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A STUDY TO UNDERSTAND MANCHESTERS EMERGENCE

AS A CREATIVE CITY.

Jordan Strong

History

BA Honours dissertation

Aberystwyth University

9th May 2014

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Acknowledgements

Throughout this piece of work I have had some fantastic support, critiques and feedback, never more so then from Barbara Jones of student support at the university. Her support, motivation and editing of this piece of work has been second to none. The process of writing a dissertation is a hard task as it is without the persistence of dyslexia, but with Barbaras help, the process has been as smooth as one could hope. It has been a long, hard process with some laughs along the way, I am truly grateful for her help. I would also like to thank Dr. Richard Coopey, his supervision has been excellent, his guidance with source material has been extremely beneficial to this study. Furthermore I would like to thank Suzannah Reeves of Oldham sixth form college for helping me contact Dave Haslem, Also Dave himself for taking time out to email me. Finally those who helped me at the Museum of Science and Industry during in the couple of days I spent at the Rob Gretton Archive.

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Table of content 1. Introduction p.3 2. Chapter One The scene is very humdrum p.7 3. Chapter Two Evidently Chickentown p.14 4. Chapter Three The Hacienda must be built p.25 5. Chapter Four I dont have to see my soul he is already in me p.39 6. Conclusion p.44

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Introduction On the 16th of August, 1819, eighteen people were massacred during a peaceful protest in Manchesters St. Peters Square. The protest, led by Henry Hunt, was in aid of political reform, universal suffrage and equal representation. Some seven hundred infantrymen on horseback, armed with batons, set about the crowd to supress them and arrested the protesters. As well as the eighteen dead, hundreds were injured. The event would later become known as the Peterloo Massacre1 . Although at the time the massacre seemed a dead end, the fallout led to the Chartist Movement saw beginning of the slow march to reform British society, Manchester led this revolution. Manchester was a city not shy of wearing its politics on its sleeve whether it be with the formation of Manchester capitalism under the guidance of Cobden and Bright , Marx and Engels development of the Communist Manifesto in the citys Chethams Library or the establishment of the Co-op by Robert Owen in 1844.2 Manchester was at the heart of political development. However, this study is not going to focus on the vast array of Mancunian politics; it is purely cultural as, along with the politics, Manchester has never been shy at coming forward culturally whether it be with the writings of Thomas De Quincy or Anthony Burgess, the art of L.S Lowry or the sporting prowess of Manchester United and City. Manchester is rich in cultural as well as political heritage yet it is not the art, politics or the sport where this study finds its home. It is in music; if the politics of Owen is the heart of the city then music is its brain. A seemingly ever progressing entity that is not afraid of failure as long as it can be said At least we tried3. Manchester has a lot to be proud of and its music is at the forefront of this. However, this study is not a polemic on the beauty of Mancunian music, it is a study to address thematic 1 To 1945 The People's History Museum, Left Bank Spinningfields Manchester M3 3ER 19th April 2014 2 To 1945 The People's History Museum 3 Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays BBC4, Mon 17 Aug 2009 00:15

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developments of music in the city. It will do so by firstly addressing the event that is alluded to as the starting point of Manchesters musical history; The Sex Pistols gig on June the 4th 1976, held at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, a short distance from St Peters Square.4 Historiographically, The Sex Pistols gig is widely accepted as the starting point for Manchester music and it is hard to find a piece of literature that does not allude to it as such. There is a host of secondary sources including: James Nice, Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records. , Mick Middles, From Joy Division to New Order, David Nolan I Swear I Was There: The Gig That Changed the World, Simon Reynolds Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 and Paul Morley The North: (And Almost Everything In It) and all indicate that Manchesters music scene stemmed from The Sex Pistols gig on June 4th. However this study, although it does not necessarily disagree, it states that this belief undercuts Manchester and its predisposition as post industrial, that shuns authority for a more DIY. This study draws similarities between North American cities such as Detroit and Chicago to draw resonance with the curious case of Manchester. 5 Fundamental to the study are two works by Richard Florida and article by Nick Crossley. Florida argues that a creative class is fundamental to the regeneration of a city and these creative classes are drawn to creative centres, these centres do not follow conventional politics, have an abundance of artisans and what he calls Super creative class.6 This study started by alluding to Manchesters unconventional politics and its cultural prowess and through the use of Floridas The Rise of the Creative Class and Cities and the Creative Class the study will link how it is the music that regenerated the city, but it was also a combination of pre existing entities as well the Sex Pistols gig. This will be furthered by the use of Professor Nick Crossleys The man whose web expanded: Network dynamics in Manchester's post/punk music scene 19761980 article in which he explains the complexities behind the networking in Manchester that was built 4 Nice,J. Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records Aurum Press Ltd (London, 2011) p.10 5 Connell,J. Sound Tracks: Popular Music Identity and Place. Routledge (New York, 2002) p.106 6 Florida,R. The Rise of the Creative Class: And How it's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life Basic Books; New edition edition (New York 2003) p.68

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after the Sex Pistols gig. Although this can be aligned with the gig itself, the study argues that the actors in the network Crossley alludes to were pre-existing. There was the D.I.Y attitude and that the gig ignited this network further7. It is through the use of primary evidence such as the Rob Gretton Archive at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the Defining Me exhibition at the Lowry in Salford and contact with David Haslem, the author of Manchester a Pop Cult City have formed a basis for the primary sources used and have given the background evidence to formulate such arguments. Furthermore several documentaries have been used as primary sources, however trepidation have been taken when using these sources due to the subjectivity that comes with interviews. Using both primary evidence and secondary source, this study aims too highlight Manchester emergence as a creative city. The first chapter of the study uses the arguments of Crossley to shed light on The Sex Pistols gig and its importance to the scene whilst also questioning the importance of the time between the first gig in June and the second a month later in July which saw the crowd increase from 42 to near 10008. It is here where the Crossley article points to a network of actors in the city as opposed to the idea that The Sex Pistols gig was just an almost class conscious uprising against the music of the time. Chapter two develops further the argument Manchester became a creative city, showing that Manchester was not the only place to take the punk mentality and start a revolution but it was the only city dedicated to progression, never more evident than in the fact that the man who brought The Sex Pistols to Manchester would go on to be the frontman of the Buzzcocks. Howard Dovoto would leave the band shortly after their self-realised Spinal Scratch Records claim that punk was over. Manchester progressed on to post punk and formed its own identity and the chapter argues this is embedded in the DIY attitude of the city that stems back to Peterloo. Chapter Three shows the progression of Manchester from punk to world renowned city with particular emphasis on the model of Factory Records which took the ideas of 7 N. Crossley, The man whose web expanded: Network dynamics in Manchester's post/punk music scene 19761980 Volume 37, Issue 1, February 2009, Pages 2449 8 Morley,P The North: (And Almost Everything In It) Bloomsbury Publishing (London,2013) P.507

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Situationist International and an ethos based in art to become what Florida calls a creative city. It is in this chapter that the transition from post punk to Madchester happens all with the philosophy of creating anew9. Chapter Four steps out of the Factorys shadows and shows that it is something from within the city that creates this creativity; the idea that creative people flock to creative places10. The two bands highlighted are the Smiths and the Stone Roses, two bands that did not fit the Factory mode but followed the reaction to Thatcherism in the same way Factory did. The study concludes, with the idea that although The Sex Pistols gig may have sparked something in Manchester, the revolution came from within. Manchester had the tools to become a creative city and it had the right actors, as Crossley states, to create the networks and find itself as Britains only city that has a creative super class because of its lack of professional creativity. 11 9 Florida, Cities and the Creative Class Routledge; 1 edition (London, 2005) P.82 10 Florida,R. The Rise of the Creative Class p.17 11 Florida,R. The Rise of the Creative Class p. 68

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Chapter one: The scene is very humdrum On the 4th of June,1976, a band from London would shake up the humdrum of city life and change a Britains fortunes for many a year to come. In July that same year, The Sex Pistols would play the same venue again, this time with vastly more support. 12These gigs were organised by a Bolton Tech student by the name of Howard Dovoto, (Buzzcocks). After seeing The Sex Pistols in London with his friend, Richard Boon, Dovoto decided The Pistols were exactly what Manchester needed. He spent 32 on renting the Lesser Free Trade Hall;13 once the centre of Manchesters capitalism, as a music venue it housed the likes of Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. However, on June the 4th, something entirely different came to town. We were perhaps frustrated by our stranded nonentity status and seeking a new purpose,

but not really expecting blatant clues about how to break out of the post-war, post sixties,

post-industrial breakdown limbo. The sex pistols deviant pop-art rage and indignation

was immediate clue14 Historiographically, The Sex Pistols gig on the night of June the 4th was the fulcrum to several studies: James Nices Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records; Mick Middles Factory: The Story of the Record Label; Dave Haslems Manchester, England: The Story of the Pop Cult City. All indicate that the 4th June was the birth of the city15 12 Nolan,D. I Swear I Was There: The Gig That Changed the World Independent Music Press; New edition (London2006)p13 13 Savage,J. The England's Dreaming Tapes Faber & Faber (London, 2009) p.511 14 Morley,P The North p.516 15 Information obtained via an email exchange with Dave Haslem, author of Manchester, A pop cult city. Dave Haslem. dave@davehaslam.com. Manchester pop cult city. 17th april 2014.

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however this chapter argues it was more a renaissance than spawning of the new; The Sex Pistols gig on the 4th of June, 1976. This was a gig which only around 42 people attended16 yet when asked some 1000 patrons would profess to have been in attendance. David Nolans The gig that changed the world is the one of the more poignant books on the matter, as he dedicates 179 pages to quotes of recollections by people who were supposedly at the concert. Here, an extracts from Nolans book, by the late Tony Wilson and typifies the importance of the gig to those around the Manchester scene. Although there is something important to be taken for the Lesser Free Trade Hall this dissertation disagrees as to its full impact and it is with this Wilson quote where the first problem is found.

The success of Manchester is in not being a typical city like Bristol, which had a good three

years, or Seattle, which had a good three years, or Liverpool, which had a good three years.

Manchester having a good twenty years begins on the night of June 4th and its as if you

can use the phrase set in motion. The spin that was created that night lasted probably

until Oasis.17 The Factory Records impresario, and aptly named Mr Manchester, was a man with little restrain and, though his words have a lot of resonance, his brazen dismissal of the aforementioned cities is not just limited to him, it is very much the view across the literature. However, what is most interesting is Paul Morley believes that Wilson is one of many to have embellished his attendance at the gig18. It is widely known that the Granada T.V presenter was more a fan of Country Music than he was the MC519. Wilson is among several important people who did not attend the gig despite the way it is portrayed in the film 24 hour party people. Martin Hannet, Alan Erasmus (both Factory Records) and Mick Hucknel (Simply Red) were definitely not in attendance and as for 16 Nice,J. Shadowplayers p.10 17 Nolan,D. I Swear I Was There p.143 18 Morley,P The North p.514 19 Middles, M Factory: The Story of the Record Label Ebury Press (London 2009) p.24

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Mark E Smith (The Fall) no one is quite sure whether he was there in June or July or maybe even both.20 The inaccuracy to the attendance cause problems for historians, as so much is of what has been written gears toward, the June 4th gig, when infact the attendees is one of Manchester great myths. It is near certain that Tony Wilson was not at the gig as both Peter Hook (joy Division) and Howard Dovoto did not see him there. That prompts the argument that Tony Wilson, a local celebrity, know for his news anchorage on Granada reports, a man who had a resentment for never being able to make in as national tv presenter, 21could have fabricated the importance of the gig for his own benefit. After all he arguably had the biggest output of everybody at the gig, with his influence at Granada, and never more so is this evident than in his music show So It Goes. Although 24 hour party people may have inaccurately got the attendance at the Pistols gig wrong, one thing they did not get wrong was Steve Coogans portrayal of Wilson.22 A sublimely educated middle class man from Marple, whilst at Cambridge university he was heavily involved in Situationist International, an idea that would be at the source of Factory Records that will be addressed later in the study. Wilson, a promising young reporter, had planned to learn his trade in Manchester and eventually move to a nationwide new channel. However that dream was ultimately never realised as James Nice puts it Wilson remained in Manchester, a large fish in a small pool23. Then the idea must be introduced that it played into Wilsons hands to say he was at the gig as he always wanted to be at the forefront of everything Manchester.24 There is no way that he would not have been involved in the aftermath of the gig even if he did not attend. Wilson brilliantly saw the opportunity to create something; something that he could be in the forefront of, something he could run and further his status as a large fish in a small pool. This idea is not saying that what Wilson would go on to was anything but brilliant; it is more a thought that it benefited Wilson as a person to say he was in attendance and also to say that it was the starting point for the Manchester music scene. He could thus be the face of the Manchester music scene and give himself the national notoriety he so heavily craved. 20 24 hour party people. Dir. Michael Winterbottom. Perf. Steve Coogan . Twentieth Century Fox , 2002. DVD. 21 Nice,J. Shadowplayers p.8 22 24 hour party people. 23 Nice,J. Shadowplayers p.8 24 Newsnight BBC2 10th, August, 2007

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The side notion to this point then is; what was the scene before 1976? Was it, as proclaimed in the Buzzcocks song Boredom,25 humdrum or was there something going on in the city? During the sixties, Manchester lay in the shadow of its much more famous cousin on Merseyside.26 Beatles mania was in full swing; they were the biggest band of all time making Liverpool famous overnight. On the surface, it would seem Liverpool and Manchester were worlds apart yet it was the activities in Liverpool pre 1883 that would give Manchester its heartbeat.27 The slave trade brought with it an influx of immigration and, behind London and Birmingham, Manchester had the highest population of black people and with that came integration and adaptation.28 Post industrial towns in Britain, such as Manchester and Sheffield, drew linkage with similar cities in the United States, a trans-national similarity of the degradation of industry saw a direct parallel. Detroit and Chicago were in a similar poor state to Manchester and Sheffield. For these cities the only solitude from the post industrial world would be the Arts, namely music. Not only was the social situation trans-national but the music was too. Northern Soul would become the music of rejection and Motown Records, under Berry Gordy, became one of the most successful black record labels. Northern Soul was a focal point of Manchesters youth culture, northern soul brought with ita range of clubs, but it would be The Twisted Wheel club which would gain most notoriety. In Manchester 45s were king, the Beatles were in earshot but out of mind. Northern Soul was a reject of southern authority,29 progressive and brazen in nature, the all night disco and jubilant dance style were far flung from the times. However, then the Manchester Corporation Act 1965 specifically targeted the nightclub scene and youth culture with the aim of cleaning up Manchesters streets.30 This led to the closure of many clubs in the city and The Twisted Wheel would be one of only three clubs to 25 Dovoto,H. Boredom On Spiral Scratch [EP] Indigo Sound Studios ,New Hormones records 1977 26 Stanley,B. Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop Faber & Faber (London,2013)p.232 27 Sheridan, R. B. (1958), The Commercial and Financial Organization of the British Slave Trade, 1750-1807. The Economic History Review, Vol. 11, No. 2 (1958), pp. 249-263 28 Registrar General for England and Wales, 1971 Census: Aggregate data (Great Britain) [computer file]. UK Data Service Census Support. Downloaded from: http://casweb.mimas.ac.uk. This information is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2]. 29 Shuker,R. Key Concepts in Popular Music Routledge (London 1998) p.45 30Kiszely, Philip, From place to space to scene: The Roxy Room and the emergence of Manchesters alternative pop culture identity Punk & Post Punk, Volume 2, Number 1, March 2013 , pp. 27-42

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remain open after the Act. Yet this furthers the argument that, although the Sex Pistols concert in 1976 may have been the starting point of Punk it was not the starting point for a musical rebellion, Manchester had that in its bloodstream. Furthermore, the assertion that Punk was fresh to Manchester in 1976 is also something that is misrepresented. Yes, the gig brought like minded people to one venue to watch the Punk band but the Punk ethos and the youth culture was effervescent in Manchester prior to 1976. The Manchester Club scene had to clean up its act and a re-emergence of nightclubs in the 1970s saw a higher class of venue, clean and free from the poor youth. However, two venues The Ranch At Foo Foos Cabaret Club and The Roxy Room at Pips Disco would be fundamental to the rebuilding of the youth culture. These were the first and only places in Manchester before 1976 that would entertain the idea of Punk. Often frequented by the likes of Peter Hook (Joy Division/New order), 31who would later be at the first Sex Pistols gig they were, as with The Twisted Wheel, an outlet to rebel against authority. Along with The Twisted Wheel these clubs, and the underground youth culture that Manchester has always had, bring into question how revolutionary the Sex Pistols gig was for the city. These ideas promote one to question the revolutionary nature of the gig. The consciousness did not arrive on that night on June 4th, that was instilled, what it did bring was an eradicated output. By alluding to the gig as the starting point Manchester is undercutting itself as a progressive city. It is within the article, by Professor Nick Crossley, where one finds the most poignant argument of how the Sex Pistols gig changed the face of Manchester for the next twenty years. Crossley formalises the argument that it was the Sex Pistols gig that allowed and fabricated the intertwined web of networking which simply did not exist before.32 This idea is one that can be inferred from all the literature; with only 28 tickets sold in advance and maybe 20 more sold on the door33 the gig was far from what it has been professed to be. What is most interesting about the aftermath of the 4th of June gig to the 31 Kiszely, Philip, From place to space to scene 32 N. Crossley, The man whose web expanded: 33 Cummins, K , Manchester: Looking for the Light through the Pouring Rain Faber & Faber (London, 2012) p.15

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July gig is the increase in attendance. One explanation could be the hype surrounding the Pistols; they were fast becoming a household name in Punk yet it would still be four more months until the infamous T.V interview in the December of that year. It is here that Crossley presents his networking argument, When any two actors meet and form a connection this increases the likelihood that those to whom each is connected will do likewise. Their connection is a mechanism which brings

previously unconnected actors into contact34 The prime example of this is the networking built up by the Factory director. The action of Rob Gretton meeting Tony Wilson opened the door to Gretton meeting Alan Erasmus. Through Gretton, Wilson would meet Martin Hannet and through Hannet they thus met Peter Seville. Here then, in these interactions, the five men that would make Factory Records what it became met in what Crossley calls the Granovetter effect.35 Mark Granovetters hypothesis believes that if a central figure has a tie with two people who do not know each through their interaction with the central figure they will have what is called a weak tie. Through these ties a bridge can be formed thus building a network of people.36 Crossley takes this and applies it to Manchester; the picture below details the linkages between those involved in the Manchester scene. At the centre are the key actors; the majority of these actors would go on to form the basis for Factory Records. Curtis, Morris, Sumner and Hook (Joy Division) Hannet, Saville, Erasmus and Wilson (Factory Record directors). It is interesting, then, that only two of these main actors would be at the 4th June gig (Hook and Sumner). This raises the argument that, although the June 4th gig sparked the punk revolution and got people talking it was through weak ties that Manchester gained in notoriety. After all Morris only joined Joy Division as he was friends with Curtis. Hook and Sumner had no knowledge as to who he was37. So arguably, the gig was not the starting point it was the actors, those people that had, 34 N. Crossley, The man whose web expanded 35 N. Crossley, The man whose web expanded 36 Granovetter, Mark. The strength of weak ties American journal of sociology, volume 78, issue, (may,1973), pp 1360-1380 37 Hook,P. Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division. Simon & Schuster UK (London, 2013) p.54

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as will be alluded to in the next chapter, the DIY attitude that has become synonymous with Manchester.

38 This chapter has aimed to show a different outlook on the revolutionary gig. Every man wished to be at the gig but this chapter has questioned why and gives rise to the idea that Manchester is undercutting itself by putting all the emphasis on this gig. Manchester has always been a city to dismiss authority as far back as the Peterloo massacre. That said, it would be foolish to dismiss the 4th of June gig as secondary; it did instil a lot of people with belief, belief that they could go out there and do that and that is exactly what they did and they also did it in a way no other city did. However the argument, with the use of Crossleys article, believes that Manchesters weak ties have more influence than the gig itself. 38 N. Crossley, The man whose web expanded

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Chapter Two: Evidently Chickentown

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When I reached Manchester it was raining. Heavily The first chapter dismantled the historiographical inaccuracy on the Sex Pistols gig and it is here, in Chapter Two, that a deep look at Manchesters do it yourself attitude will be examined as it is this attitude that is fundamental to the study; what was it that made Howard Dovoto hold the June 4th Gig? However, before one tackles Manchesters DIY attitude other cities must be addressed. As alluded to in the previous chapter, Sheffield followed Manchester as a downtrodden post-industrial city so why was Manchester the place to be? Furthermore youth culture was ever-present in the UK in Leeds, Liverpool, and Birmingham. To understand Manchesters importance/popularity these other cities must be cross-examined.

Liverpool the home of the Beatles39

Liverpool has a shadow living over it. Beatlemania brought notoriety to the city; Liverpool was on the map for something other than the Mersey, slavery and cotton. The Beatles gave the city something no other northern town had, fame. Still to this day Liverpool is living off the fame of the Beatles; the Cavern Club has a similar standing to the most visited musical attractions such as Graceland and Sun Studios. And one cannot blame Liverpool for taking advantage of every bit of the Beatles it can. In more recent times Liverpool has started to distance itself from the Fab Four and in 2008 the European Capital of Culture Award saw huge regeneration in the city.40 However this chapter is not wholly interested in the Beatles, it is more interested in Liverpool in the late 70s. After all, punk was not just a two city phenomena. Taking a short trip down the M62, East Lancs or Leeds/Liverpool canal if the preference is a narrow boat, the traveller can reach each city in no time. Liverpool saw punk as a way out of the stranglehold of the Beatles. It would be Erics Club on Matthew Street, which opened its 39 Morley,P The North p. 396 40 Kokosalakis, C., Bagnall, G., Selby, M. and Burns, S. Place image and urban regeneration in Liverpool. International Journal of Consumer Studies, Volume 30, Issue 4, pages 389397, July 2006

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doors in 1976, that would be the centre of alternative music for Liverpool41. Art students from outside of the local area, many from London, sought out something new, a hark back to the eclectic mix of scene in London and for many Erics proved that place. Liverpool, like Manchester, had its fair share of post punk bands; Echo and the Bunnymen, Big in Japan, Tear Drop Explodes, The Nice. There was an eccentricity in Liverpool band names, a certain need to show off. Manchester bands were more discreet and sombre as if Liverpool had something to prove post Beatles.42 One would expect huge rivalry between the two cities, however that is not true. Manchester bands were well received in Liverpool and visa versa, sometimes Liverpool bands would get a better reaction in Manchester than at home. This is furthered by the fact Eric and Factory were planning to produce what is now known as FAC2 together as a double a side of both cities offering.43 However, that deal fell through for unknown reasons. So then, why did Liverpool not transcend from the Beatles to the progressive music capital of the world? There were two reasons for this. Firstly, Liverpool came to punk later than Manchester, as Paul Morley puts it Perhaps Liverpool was slow to get going because they did not have the Sex Pistols visit twice44. Morleys point is one that cements the argument of this chapter; Manchesters willingness to DIY and take advantage of the possibility of the Pistols playing twice in two months that Manchester, and namely Dovoto, seized. It cost Dovoto 32 to rent the Lesser Free Trade Hall and with only 42 tickets sold it is hard to think he made his money back on tickets, let alone after paying the bands so why would he put the second gig on? The answer is because he could, a network of Mancunians were interested in the Pistols and Punk,45 it would be crazy not to. It seems as if this initiative was lacking from Liverpool, people were just too happy to be out of the Beatlesmania to seize the opportunity. And more remarkable is the second point, the local xenophobia towards wooly backs (people from Liverpool) with the case 41 Robert Strachan Liverpools 1970s bohemia: Deaf School, Erics and the post-punk scene in The beat goes on : Liverpool, popular music and the changing city Edited by Marion Leonard and Rob Strachan Liverpool University press (Liverpool, 2010) p. 124 42 Morley,P The North p.420 43 Sabotage Times Factory At The Russel Club http://sabotagetimes.com/music/the-factory-records-story-part-iii/#_ 44 Morley,P The North p.421 45 Haslam, D. Manchester, England: The Story of the Pop Cult City Fourth Estate; New Ed edition (London,2000) p.110-112

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in point being Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,46 arguably the most pragmatic band in the Liverpool scene. They played synthesisers instead of guitar but they were told they were just not Erics cool. This, added to the fact they were from across the Mersey in the Wirral, made it hard for the band to stake a claim in Liverpool and this was never more evident than in the fact they signed for Factory Records then signed for Liverpools own Zoo Records. It is clear Liverpool had to shake off the Beatles influence and the way for them to do it was to follow Eric. Punk came at a time when we were as a city at rock bottom. All influences had gone.

Cavern was great, Merseybeat was great .But what now , punk provided the vehicle for

dismantling the past47 And it in this quote by Rob Strachan is where Liverpools problem lay, by the time they had moved to punk, punk was dead in Manchester. Dovoto had left the Beatles and was in Magazine, Joy Division were on the verge of realising Unknown Pleasures. Liverpool never matched Manchesters vision and pragmatism and thus it is here where the city fell down. Birmingham is somewhat a different story to Manchester and Liverpool as punk seemingly passed it by without any interference. The main explanation for this is a Ska band from Coventry by the name of The Specials that, along with the label that came with the band, Two Tone, allowed Birmingham to develop its own style. An explanation for this lies with the demographic of Birmingham. Bar London, Birmingham has the second highest population of black immigrants48 much like Manchester and housing in the Midlands cities is impoverished. The youth culture in Birmingham was arguably the most diverse in the UK at the time. London has Brixton and Manchester has Moss Side but in Birmingham small pockets of immigrants are harder to come across and, for the 46De Noyer, P Liverpool - Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture Ebury Press (London, 2007) p.136 47 Robert Strachan Liverpools 1970s bohemia: Deaf School, Erics and the post-punk scene p.140 48 Maconie,S. The People's Songs: The Story of Modern Britain in 50 Records. Ebury Press (London, 2014) p.223

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most part, immigration is an integral part of the city. Never more so is this evident than in the union between Jamaican Ska music and the British Mod style that would come to be Two Tone. Birminghams counter culture would become Two Tone style. Doc Marten boots, blue jeans and polo tops became synonymous with the scene as did tailored suits; Birminghams own adaption of Mod. And it would be in The Specials that Birmingham would find most success. 49The debut single, Gangsta would enjoy more success than The Fall, Joy division and the Smiths would do in the pop charts. Followed up by A message to you Rudy, an adaptation of Dandy Livingstones reggae song Rudy a message to you, would reach 6th and 10th in the UK charts respectively. However, The Specials hit the number one spot with their third single Too much Too Young50. Two Tone and The Specials brought something new to the table, Birmingham was now on the map musically and when they played in Birmingham in 1979 the venue was littered with A and R men from the big labels looking to sign them. Said A and R men seldom ventured North. Steven Morris of Joy Division jokingly assigned this to the fact they could not afford the train fare51 and although Morriss quote is meant in jest there is some truth in it. The chance of a major label having success in Manchester was unlikely as the sheer number of local record companies and the unwillingness of the bands to leave made Manchester somewhat separate. In the early period it was only The Fall that did not sign with a Manchester label and even they signed with the London independent Rough Trade. So, for the major labels, it would be a waste of money traveling that far for nothing. The Specials would stay with Two Tone Records for three albums and would enjoy much commercial success but it was clear many majors wanted The Specials not its two tone record label.52 The Specials showed the character which many bands in Manchester showed by sticking with the label. However, it is not with the record label where this study finds inadequacy. Commercially The Specials were a huge success, they took the counter-culture to the masses which was what Manchester bands always struggled to do. However, when The 49 Marshell,G The Two Tone Story. ST Publishing; New edition (London1993) p.4 50 Every hit. Records database http://www.everyhit.com/searchsec.php accessed April 12th 51 Ian Curtis and Stephan Morris of Joy Division interviewed by Richard Skinner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfVRAI3TckU accessed 8th March 52 Marshell,G The Two Tone Story. p.27

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Specials toured the U.K in 1979 there were eighteen venues on the list and none were in the what is now Greater Manchester area.53 It is challenging to find that a band with such success would avoid the city but it is simple, The Specials filled middle ground that Manchester did not like, they tried to be independent DIY but were playing venues that much bigger artists would play, so in Manchester they had nowhere to fit in. One would presume the most likely venue to be the Russell Club in Hulme, a stone throw from moss side which was the area with the highest population of black people in Manchester54. However the Russell Club was the home of Factory Records in the early days. This, teamed with the prerequisite that came with northern soul, the offer by The Specials in 1979 just did not fit Manchester. Manchester was not ready for smart suits and Ben Sherman. Contrary to that one would argue Manchester had the music it needed; punk /post punk suited the citys industrial roots. So, while Birmingham had new musical appeal it had a product that was one trick pony, as seen by the decline in success of The Specials. After 1981s Ghost Town, which brought another number one for the band, there came not much after.55 The band never offered anything new; the city had Two Tone and that was it whereas in Manchester, Joy Division, in the wake of Ian Curtiss death, were becoming New Order and the world was on the verge of hearing the Smiths. So, in a similar vein to Liverpool, the Midlands stuck with what it knew and did not take the risk that Manchester would do. Leeds, as a city, has a more simple explanation to its lack of development as a music city. Leeds, at the time of the late 70s, had a high number of art students and, like other northern cities, in very working class areas. The local people did not like this. Art is not often associated with the common Yorkshire man or the common northern man56. The pretentions that come from art drew up a massive divide between Town vs. Gown. Moreover, these students were on the whole not from Yorkshire, or the north, thus furthering the difference between the students and locals meaning that it was hard to bridge a gap in culture57. Manchester has the largest population of students in Europe58 53 Marshell,G The Two Tone Story. p.53 54 Middles, M Factory: The Story of the Record Label p.134 55 Maconie,S. The People's Songsp. P.226 56 Reynolds,S. Rip it up and start again Faber & Faber (London 2009)p.112 57 Reynolds,S. Rip it up and start again p.114

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but it is the sheer number of students which makes a situation, such as in Leeds, impossible. In Manchester there is mutual understanding between the students and locals, after all many of the people the Smiths and Joy Divisions resonated with were university educated, moreover Tony Wilson, Mr. Manchester, was Oxbridge educated. 59 You know me - I'm acting dumb

you know the scene - very humdrum

boredom boredom60

Howard Dovoto was right about the scene being humdrum. As mentioned, Manchester had an underlying youth culture but, except in a handful of places, it had no outlet. When Dovoto and Pete Shelly organised the Sex Pistols gigs they gave Manchester an outlet, what it was yearning for. There is no doubt the attitude of the Sex Pistols helped ignite the scene but for too long has the importance of Dovoto and Shellys input been overlooked. Booking the Lesser Free Trade Hall for 32 after watching the Sex Pistols in London, the two young Bolton institute students decided that Manchester needed that. Along with Richard Boon (a student they would visit in London) they would start the renaissance of Manchesters counter-culture, that which was thriving pre 196561. The two, Shelly and Dovoto, would go on to create the band the Buzzcocks along with Steve Diggle, John Maher, and with Boon as manager. The Buzzcocks were set to play the Pistols gig, however they would not form a band in time for the June 4th gig so they would play the second gig in July62. Firstly, the gig was met with much higher 58 Biggest student population in Europe set to give Manchester businesses much needed boosthttp://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/200956199-biggest-student-population-europe-set-give-manchester-businesses-much-needed-boost accessed may 2nd 59 Nolan, D. Tony Wilson - You're Entitled to an Opinion John Blake Publishing Ltd (London, 2009) p.19 60 Dovoto,H (1977) Boredom [The Buzzcocks]. On Spiral Scratch [EP] Indigo Sound Studios ,New Hormones reocrds 61 Robb,J. The north will rise again Manchester Music City 1976-1996 Aurum Press Ltd (London 2010) p.37 62 Nice,J. Shadowplayers p.13

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attendance than the first a month before and this is accredited to the networking of the first gig. Secondly, the Buzzcocks were quite different to the Pistols, just as raw but more refined. The first gig had nothing to do with what the Pistols were saying, it was what they were doing. The Buzzcocks, on the other hand, had more about them. They were very much still punk but with Manchesters own twist. The Sex Pistols, were reaching their height, banned from venues, causing an affray everywhere they went.63 They were the hottest thing to come out of Britain since the Beatles yet they were now famous, the antithesis of what punk was about, selling out shows when months before only 42 people came to their gig. With this came major record labels, punk had become, and arguably always has been, a middle class rebellion. Manchester follows this pattern; the majority of the bands were on the upper working class level at least. Punk had lost its DIY attitude, punk was a rebellion no doubt but it was a rebellion still encapsulated by money, a capitalism. One will argue that Manchester does not follow this trend. Factory Records is a prime example, however that will be discussed in a later chapter. The Buzzcocks took the punk ethos and pursued it. While the Pistols were signing with EMI in October 1978, the Buzzcocks were summing up 250 from friends and family to release the first EP, Spiral Scratch on New Hormones records, their own label, becoming the first punk band to do so.64 They sold 16,000 copies, after the initial 1000 sold, at rapid pace.65 On the record they would work with Martin Hannet, the now infamous Factory producer, who at the time was known on the scene as Martin Zero. As a result of his degree Zero was a chemist but by trade he was a pioneering producer, known for his out of the box production. gain, I was trying to do things, and the engineer was turning them off when I looked round. You dont put that kind of echo on a snare drum!66 63 Savage,J Time Travel: From the Sex Pistols to Nirvana:Pop,Media and Sexuality 1977-96 Vintage; New Ed edition (London,1997) p.47 64 Cummins, K , Manchester: p.20 65 Nice,J. Shadowplayers p.16 66The Mad Genius of Manchester: A Profile of Producer Martin Hannett http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2011/08/01/producer-profile-martin-hannett/ Accessed 24th April

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As the quote from Hannet himself suggests, his style fit in with most in the industry but for Manchester it was perfect. Hannet and the Buzzcocks embraced the DIY attitude that punk ignited. In no way did punk start it but via the mentioned networking, it gave Manchester its outlet. The attitude of those at the time was against authority with the idea that if it is not what you want build your own. Spiral Scratch did that and solidified Manchesters place on the scene. Interesting then that Dovoto, the man which this study has argued is one of the most influential players in the scene, would chose to leave Buzzcocks in 1977.67 His reasoning was clear and simple; punk was going. Dovoto predicted what was to come and, to further the argument that he was the major player, he would go on to join the Magazine, a progressive synth band. The Buzzcocks would go on to success and finally joined a major label in United Artists but it was their desire to try something new, to take punk and turn it on its head and actually mean it.68 Dovoto is the perfect answer to the archetypal Mancunian, never settling. New Hormones was not the only record label around in Manchester at the time. Tosh Ryan and John Crumpton, in 1976, started the label Rabid Records against punk, ignited by the DIY attitude of these two men.69 Rabid had more longevity then New Hormones. It had a range of artists; Slaughter and the Dogs, a heavy punk band; Jilted John, a comical musician from Leeds and, most importantly, John Cooper Clarke, a spoken word poet from Salford. A man about whom Tony Wilson said : I'm not the one who will have his life turned into legend, in the way that happened to

Baudelaire, Verlaine and Rimbaud. It won't be me. It will be John Cooper Clarke.70 Striking words coming from Manchester that nearly everyone accredited as having success as a music city. But Wilsons quote has substance. Here is a man, standing six feet tall with legs as thin as twigs, hair that resembles a Brillo pad, reading poetry in working mens clubs. He was introduced by Bernard Manning, not my cup of tea but you 67 Savage,J Time Travel: p.261 68 Robb,J. The north will rise again p.64 69 Nice,J. Shadowplayers p.22 70 Evidently... John Cooper Clarke BBC4, 12th May 2012 22.00

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might like him71. Manning was the owner of the famous Embassy Club on Rochdale Road, Harpurhey, the epitome of a working mens club. But what John Cooper Clarke did was he resonated with people; his fast delivery (which he accredited to the Ramones)72 and erratic style meant people took note, and what also helped was the quality of his words. the fucking cops are fucking keen

to fucking keep it fucking clean

the fucking chief's a fucking swine

who fucking draws a fucking line

at fucking fun and fucking games

the fucking kids he fucking blames

are nowehere to be fucking found

anywhere in chicken town

the fucking scene is fucking sad

the fucking news is fucking bad

the fucking weed is fucking turf

the fucking speed is fucking surf

the fucking folks are fucking daft

don't make me fucking laugh

it fucking hurts to look around

everywhere in chicken town

the fucking train is fucking late

you fucking wait you fucking wait

you're fucking lost and fucking found

stuck in fucking chicken town

the fucking view is fucking vile

for fucking miles and fucking miles

the fucking babies fucking cry 71 Evidently... John Cooper Clarke BBC4, 12th May 2012 22.00 72 Evidently... John Cooper Clarke BBC4, 12th May 2012 22.00

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the fucking flowers fucking die

the fucking food is fucking muck

the fucking drains are fucking fucked

the colour scheme is fucking brown

everywhere in chicken town

the fucking pubs are fucking dull

the fucking clubs are fucking full

of fucking girls and fucking guys

with fucking murder in their eyes

a fucking bloke is fucking stabbed

waiting for a fucking cab

you fucking stay at fucking home

the fucking neighbors fucking moan

keep the fucking racket down

this is fucking chicken town

the fucking train is fucking late

you fucking wait you fucking wait

you're fucking lost and fucking found

stuck in fucking chicken town

the fucking pies are fucking old

the fucking chips are fucking cold

the fucking beer is fucking flat

the fucking flats have fucking rats

the fucking clocks are fucking wrong

the fucking days are fucking long

it fucking gets you fucking down

evidently chicken town73

Evidently Chicken Town embodies everything; John Cooper Clarke, Manchester and its music scene. Read behind the profanity and the dark side of life is exposed and the 73 John Cooper Clarke. Evidently Chickentown. Martin Hannent, 1978. LP

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profanity is the only way to express yourself. John Cooper Clarke is Manchesters poet laureate and rightly so. Richard Floridas Cities and The Creative Class talks about how cities are cauldrons for creativity74. The argument of his book is not that the role of creativity in city formation and growth is new but that, with the decline of physical constraints on cities and communities in recent decades, creativity has become the principal driving force in the growth and development of cities, regions, and nations. So for Manchester, its decline as a post industrial city allowed this DIY attitude to prosper. Linking this with the actors mentioned in Chapter One, Manchester had the perfect cauldron for development musically however it is yet to reap the benefits of the economic prosperity that Florida alludes to. This idea is something that is carried through the study and can be linked to all parts of Manchesters regeneration as a music city. Chapter Three: The Hacienda must be built 74 Florida, Cities and the Creative Class p.1

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Mutability is the epitaph of worlds

Change alone is changeless

People drop out of the history of a life as of a land though their work or their influence

remains75

In October 2007, Factory Records released its final number in the Factory catalogue; FAC501 would be one a of kind, a Factory special. FAC501 will never be made for re-release, no matter how hard people try. FAC501 is the catalogue number given to the coffin of the man that started it all. In true Tony Wilson style, before his death, he assigned the coffin the number76. With his passing the end of Factory Records was complete, the record label died a somewhat unceremonious death but will long live in the memory. The quote above comes from G Linnaeus Banks 1876 novel The Manchester Man. They are also the words that adorned Wilsons rave, designed by Peter Seville and Ben Kelly, the men behind the design of the Hacienda. Seville was also a Factory director and the man that produced most of the artwork including the infamous Unknown Pleasure album. The minimalism of the black stone is in direct contrast to the figure Wilson cut, a man known for his bravado, intelligence and brazen nature.77 Wilson, like others, was inspired by the Sex Pistols in 1976. At the time Wilson confesses he did not follow modern music but that all changed when he saw the Sex Pistols, whether it be at the first or the second gig. It was from this that Wilson, an established member of the Granada TV studio, started a show called So it Goes which showcased new, alternative music. Bands such as The Jam, The Clash, The Buzzcocks, 75 Linnaeus,G. The Manchester Man Kessinger Publishing (London 2007). P234 76 Nice,J. Shadowplayers .p3 77 Peter Saville-designed memorial headstone for Tony Wilson unveiled http://www.nme.com/news/tony-wilson/53571#SjSs3HVBCfJ5oFZ8.99 accsed 2nd may

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The Stranglers and Siouxsie and The Banshees all appeared on the show.78 For many of these bands it would be their only outlet or even as much as the making of them as shows like the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops would not entertain them in the early days. The last episode of So it Goes aired in December 1977. It was here Wilson was becoming so well known a figure on the music scene that he wanted to manage bands. After receiving a call from an old friend, Alan Erasmus, an unemployed sublimely intelligent man, they decided that together they would manage bands. They called the management project M24j or the Movement of the 24th January, a name filled with as much pretention as the two man it housed.79 However, if one looks deeper, the name links to idea of Situationist Internationalism (SI) and these ideas would become integral to the Factory ethos. The genesis of SI, in 1957, saw a group of artisans with radical political leftist views looking to affect European politics with social reform and political transformation. Anarchic and surrealistic, SI came to British attention in 1968 with the riots in France.80 Wilson would take inspiration for SI in the naming of his and Erasmus first managed band The Durutti Column, named after Buennaventura Durrita Dumange. A central figure in the Spanish Civil War, he led a group of anarchists against Franco but was mortally wounded when he was shot in the heart. Although its seems ridiculous to anyone in the English speaking world to run a business based around anarchic and surrealist thinking, that is exactly what Factory did and it was in SI where the laissez faire attitude that Factory lived and ultimately died by can be found. Wilson and Erasmus had hoped to sign Durutti Column to a major label as they felt that local labels Rabid and New Hormones were not fitting with the band. However, when this did not happen, the pair decided to change direction and run a club night. The Russell Club in Collyhurst was the venue. A predominately Caribbean nightclub it would hold four events put on by the pair between May and June. Not only did they aim to showcase Durrtti Column but they also aimed to showcase post punk music with bands like Cabaret Voltaire who would eventually sign with Factory and Liverpools Big in 78 Middles, M Factory: The Story of the Record Label p.30-31 79 Nice,J. Shadowplayers .p36 80 Tony Wilson and the Situationist International http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/tony-wilson-and-situationist.html accessed 13th april

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Japan, who were signed to Oz Records. However, it would be the last night which would be the most striking with a band from Manchester by the name of Joy Division and they assaulted our senses that night. Peter Saville who was paid twenty pounds to develop the striking yellow, black and white design that would become synonymous with Factory would design the art works81. It was also the start of the Factory catalogue. FAC2 was more ambitious then a club night but was nothing new to the city. The idea was to release a sample of the bands that 24j managed but now they transcended into a record company, Factory Records.82 They enlisted the help of Martin Hannet who, after producing the Spiral Scratch record worked closely with Rabid Records and John Cooper Clarke on the concept of the Invisible Girl, Hannet added substance to Clarkes poems. Tosh Ryan was not happy about Hannet working with Factory as he felt hatred towards Wilson and Factory.83 One can only presume that Ryan did not believe in the credentials of Wilson and saw him as a man that was more talk than walk. However it was decided that Hannet would produce the record on which Joy Division and Durreti Column would produce two songs each. The case of Joy Division as a band is one of some interest. Both Peter Hook and Bernard Summer had been at the 1976 Pistols gig in June and immediately decided to form a band. Ian Curtis, a man they had met at several gigs would become the lead singer and, after an unsuccessful drummer Curtiss school friend Stephan Morris joined the band84 they started writing songs under the name Warsaw and would self produce an EP at Pennine studio in Oldham. The EP, An Ideal for Living,85 was very poorly pressed and was made worse by the looseness of the band costing Curtis 400 which he and his new wife Deborah borrowed from the bank as loan for their house. 86The band were in no a better position and furthermore the art work of a Nazi drummer boy, which was designed by Summer, drew the unwanted attention of them being labelled neo Nazi.87 In April 1978, Joy Division would play Rafter Club and it is here resident DJ Rob Gretton 81 Middles, M. From Joy Division To New Order: The True Story of Anthony H.Wilson and Factory Records Virgin Books (London, 2002) p.96 82 Nice,J. Shadowplayers .p40 83 Nice,J. Shadowplayers .p40 84 Hook,P. Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division. P.55 85 Hook,P. Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division. P74-5 86 Joy division. Dir. Grant Gee. Leader Home Entertainment, 2007. DVD. 87 Hook,P. Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division. P74-5

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first heard the band and he from then on decided that he would manage them whether the band wanted him or not. They would have been foolish not to have taken Grettonss offer as he had a connection with the DJ scene, something the band desperately needed. The same night, Ian Curtis would approach Tony Wilson who was in attendance and call him C**t for not putting Joy Division on So it Goes88. Pic1 below is Wilsons response.

88 JOY DIVISION HIS STORY http://www.worldinmotion.net/joydivision/biography/history.htm

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89 89 The original letter from Tony Wilson to Rob Gretton, the letter was on display at the Defining Me: Musical Adventures in Manchester at Lowry Salford. Picture Feb 4th 2014

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The abrasive nature of Curtis interaction with Wilson was exactly fitting to Wilsons ethos. In September of that year Curtis would get his wish and Wilson would put them on Granada where they played Shadowplay. Wilson had found in Joy Division a perfect match for the Column. Gretton would subsequently stay quite on top of the situation, playing Rabid and Factory against each other having Ideal for Living re-pressed under guidedance of Hannet and released through Rabid, but also agreeing for Joy Division to be on Fac2 a Factory Sample90. It is interesting that, in a time when punk was still a prominent music style and Erics Club was the place to be at the time with many Mancunians heading over the Mersey and the city Zoo Records were in a city that was rejecting Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark for not being Erics cool, Wilson was tracking a band which had seeming Nazi roots, after all Joy Division as a name came from the Warsaw ghetto brothels91. It was not about what was cool for Wilson it was about what was good. As mentioned, when they played Russell Club they had everyone stunned. Wilson and Factory saw the past the faade and saw their promise as a band and it is this and the SI attitude that Wilson so heavily believed in that would set the tone for Factory Records era. Factory was distinctly different to other labels. Factory released Fac2 in December 197892. They would go on to release two more singles in the next 3 months, but it would the release of an LP that would gain notoriety for the label. With Joy Division, Factory had found a band to front the label giving them full rein on creativity with minimal interference. That was added to the brilliance of Martin Hannet producing, who again was given creative licence, which he never had with Spiral Scratch Records. The record catalogue number would be FAC10, the record Unknown Pleasure.93 In no way was it not a masterpiece from the beauty of the music created, the brilliance of Hannets production to the striking nature of Savilles artwork (who with Hannet was, along with Erasmus, and Wilson a key director in Factory 90 Middles, M. From Joy Division To New Order: p.103 91 Joy division. Dir. Grant Gee. Leader Home Entertainment, 2007. DVD 92 Information obtained from Factory Records shareholders letter, found in the Rob Gretton Archive At the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, Liverpool Road Castlefield Manchester M3 4FP accessed 26th feb 93 Information obtained from Factory Records shareholders letter, found in the Rob Gretton Archive 26th feb

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Records). The black sleeve with the inverted sound waves of a pulsating star was the added inspiration of a Situationist piece of art and that is what it was first and foremost, art. Factory produced art not music and it is that that kept Joy Division/New Order right up until the Factory collapse in 1992. Having been on a indie label through the years, do you think that youve achieved the same aims and goals as you otherwise would have done being signed to a major? Peter Hook : I dont know what kind of goals you are supposed to achieve being on a major. The only thing we set out to do is put records out and play as much as possible, that

about it that was all you thought about all the time.94 Factory gave poetic licence to its bands and it was this that suited certain bands and Joy Division/New Order were one of those bands. This said, Factory worked tireleslys to deter New Order from even thinking about leaving.

94 An Interview with Peter Hook, for Blast off issue 3 a Liverpool based fanzine 26th march 1987. The document was found in news paper clippings found in the Rob Gretton Archive Accessed 27th feb

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95 Fig.2 95 Fig.2 , is a picture of the original document, Tony Wilson produced for new Order detailing 9 scenario why the band were better off with Factory rather then a major label. The document was found in Factory Records Communication documents at the Rob Gretton Archive Accessed 27th feb

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Pic Two shows the handwritten document by Tony Wilson to New Order manger, Rob Gretton in 1983. This was a 15 page document which produced nine scenarios in which New Order would make more money being on Factory then they would on a major label. This document shows that money was still at Factory and SI was not the only driving force behind Factory. One would align this more to Rob Gretton who was more monetarily driven than the bands. After all he was the manager and although this is an important document it further underlines Factorys will to build something totally different; a record label based on production over profit. Factory was inherently flawed; it was a very naive business with poor planning, lax advance and a backwards business ethos that would see its downfall. However, on a more temporal level it had problems. Ian Curtis, in 1979, was diagnosed with several epilepsy. After two grand malls and three suicide attempts on the may 19th 1980, on the eve of the American tour, Curtis succeeded in taking his own life.96 This would hit Factory hard, not just because the lead singer of their most successful band had died, or that a good friend to all at Factory killed himself. It was the fact they did not see it coming despite the signs. After the resale of the second album Closer Ians mistress Annik spoke to Wilson saying Tony he means it. Wilsons reply was no, darling its art. Wilson admits this is the biggest regret in his life97. Thus, then, Factorys embedded ideas of SI had brought the best and the worst out of the music giving Curtis the outlet for all his problems through music but also driving him to suicide. Factorys naivety, though not wholly to blame for Curtiss death, certainly did little to prevent it. Factory Records would go on to keep a stranglehold on the Manchester music scene in the 1980s. The rebirth of Joy Division as New Order propelled the record label forward. 96 Middles, M Factory: The Story of the Record Label p.204 97 Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays BBC4, Mon 17 Aug 2009 00:15

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However, it would be what the record label and the band would produce in 1982 that would the crowning glory of the city.

Youll never see the hacienda. It doesnt exist.

The hacienda must be built.98 Rob Gretton was a man known for his bold persona, even from the early days in which he coaxed Joy Division into letting him manage them. Yet his boldest move would be in the form of a dream that Manchester would have its own club, that Factory would have its own club thus spawning the idea of FAC5199. The Hacienda, a name taken from Ivan Chtcheglovs Formulary for a New Urbanism a prominent SI member, and with the same panache that Factory took to all it other appointments, the Hacienda would be no different. Part funded by the label and part by New Order, the dream was for it to be the archetypal club. Yet before it even opened its doors it caused huge problems for Factory. Martin Hannet, a Factory director, called it a hole in the ground100 and wanted nothing to do with the club, so much so that he filed a court case against Factory Records and with the overview that Factory was being mismanaged. As much as now one could disagree with Hannet, management was not the priority for Factory. Art was the main theme and the Hacienda would be the crowning glory. If it was not for Hannets lack of money to pursue the case, Factory may have never been about to pursue the Hacienda.101 The tempestuous relationship would see Hannet leave his directors position at Factory yet, in true Wilson style, the court case then was given a Factory catalogue number FAC61102. This is the archetypal case of Wilson and Factory, bullish pursuit to an end without covering the means. Yet, as Wilson had wished, it gave the city the club it had long since yearned for. 98 Formulary for a New Urbanism http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/presitu/formulary.html 99 Nice,J. Shadowplayers .p177 100 Nice,J. Shadowplayers .p180 101 Middles, M Factory: The Story of the Record Label p.235 102 Nice,J. Shadowplayers .p181

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The Hacienda would be built in 1982. The design would follow the industry feel which Factory had produced since FAC1. Ben Kelly would be chief architect with Peter Saville overseeing the final design. The industrial design during a time when the Tory government was reducing and privatising British industry speaks volumes about what was mentioned in the early chapters about post industrial cities, disobeying authority and never more so than with what Factory was doing. We were Maggies children. Were doing exactly what she told us to do103 The Hacienda would play host to the Smiths, Madonna (relatively unknown at the time) amongst other artists but it would be in 1986 when the club would become what it is now famously remembered for. Certain areas become known for their genres; Mersey beat in Liverpool, the hippy movement in San Francisco. The Manchester scene would be a scene that, like northern soul, would be adapted from an Anglo American scene and, as with northern soul and Detroit, Madchester would be a Mancunian slant on the Chicago house scene.104 Chicagos house scene was predominantly a gay scene, though in Manchester it would not become just a gay scene. Gaychester 105would become an accompanying part of the Manchester scene and the Hacienda. What would become known as Acid House became the music that Factory and the Hacienda would be known for. And it is arguably with the Hacienda where Manchester staked its claim as the music city. Using Richard Floridas methods from his book Cities and the Creative Class it can be seen that Manchester was developing as a creative city the likes of which had not been seen in the UK before. Also in the Hacienda, the Crossley article can be taken further than 1980 where Crossley limits the article to. First, the idea of Richard Floridas must be addressed and applied to Manchester. In his book The Rise of the Creative Class, Florida talks about a creative class in which its

103 Quote from Shaun Ryder in Manchester: the place to be an article for in newspaper clipping at the Rob Gretton Archive. Accessed 27th feb 104 Connell,J. Sound Tracks p.248 105 'Gaychester': Remembering Manchester's early 1990s gay scene http://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2013/feb/07/manchester-gay-scene-paul-cons

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members seek to create new forms106. He furthers this by splitting creative class into two forms; the first, which is the super creative core which is made up of intellectuals and artisans. It is this class that Manchester has in abundance. The second form is creative professional.107 This is the class of people that works in the knowledge based industries such as banking, legal and medical professions and is something that was in the Thatcher era heavily focused in the South. Manchester was almost certainly devoid of a creative professional class. Therefore, a rereading of the Shaun Ryder quote above is necessary to understand the stance of Manchester. Although it seems as if Ryder is alluding to the rife drugs culture in Manchester it can seen that he is referring to the concentration of artisans, the people most famous for being unemployed and it is here where Floridas second book Creative Cities comes into play. What Florida calls high tech regions, cities such as Chicago, Boston and San Francisco, can be brought into a context of what was going on in Manchester. High tech regions, for Florida, do not follow traditional politics and they lack civil leadership. This manifests itself in protest politics and a diversity of friendships108. For Manchester, the Hacienda and Factory are the protest politics and the emergence of the gay scene, fitting with the ethnically diverse scene in Manchester, sees the rise of the creative class. For Florida, the gay population is fundamentally part of the creative capital theory109. So, once again, Manchesters willingness to progress has seen it develop as one of the leading cities in creative culture. This fits with the ethos of SI and Factory. Martin Hannet was very wrong that the Hacienda was a hole in the ground. Financially it was, losing 8000 on average a month110, but culturally it was the epitome of creativity masked in a face of ecstasy and gun crime. Floridas works allowed this study to trace the earlier arguments of Crossleys networking. Although Crossley ends his article in the 1980s, this study, with use of the what is known as the Hacienda family tree, believes that the networking and diversity of friendship are what set Manchester apart. 106 Florida, Cities and the Creative Class p.82 107 Florida,R. The Rise of the Creative Class p.16 108 Florida, Cities and the Creative Class p.41 109 Florida, Cities and the Creative Class p.41 110 Hook,P. The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club Pocket Books (London 2014) p.169

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40 111 Fig3

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As one can see by the picture Manchester, during the Madchester period, developed an interlocking web of networks and a diverse range of people. The lack of this creative professional class allowed Manchester to stride forward as a creative city. Although Thatcher ripped the heart out of Britains industry she inadvertently spurred on the development of the Madchester scene. Hannet was right in his summation that the Hacienda was a hole in the ground as economically it was. Huge spiralling debts surrounded the club and bringing down the record label and eventually the club itself. This added to the growing sectarian problems and the emergence of Gunchester and with problems surrounding the ecstasy culture Manchester hit difficult times112. Economically the record label had always been mismanaged and the laissez faire attitude to money saw its downfall. From the sheer naivety of letting bands like the Happy Mondays record an album in Barbados to spending 400,000 on recording New Orders album Republic113. It is very simple for one to dismiss what Factory did and what the Hacienda brought to the city by labelling a defunct record label and club that saw huge problems economically. However, as this chapter has shown, the close involvement of SI and the pursuit of art saw Manchester create something beautiful.114 And never more so can one explain the trust in making art than with a contract between the label and buyers when it went defunct in 1992. When Wilson was asked to produce a contract for the band he explained how Factory never used contracts and the only piece of paper he had that formed any sort of contract for New Order said that the band owned everything and the record label owned nothing. This caused huge problems with the acquisition of Factory Records. This 111 Fig3 is The Hacienda family tree by the Artist Pure Evil. The artwork, is an intertwined web detailing, the networking of Manchester in the early 1990s 112 Hook,P. The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club p.170 113 Nice,J. Shadowplayers .p477 114 Mills,P. Media and Popular Music Edinburgh University Press (Edinburgh 2012) p.118

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atypical nature of Factory would lead to its downfall but the freedom it gave to its artists outweighed the price it paid. Chapter Four : I dont have to sell my soul, he is already in me Steven Patrick Morrissey, Morrissey, or Mozza (in the current vernacular) is a musician that has not gone without controversy. In more recent times he drew similarities between the Utoya shooting in Norway to the killing of animals for food.115 However, this chapter is not about attempts to have a paradigm shift in the meat-eating world by make outrageous and insensitive comments, it more focuses on the reactions of the Smith in the 1980s.

Youre southern you wouldnt understand. When youre northern, Youre northern for ever,

and youre instilled with a certain feel for life that you cannot get rid of. You just cant116

Thatcherism stripped the lifeblood from the industry of Britain. Many in the north held onto industry like a sentimental family photo but the reality was that industry was dying and Britains future was in banking and in London. However the British way in which the Thatcher regime decimated industry hit northerners hard and communities were stripped of their living. Thatcherism promoted everything Manchester was against, the capitalist nature of the 1980s was the antithesis of what Manchester had 115 Morrissey under attack from his own fans after saying Norway murders were 'nothing' compared to McDonald's and KFC :://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019849/Morrissey-Norway-Breivik-massacre-compared-McDonalds-KFC.html 116 Morley,P The North p.3

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built in the late 1970s.117 The networking and laissez faire attitude on which Manchester was built directly contrasted with the big record labels and the growing yuppie attitude that came with it. Never more so was this reflected than in music. During a talk at Aberystwyth Arts Centre Stuart Maconie,118 on discussing his book The Peoples Sons, which was also a popular BBC radio Two programme, perfectly summed up the north/south divide. He played two songs saying This is how the South reacted to the 80s playing Spandau Ballets Gold, a song based on the bands chasing cryptic treasure in exotic locations. Then This is how the North reacted playing The Smiths How soon is now, a sombre tune that resonated round the derelict mills and concrete council blocks of the north. The north/south divide hit its peak in the 80s and the music emulated that. The Smiths, under the lyricism of Morrissey and the impervious guitar riffs of Johnny Marr, were at the forefront of the northern sounds. Marr hailing from inner city Ardwick and Morrissey born in Trafford but raised in Hulme, were central to the happening of Manchester. The urban metropolis into which people flocked in their thousands during the day to work was a ghost town by night. As we drove among the dark ravines between the brick building, most of which were six or

eight stories high and sometime adorned with glazed ceramic tiles, it turned out that even

there, in the heart of the city, not a soul was to be seen, though by now it was almost

quarter to six.119

German writer W.G. Sebalds grim description typified Manchesters decline from industry heartbeat to an empty carcass of rotting mills. Sebald, who had just landed in Manchester to take up a lectureship at Manchester University, may have wondered whether he had arrived in a post apocalyptic city. That is a crass description maybe taken in jest but it is very much harder for people that were not there or have not graced a northern town to understand just how bleak it can be. NME photographer, 117 Martin J. Power, A push and a shove and the land is ours: Morrissey's counter-hegemonic stance(s) on social class Critical Discourse Studies Volume 9, Issue 4, November 2012, pp 375-392 118 Macconie, S. The peoples Songs Talk at Aberystwyth arts centre, 7th Feb 2014 119 Morley,P The North p.38

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Kevin Cummins was the man behind the lens of the most infamous Joy Division picture of the band standing on a snowy bridge in Hulme draped in grey overcoats, that had regularly been mistaken as Poland.120 Interesting then that the Smiths would never sign for a Manchester label; while being the band that symbolised the feeling of the city they signed for Rough Trade in London although this was down to the fact that John Marr did not want to become just another Factory band. 121 We dont think about the world we just wanna concentrate on Manchester, we wanna be

the best band on our street. 122

The Stone Roses, in the wake of the collapse of the Smiths, became Manchesters new beacon of hope and above Reni, the bands drummer assessment, is further proof that, in Manchester, music was the outlet for so many during the Thatcher period. Before the release of the 1989 album the Stone Roses were a local cult band.123 However, seemingly overnight, they hit the mainstream and would gain national notoriety when, on the BBC Late Show, halfway through the first television appearance the power cut out. The presenter carried on to the next segment, whilst Ian Brown (lead singer) shouted amateurs, amateurs124. This reckless bravado became the stereotype for the band and Madchester. Along with the Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses would go on to be the bands of the Madchester days. For Manchester the music was still the expression. In an early interview Brown, when asked about making money, quickly quashed the question saying its about the music seemingly the answer every band would give, but in the case, like for other Manchester 120 Kevin Cummins interviewhttp://www.newstatesman.com/art-and-design/2012/11/kevin-cummins-interview-there-were-right-wingers-arts-rod-stewart-and-phil-co 121 Johnny Marr: the Smiths would never have signed to Factory Records http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/20/johnny-marr-smiths-factory-records 122 The Stone Roses. Dir. Shane Meadows. Perf. Stone roses. Channel 4 DVD ;, 2013. DVD. 123 Robb,J The Stone Roses And The Resurrection Of British Pop Ebury (London, 1997)p.3 124 Stone Rose performance on BBC The late Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekyl1PwCiQI

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bands, this for the Roses was true125. Their overnight success was rapid and sweeping but also brought problems. Signing to Silvertone Records the Stone Roses, like the other bands before them, had chosen an Indie label126. Factory was out of the question because of its crippling debt. But the record label would undercut them and would make it nearly impossible for the band to produce their second album. It would be released four years after the 1989 release on Gethin records not Silvertone, but in this time the band had become restles and one of the tightest knit bands in Manchester had started to crack and eventually they split up. And, like others the argument is that naivety from the band, the will to produce music, and the overnight success, poor management would lead to the down fall of one of Manchesters most promising bands. This was something which the band knew and thus took revenge in true Mancunian style by attacking their manager Gareth Evanss house with paint causing 10000 of damage127. Manchester, and its bands had not learned that there is a fine line between creativity and business. And, with the Stone Roses, so ended the period of Manchesters reign as the music capital. Many would say Oasis carried it on. This dissertation does not reach that conclusion as Oasis music was built around borrowing style from other peoples music such as the Beatles and the Who. No song was more complex than three cords and a lead singer with an ego bigger the Kippax at Maine road. Never more was this evident than in 2011 when Liam Gallagher said he would reform Oasis for 30 million128, an amount of money that the Stone Roses, Smiths and New Order would never have earned combined. The Roses were the last band to take the punk mantra and make it their own. Once again, it can be seen that these bands were not part of that Factory ethos driven by a laissez faire attitude and, in fact, they resented that freedom and lack of marketing as these were two bands that wanted success. They still are part of the creative class. Creative people move to creative places. Just like the Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses 125 The Stone Roses. Dir. Shane Meadows. Perf. Stone roses. Channel 4 DVD ;, 2013. DVD. 126 Robb,J The Stone Roses p.34 127 Collins, A. STONE ROSES ARRESTED, CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL DAMAGE NME Feburary 1990 p.6 128 Liam Gallagher: 'I want 30 million to reunite Oasis' http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a476125/liam-gallagher-i-want-gbp30-million-to-reunite-oasis.html

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descended on the inner city from suburbia to be part of this creative class. One could easily write separate articles on these bands alone, however this chapter has aimed to show that, even without being directly involved in the Factory network, the creative class that spawned from Thatcherism saw the rise of bands outside the Factory mould but still imbedded in the Manchester attitude of DIY. Throughout this study Richard Floridas rise of the creative class has been the undercurrent and, in the later eighties, it bore itself in its full glory. Manchester, through the eighties, gained its own self identity129 ,very much different from any other places in Britain and throughout, this study has talked about the DIY attitude of Manchester and its lack of drive to gain monetary success. The paradox is that, with the production of creative class comes regeneration and by the late eighties that was in full swing. Manchester was the place to visit. Manchester was not the only place to be affected by the Tory government but Manchester had the voice to combat it embodied in the citys DIY attitude. It embraced an antagonistic attitude; the city literally took what the Sex Pistols were saying and meant it and the Smiths were the sons of such an attitude. However, it became the music city which everybody now knows. On t-shirts in Manchester you can read such legends as on the sixth day god created MANchester.130 This regional chauvinism was not very popular in club culture but it speaks the ire of a city thrown back on its own resources by the economic ravages of the Thatcher government. The Thatcher government brought about economic prosperity for city but stripped it bare and left the creative class to do its thinking. In the early 1990s Manchester arts sector generated 343 million in turnover131. The Manchester scene became a business but those that were in it never saw it as that. The creative class had created the city; they made it the place to be. In the early nineties there would be more tourists in the Hacienda than locals at the weekend with 40% of American youths flocking to Manchester when visiting the UK132. The rise of the creative class is, without 129 Florida,R. The Rise of the Creative Class p.75 130 Found in Newspaper clippings at Rob Gretton archive At the Museum of Science and Industry accessed 26th February 131 Found in Newspaper clippings for U.S Elle at Rob Gretton accessed 26th February 132 Found in Newspaper clippings for U.S Elle at Rob Gretton accessed 26th February

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doubt, the reason for this. The creative class spawned from the June the 4th gig but took the mantel and produced 20 years of progressive art. Conclusion Grim beyond belief is how Jon Savage described his first impression of Manchester after relocation to the city from London in 1978. Even today after redevelopment boom, the

bleakness, endures in pockets. A partial facelift dotted the city centre with flashy designer

win bars and slick corporate offices but the old 19th architects abides, sombre, imposing

edifices and deep pockets of Manchester self made industrial barons133 This assessment by Simon Reynolds typifies not just Manchester but this study as whole. The introduction started by looking back to Manchesters pivotal point in its rise as a politically forward thinking city. It established itself as the centre of the industrial revolution but at the same time was a hot bed of protest and reform. This study has gone on to show how Manchester emerged as the music city through the rise of a creative class that the post industrial society bore that linked with the small community attitude and the networking. Manchester became the forefront of music just as it had industry and politics. The Sex Pistols June 4th gig did spark something in Manchester or, more so, it reignited a predisposition. Redevelopment and reform in Manchester never achieved what it set out to do as the sprawling outlying areas of the city were still impoverished. Through this study the aim has been to show that Manchester was forward thinking, taking the punk mantra and adding its own panache. It was done extremely naively with a tendency to overlook sustainability for progress but what it 133 Reynolds,S. Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 Faber & Faber (London,2006)p.174

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produced would be twenty years of music that defined a city; whether one likes Manchesters music or not one can never get away from it. The nineties saw the end of the creative class. Britpop became the British phenomena. Manchesters answer, Oasis, were far flung from the creative genius of the past twenty years, must based in three chords and ideal borrowed from the sixties. The Age of Ruins is past. Have you seen Manchester? Manchester as a great a human exploit as Athens 134. Benjamin Disraelis quote, though it was made to describe the ruins of the industrial revolution, is never more aptly fitting than when applied to what Manchester left on the music scene. An I.R.A bomb in 1996 tore the city apart but brought much needed renovation. The old yellow brick Arndale was no longer, the Hulme Crescent that was the focal point of the Joy Division photos was demolished and the Commonwealth games in 2002 brought redevelopment to the east of Manchester135. This, combined with the lack of inspirational music, seems to be the end of Manchester as a creative city. Though one never sees Manchester ever regaining its pedestal of the archetypal music city, the D.I.Y attitude still reigned. The prime example is Elbow, who during the 90s while Britain was immersed in Britpop, produced melodic, creative music. They would have to play small venues like the Gecko, a small Australian bar on Peter Street136. Their persistence and sheer brilliance would pay off with their emergence as one of the best live bands in the UK and commercial success with Seldom Seen Kid which won the 2010 Mercury Music prize137. In more recent times the re-emergence of the dance scene in Manchester with the Warehouse project, a weekly night run from October till January held on Store Street under Piccadilly train station, shows that Manchester still has the attitude in its blood. However, in a developed society, it is hard to establish a creative class.

Oh Manchester, so much to answer for 138 134 Disrael B. Coningsby; Or, The New Generation. Kindle Edition Amazon. p137 135 'Past Regeneration Programmes in Manchester http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200079/regeneration/496/past_regeneration_programmes_in_manchester 136 Information obtained via email conversation with Dave Haslem, dave@davehaslam.com