed in 1988 by the owner of the Eastern Bloc Records shop on Oldham Street, Martin Price, together with Graham Massey and Gerald Simpson. The three put together an innovative live acid house set, performing at various venues around town, and releasing an acclaimed and inlfuential album Newbuild on Price's own label. Simpson left soon after the release of Newbuild, but went on to record as A Guy Called Gerald.
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In October, the Stone Roses released "Elephant Stone" (produced by Peter Hook of New Order) as a single. Also in October, Happy Mondays released the single "Wrote for Luck" (followed by the Bummed album, produced by Martin Hannett, in November). In November, A Guy Called Gerald released his first solo single, "Voodoo Ray".

Although none of these singles achieved mainstream success, all three got attention in Manchester, and "Wrote for Luck" and "Voodoo Ray" were recognised as significant records nationally within the indie and dance communities respectively.

The growth of the local scene had been boosted by the success of the Haçienda's pioneering Ibiza nights in the summer of 1988 and the launch of the Hot acid house night (hosted by Mike Pickering and John Da Silva) in November.

By December, some sense had started to develop in the British music press that there was something going on in the city. According to Sean O'Hagan, writing in the NME (17/12/88): "There is a particularly credible music biz rumour-come theory that certain Northern towns– Manchester being the prime example– have had their water supply treated with small doses of mind-expanding chemicals ... Everyone from Happy Mondays to the severely disorientated Morrissey conform to the theory in some way. Enter A Guy Called Gerald, out of his box on the limitless possibilities of a bank of keyboards" [2].

However, the enthusiasm of the media at this stage shouldn't be overstated. The idea that the whole country should be focussing on Manchester developed slowly.

Interest in the Stone Roses increased as they gigged around the country and released the "Made of Stone" single in February 1989. This didn't chart, but was well received and the band were looking like they were on the brink of being the biggest thing in the country by the time they release their eponymous debut album (produced by John Leckie) in March.

Bob Stanley (later of Saint Etienne), reviewing the album in Melody Maker (29/4/89) wrote: "this is simply the best debut LP I've heard in my record buying lifetime. Forget everybody else. Forget work tomorrow" [3]. The NME didn't put it quite so strongly, but reported nonetheless that it was being talked of as "the greatest album ever made".

In May, the Happy Mondays released the single "Lazyitis" and the Inspiral Carpets put out their first single with new singer Tom Hingley, "Joe". Like the Stone Roses, the Inspiral Carpets were producing sixties - inspired indie music. All three of the main players in the emerging scene took a dance influence, particularly from 70s funk, with disco basslines and wah-wah guitar being added to their indie jingle-jangle. The Inspiral Carpets added the distintive sound of the Farfisa organ.

This sound, which was to become known as "baggy", generally includes a combination of funk, psychedelia, guitar rock and house music. In the Manchester context, the music can be seen as mainly influnced by the indie music that had dominated the city's music scene during the 80s, but also absorbing the various influences coming through the Haçienda.

Alongside the music, a way of dressing emerged that gave baggy its name. Baggy jeans (often flared) alongside brightly coloured or tie-dye casual tops and general sixties style became the standard uniform of young people first in Manchester and then across the country - frequently topped off with a fishing hat in the style sported by the Stone Roses drummer Reni. The fashion, like the music, was somewhere between rave and retro.

The majority of bands on the Madchester scene would produce music that could be described as "baggy", including James, The Charlatans and The Mock Turtles. However, in the early 1990s the sound spread across the country, with bands such as The Farm, Flowered Up, Candy Flip and (early on) Blur treading where mancunians had gone before.

Baggy wasn't restricted to Manchester, but it should be remembered that Manchester wasn't restricted to baggy either. The return of 808 State with the seminal "Pacific" single later in 1989 reminds us of the role electronic music played, but the Madchester scene also gave a home to hip-hop artists Ruthless Rap Assassins and MC Tunes.

The Stone Roses: Mani, Ian Brown, John Squire and Reni.During the summer of 1989, interest in the Manchester scene continued to grow, and media hype was well underway by the time the Happy Mondays released a Vince Clarke remix of "Wrote for Luck" as a single in September.

November was the month when Madchester seemed to have conquered the consciousness of the country, though, with four of the defining singles of the movement being released: "Move" by the Inspiral Carpets, "Pacific" by 808 State, The Madchester Rave On EP by the Happy Mondays and "Fools Gold"/"What the World is Waiting For" by the Stone Roses.

The Happy Mondays record, featuring the lead track "Hallelujah!", coined the term "Madchester" - it had originally been suggested by their video directors the Bailey Brothers as a potential t-shirt slogan.

November was a further triumphant month for the Stone Roses in particular, who performed an ecstatically-received gig at London's Alexandra Palace, and were invited onto BBC2's high-brow Late Show (where they caused a stir when the electricity cut out during their performance and they stormed off). On 23rd November, one of the defining moments of Madchester occurred when the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays appeared on the same edition of Top of the Pops. The "Fools Gold" single made number 8 in the UK singles chart, at that time a major feat for an indie band.

Madchester's role as an industry bandwagon from this time on is hard to deny. James were amongst the first beneficiaries of this. The local success of their self-financed singles "Come Home" and "Sit Down" (the latter becoming something of a Manchester anthem during 1989, with clubs full of people ritually sitting on the floor to it) led to a deal with Fontana, and they were to score chart hits with "How Was it For You" and a re-recorded version of "Come Home" (sounding distinctly baggier) in the summer of 1990.

The Charlatans were originally from the West Midlands, but their singer, Tim Burgess, was from Northwich in Cheshire. They came to prominence through appearances in Manchester, particularly as a support act to the Stone Roses, and given simlarities in their sound to several Madchester bands, they became strongly associated with the scene in the minds of both fans and the press. They released a debut single "Indian Rope" in January 1990 and their second "The Only One I Know" quickly became seen as a classic, making the UK top ten.

A number of other bands joined the fray during 1990, including World of Twist, New Fast Automatic Daffodils, The High, Northside, Paris Angels, and Intastella. These bands are sometimes seen as bandwaggoners (Northside in particular are sometimes, probably unfairly, seen as a cynical invention of Factory Records to cash in on the Madchester scene). Others would point to a pioneering exploration of the possibilies of indie-dance crossover - a journey to which minor players gave an invaluable contribution.

Due to its limited promotional resources and its predominantly anti-commercial ethos, indie music had, for the most part, represented a specialist market during the 1980s. For example, The Smiths, probably the most prolific and successful indie band of the mid-80s, had struggled to make the UK top ten singles chart.

It's in the context that the chart success of Madchester bands should be measured. It should not be seen as confusing that on the one hand a review of the UK music press of the time would give the impression that Madchester was an all-conquering cultural force, whilst on the other hand, sales of records by the bands involved seem decent but unspectacular by the standards of 2005. There is no doubt that the scene broke new commercial ground during 1990.

"Step On" and "Kinky Afro" by the Happy Mondays both made number 5 in the singles charts, whilst James scored the biggest Madchester hit, making number 2 in 1991 with a re-recording of "Sit Down". In the album charts, the Happy Mondays made number 4 with Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, and the Inspiral Carpets got to number 2 with Life. The Charlatans were the only Madchester band to take the number 1 spot, with the album Some Friendly in the autumn of 1990.

Outside the UK, the success of Madchester was limited, although some releases gained recognition in specialist charts around the world. In the US, the albums The Stone Roses, Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches and Some Friendly reached the lower echelons of the US album chart. The Happy Mondays toured the US in 1990 and were alone amongst Madchester bands in troubling the Billboard 100, with "Step On" reaching number 57.

The peak of Madchester was in the summer of 1990. On May 27th, the Stone Roses performed at Spike Island in the Mersey Estuary, supported by DJs Frankie Knuckles and Dave Haslam. This concert was seen by many as a one-band Woodstock for the times.

A rapid succession of chart hits followed during the summer, including "One Love" by the Stone Roses, "This Is How It Feels" by the Inspiral Carpets, "The Only One I Know" by The Charlatans and "Kinky Afro" by the Happy Mondays.

After this, however, Madchester's recorded output slowed. The end of the year saw triumphal concerts by James and a double-header with the Happy Mondays and 808 State, both at Manchester G-Mex, which seem, in retrospect, to mark the end of the era.

The Stone Roses cancelled their June 1990 tour of the US, issuing a press statement saying: "America doesn't deserve us yet". The real reasons are probably more complicated - the Roses also cancelled a gig in Spain and an appearance on the UK chat show Wogan. They would not face the public again until the end of 1994, spending the intervening time in and out of studios in Wales (where they recorded at leisure a second album, Second Coming) and fighting in court to release themselves from their contract with Silvertone Records.

The making of the next Happy Mondays album, Yes Please! was also problematic, and it would not be released until October 1992. The band flew to Barbados to record it, making repeated requests of Factory Records for extra time and additional funds (almost certainly in part to fuel growing drug habits). This is reputed to have been the major factor in the bankruptcy of the label in November 1992.

With the two bands seen as the most central to the scene out of action, media fascination with Madchester dwindled. James, Inspiral Carpets, The Charlatans and 808 State continued to record, with varying degrees of success, during the 1990s, but ceased to be seen as part of a localised scene.

Local bands catching the tail-end of Madchester, such as The Mock Turtles, became part of a wider baggy scene. The music press in the UK began to place more focus on shoegazing bands from the south of England and bands emerging through US grunge.

The immediate influence of Madchester was in inspiring the wider baggy movement in the UK, with bands from various parts of the country producing music in the early 1990s heavily influenced by the main Madchester players. These bands included Flowered Up (from London), The Farm (from Liverpool), the Soup Dragons (from Glasgow) and Ocean Colour Scene (from Birmingham). Blur, from Colchester, certainly adopted a baggy style in their early career, although in an interview with Select Magazine in 1991 they claimed, rather implausibly, to have "killed" the genre.

Subsequently, the influence of Madchester on Britpop in the mid-1990s was fairly clear, depending on which bands are discussed. Oasis are a clear example, and their guitarist Noel Gallagher worked as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets during the Madchester era.

The "big beat" dance music movement of the late 1990s also owed much to Madchester's eclectic approach to clubbing, with the Manchester DJ-ing duos the Chemical Brothers and Mint Royale being heavily inspired by their experiences in the Manchester clubland of the early 1990s.

More generally, the Madchester scene was groundbreaking in the way it brought together dance music and alternative rock, in particular the combination of the types of drumming found in funk and disco music (and sampled in 80s hip-hop music) with jingle-jangle guitar. In the 1990s, this became a commonplace formula, found frequently in even the most commercial music. Arguably, Madchester is owed a debt (or to be blamed, depending on your viewpoint) every time a jukebox plays an Alanis Morissette song.

From a marketing point of view, it might be speculated that the Madchester experience taught the music industry a number of lessons in the selling of alternative music. Some might find it tempting to suggest that there is no coincidence in the development of hype around the grunge bands in Seattle, Washington (an industrial, north-western city of the US) soon after Madchester died down.
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The mushrooming of Manchester's nightlife has certainly had a long-term impact, particularly with the subsequent development of the Gay Village and Northern Quarter. City centre living is also something that began to catch on in Manchester in the wake of Madchester. The city centre had not been seen as a residential area, but by 1994, high-end flats were selling for over a million pounds. The growth in the residential market in the centre of the city continues to this day.

The attraction of the city was such that, at the height of Madchester in 1990, the University of Manchester was the most sought-after destination for university applicants in the UK, a position shared year-on-year by Oxford and Cambridge in the normal course of things.

The scene also gave an undoubted boost to the city's media and creative industries. This was not only the case at the grass-roots. The BBC launched The 8.15 From Manchester, a Saturday morning kids' TV show (with a themetune by the Inspiral Carpets, a re-write of "Find out Why"). This ran during 1990 and 1991, cashing in on the street-cred of the city at the time.

Organised crime became an unfortunate side-story to Madchester, with the vibrancy of the clubbing scene in the city (and the popularity of illegal drugs, particularly ecstasy) producing a fertile environment for gangsterism. During the 1990s, this was to get worse, with shootings becoming frighteningly regular in areas such as Moss Side, Cheetham Hill, Salford and Longsight, and occurring from time to time in the city centre. Violent incidents at the Haçienda led to a campign against it by Greater Manchester Police, and contributed to its closure in 1997.

The Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, 808 State and James are amongst the bands commerated on a Manchester "walk of fame" commissioned for Oldham Street in the city's Northern Quarter at the end of the 1990s.

The Happy Mondays were a properly working class band who rose to prominence during the late eighties as house music and indie music came together to create the Madchester scene.

They'd been around for some time prior to hitting Top of the Pops in 89! Believe it or not they were formed in the early eighties but it took them 5 years to get their first album together - Squirrel and G Man - which came out in 1987.

But around that time the house music scene began to grow and with it The Mondays began to shape their musical direction. The 1988 album, Bummed, was a fusion of indie and house beats and it was not to be long before The Mondays became massive!

It was a remix of a track from Bummed which kick-started the transition . One side featured a Paul Oakenfold mix and one a Vince Clark mix. Both were ace. Ryder's poetic ramblings combined perfectly with the dancefloor beats and it was to become a big big hit in the clubs across the land.

By this time, the hype around the band was massive. The NME benefited a great deal from the Madchester scene as kids rushed out to get their latest dose on the scene and The Mondays benefited a great deal from the NME as page after page was written about the band.

Their next release, Madchester Rave On EP, carried on where Wrote For Luck left off and made it to number 19 in the UK chart. The band appeared on the same edition of Top of the Pops as The Stone Roses and it seemed Madchester was set to take over the world.

It was to reach number 5. It came from the band's most successful album - Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches which also featured two other top singles - Loose Fit and Kinky Afro.

But just when you thought Shaun William Ryder was going to disappear of the face of the planet - he returned in 1995 with a new band, Black Grape, and an absolutely storming album - 'It's Great When You're Straight….Yeah'. The first single from which, Reverend Black Grape, is up there with his best ever tunes…

Flowered Up were dubbed as Lonodn's Happy Mondays. The Mondays had Bez, Flowered Up had Barry Mooncult - a bloke dressed up as a flower who pranced around the stage in a flowery manner!

Their faces adorned the cover of the NME before anyone had heard their first single, a piano driven stormer that went by the name of It's On. It was a really decent tune and London's first genuine baggy band (I'm not including Blur!) had arrived on the scene.

It's On came from the band's debut album which was called Life Of Brian. Like It's On, it's a pretty good album. Filled with baggy fuelled tunes - not particularly substantial but good fun nonetheless.

It's a thirteen minute epic that to me sums up the hedonistic age of the early nineteen nineties. It is a song about how mundane work can be, how clubbing can act as a release to a different stratosphere and how bumpy returning back down to planet earth can be.

The video is class, beginning with the preparations for a big night out - the ironing of the shirt, the dressing up - then on to hitting the club - the music swirling - catching the eye of a beautiful girl - scoring and then the descent into the post club come down. It finishes with the central protagonist starring upwards from the top of a tower block as the sky spins uncontrollably above him.

The Farm first came to my attention with the launch of Stepping Stone. It was the cover what done it. A picture of a sheep wearing a beany hat, a pair of flares and red kickers. Come on!

It was an indie hit and set the band up for their assault on the charts which came in the release of Groovy Train which I think was there first release on a major label. It hit the charts and the video featured an elderly fella from Brookside whose name I forget.

Their defining moment, however, was a smash Christmas single that is the perfect tune to play at the end of any indie disco! It's lyrics described the Germans and the English coming together to play a game of football match at Christmas during the war. All Together Now is a quality quality single and featured prominently in the betting for that year's Christmas Number One - although it didn't quite make it to the top - it nestled in the top 5.

It spurred the band's album, Spartacus, onwards and upwards and the sleevenotes featured letters the band had received from labels rejecting them! The album was their moment of revenge and it went to number one!

The middle aged people of Northern England must have been outraged. Just popped out for a cup of T and a purple rinse and what's this - some deliquent teenager wearing an offensive T-shirt of the highest order. What is the world coming to. Why would anyone wear something featuring a cartoon cow and the slogan Cool As F**k??!!

No doubt Mary Whitehouse received many a call about the phenomena that was the Inspirals legendary T-shirt. It was a top article of clothing but the reason so many people bought them was because the Inspiral Carpets were a top band.

Their early releases went out on the aptly named Cow! records and each one was a stormer dominated by the driving-soaring keyboards of one of Madchester's most affable characters - Clint Boon.

From the Plane Crash and the Train Surfing EP to the two and a half minutes of madness that is Find Out Why. By the time the anthemic Move was released the record buying public and the record company executives were sitting up and taking notice.

Their debut single on the label did not disappoint. 'This Is How It Feels' tells a story of loneliness that struck a chord with a wider audience than their hardcore fans and made it safely into the top twenty and secured them their first performance on Top of the Pops. The other day I heard it on a radio show and it still sounds ace.

The single was from the band's debut album, Life, which also rode high in the charts as the band cemented their place as on one of the leading lights of the Manchester scene.

In my eyes it was probably their high point but unlike so many of their contemporaries they survived the Madchester backlash and went on to produce some really good albums and a stack of top quality singles - Dragging Me Down, Saturn 5, Two Worlds Collide, Bitches Brew etc etc etc - buy their Greatest Hits if you want proof!

When they did eventually split, it didn't halt the creative juices of Master Clint Boon. The keyboardist went on to form the Clint Boon Experience and the band has recorded two top albums - the first of which includes an absolutely belting single called White No Sugar.

In 2001, Clint celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Inspirals headlining Reading Festival by playing This Is How It Feels with his new band. You only had to look at the reaction of the crowd to see how much the Inspiral Carpets still mean to people.

Like Brando's Terry Malloy in 'On the Waterfront', The Stone Roses will always remain bound up in regret. Listen to those who worked with them, followed them, and documented their career and wait for the words 'What If…' to appear. Or just listen to the group themselves; "I realised we could have been the best band in the world and we blew it" says Mani…"We had it all at our feet and we threw it all away" says Ian Brown. You silly sods.

Wasted talent, wasted time - just wasted when they could have been capitalising on everything that astonishing debut album stood for - conventional wisdom can only castigate The Stone Roses for coming apart at the seams. But fast forward a decade to now, and imagine how it might have been.

It's 2002 and the Roses are, as promised, the biggest band in the world. Their sixth album, with its downbeat melodies and lovelorn lyrics, sounds like Travis and sells like Dido. Tickets are about to go on sale for Spike Island 2002, a Pepsi-sponsored recreation of the famous 1990 concert. It will be held in Berkshire, near John Squire's mansion. Ian Brown tells the music press that it doesn't matter that the gig is being held hundreds of miles from the 1990 venue near Widnes: "Spike Island is about a groove. It's in your head, not on a map."

After that the Roses will board their private jet and head out to the US for a 21-date tour. A stage show to rival anything U2 have ever put together, it's an exhausting undertaking but with the new album a hot tip at the Grammies they need to keep that US profile up. Besides, Ian Brown has just bought an island in the Caribbean, so as soon as the tour finishes the band will hole up there for a few weeks to escape the press and the fans.

Happy now? The Roses on Letterman, or MTV, or peering out from every tabloid as they party and marry and get richer still? The Roses no longer a breathtaking band but a celebrity freak show, sipping wine with Sting and Jagger in Monte Carlo? Is that really what people yearn for?

They were never a band built to last, a band to rely on, a band who would out-sell Bon Jovi and appear at a stadium nowhere near you. Better to be brief and beautiful than interminable and aimless. You can dwell on the regret, the messy dénouement, the wasted promise, but to do so is missing the point. The Stone Roses made a record, which, from start to finish, skirts close to absolute perfection. Everything else is incidental.

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The Charlatans first record was called Indian Rope. It was released on Dead Dead Good records and it was ace! Here was a young band, with a pin-up front man who had discovered a groove and arrived on the scene at precisely the right time - just as record labels were going mad for Manchester.

The success of Indian Rope landed The Charlatans a deal with Beggars Banquet and their first release 'The Only One I Know' went Top Ten. It's a great pop song that is a stable floor filler at many indie discos.

Their debut album - Some Friendly - enjoyed similar success and went all the way to the top of the charts. One of the tracks on the album, Sproston Green, is a stomper that forms part of the band's encore till this day.

The fall of Madchester was an inevitably difficult time for the band and their second album, Between 10th and 11th received bad reviews in some quarters but their fans and, as importantly, their label remained loyal.

It's a good job they weren't on a major as they would probably have been dropped and we wouldn't have had the chance to enjoy the band's subsequent releases.

Up To Our Hips, The Charlatans and Telling Stories (during the recording of which the band's hugely influential keyboard player, Rob Collins, sadly died). All three are evidence of a band developing, keen to try new sounds and delivering great singles such as Just When You're Thinking It Over and the awesome One To Another.

Nowadays, lead singer, Tim Burgess resides in LA. But the move hasn't quelled the band's creative juices and they've released two albums on their new label - the Dylan-esque Us and Us Only and the Mayfield-esque Wonderland which was released in 2001. Both are worthy editions to any collection.

Back in the days of Madchester - the Roses were deemed as the talented ones and the Mondays were the hedonistic ones. The Charlatans were labelled 'also rans'. The fact they're still around, still relevant and still making great records shows they were and are Dead Dead Good.
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New Order

So you're on a first date, you're going through the searching, get to know you questions and inevitably 'who is your favourite band?' is thrown into the mix. Would you have an answer on the tip of your tongue? I would. New Order.

I first discovered the band through their 1987 compilation album, Substance. I reckon it's the best Best Of ever released. From the stark beauty of In A Lonely Place through the anthemic racing of Temptation and Bizarre Love Triangle to the classic beats of Blue Monday and True Faith. Not to mention the touching tale Bernard tells in such an emotional fashion in 1963.

Since then I've bought every New Order release as well as scooping up their entire back catalogue and their music forms an essential part of my record collection.

It all began for new Order through the death of the Joy Division lead singer, Ian Curtis, who took his own life in 1980. The remaining members of the band were joined by Gillian Gilbert and New Order were formed.

Their first release came out in 1981 and was entitled Movement. It was a transitional time for a band obviously affected by the death of their former band member and Bernard's vocals almost come across as an imitation of Curtis and it's a haunting record.

From the opening chords of their second album, Power Corruption and Lies (1983), however, it becomes clear that New Order had found their way. It's a more optimistic picture driven along by a newly discovered electro sound which became a major part of their music. The stand out track on the album is Your Silent Face. Waves of chords form a beautiful six-minute soundscape.

In March 1983, New Order released the single for which they are best known to this day - Blue Monday. It took the electro theme one step further and is still filling dance floors now. It is the biggest selling 12-inch of all time and entered the chart first time round at number 12. Five months later it returned to the chart, peaking at number 9. In May 1998, a remixed version reached number 3 and a second remix in August 1995 reached number 17.

James had been around for ages before they hit the charts. The band signed to Factory Records as far back as 1983 and release the top tune Hymn From The Village but for one reason or another they moved to Sire Records in time to release their first album - Stutter in 1986. And that's just what their career did!

It was only when the band signed to Fontana that their career gained momentum and in May 1990 they had their first taste of chart success when the How Was It For You single reached number 32 in the chart. This was followed up by one of their classic singles - Come Home - which also reached number 32.

At this point their T-shirts took over! Their flowered designs with Come slogans sold absolutely bucket loads and challenged the Inspiral Carpets Cool As F**k at the top of the T-shirt chart.

The band had a great single up their sleeve and in March 1991 they unleashed Sit Down on the nation and it's been a student favourite ever since! Always annoyed me when it was played and people started sitting down on the dancefloor - but there you go - it's a great song and it reached the lofty heights of number 2.

Their 1992 album, Seven, reached number 2 in the UK chart and featured the top singles, Sound and Born of Frustration. The next instalment, Laid (1993), did well in the UK and once again had storming singles like Sometimes and Say Something.

Then it all went quiet. Very quiet. And it wasn't until 1998 when the band returned with Whiplash. Top quality comeback material! The She's A Star single is one of their best.
As you'll be able to tell from the descriptions above, James produced a string of fine singles and if ever a band deserved success from a Greatest Hits compilation it was them. And it came in 1999, reached the top of the charts and must have give the band a nice little nest egg.

808 State introduced me and I'm sure many others to house music. The introduction came in the shape of a tune called Pacific State - a beautiful record if ever there was one.

Built around a sweeping - soaring saxophone sound and the Roland 808 drum machine from which they took their name, it was a Top Ten hit in November 1989 and was the most interesting thing I'd ever seen on Top of the Pops!!

It was the first hit for a band who were still troubling the charts with new material in 1997 and who have collaborated with the likes of David Bowie, Bjork and UB40 in their long and fruitful career.

It all started back in the late eighties when Martin Price, owner of the Eastern Bloc record shop, got together with Graham Massey and Gerald Simpson to start making music under the slightly suspect name of Hit Squad Manchester!!

Before long they'd changed their name to 808 State and release their first album - Newbuild - to critical acclaim in 1998. The follow-up - Quadrastate - was also well received, although by this time Simpson had gone solo as A Guy Called Gerald.
As a result Darren Partington and Andrew Barker joined the band.

Their most successful album - 808:90 - was released off the success of Pacific State and was snapped up by a generation hungry for all they could get of this relatively new breed of music.

Northside were formed in Manchester in 1989 by Warren 'Dermo' Dermody, Cliff Ogier and brothers Timmy and Paul Walsh.
Signed to the city's Factory Records and labelmates with New Order and the Happy Mondays they were seen at the time as the great young hopefuls of the 'Madchester' scene.

First release 'Shall we take a trip/Moody places' received some critical acclaim and the band built up a steady following through the song 'shall we take a trip' with it's notorious opening lines of L.S.D. Another single 'My rising star' and an album 'Chicken Rhythms' followed that year but to a sadly lesser response.

The Stone Roses had gone into hibernation the 'Mondays were on a course for burn out and the scene was slowly dying. Their final single release in early 1991 was the chirpy, jangly guitar pop of 'Take 5' which sadly missed out on the top 40 but strangely secured them a top of the pops appearance.

Not long after the band broke up and apart from a brief reunion in the mid 90s never bothered the music industry again but have a cult following who remember their frantic live shows which included a bizarre cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Solsbury Hill'.

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