Comments on: Help me learn as much as I can about the Manchester music scene

Question: Help me learn as much as I can about the Manchester music scene

carefulmonkey — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:13:50 -0800

I just watched 24 Hour Party People and I love the music. I want to know as much as I possibly can about the Manchester music scene that produced these people and the people themselves. Please recommend some films,books or television programs that can inform the crap out of me

By: dearest

dearest — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:29:22 -0800

Movies:
Control- The story of Joy Divison and it's lead singer. It came out last year and just was released on DVD. Brilliant film.
This book
and this book
and this search yields some really interesting results.

Music by:
Happy Mondays, A Certain Ratio, Joy Division, New Order, Sex Pistols (sort of), The Buzzcocks...

By: essexjan

essexjan — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:53:00 -0800

Freaky Dancin' by Bez. Great book.

By: kuppajava

kuppajava — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:55:25 -0800

Give Bez's Madchester Anthems a listen, or at least look at the track listings for ideas. How could you go wrong with the recommendations of the dancer of the Happy Mondays?!?!

I can vouch for the coolness of the Factory Records book you link to. Pre-ordered it when I heard it was coming out. It does NOT disappoint, and made an awesome birthday gift for my sweetie, who shares my fondness for all thing musically Mancunian.

rave on!

By: veedubya

veedubya — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:02:10 -0800

The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life

By: panboi

panboi — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:09:36 -0800

A new Joy Division documentary is currently out.

Shadowplayers : Factory Records 1978-81 is a great documentary on the Factory scene.

The book Who Killed Martin Hannett? looks at legendary producer Martin Hannett.

By: holgate

holgate — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:11:21 -0800

There's a very good thread on the blue that features the inestimable Miguel Esteves Cardoso, who wasn't just there when it happened, but was there when it was happening.

By: brautigan

brautigan — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:25:42 -0800

Manchester England

Stone Roses & The Ressurection of British Pop

The Hacienda Must Be Built

By: zippy

zippy — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:52:47 -0800

In case you missed them, the special tracks on the 24 Hour Party People DVD are pretty good, too. A lot of commentary on the Manchester music scene.

By: parmanparman

parmanparman — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:07:11 -0800

If you have 24 Hour Party People on DVD, you should definitely watch it again with the Tony Wilson commentary track on. It is the real history of the period there and is a real riot. I love how he goes into detail about the people and the places and sets right the realities behind the various fictive plot lines of the film.

By: scody

scody — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:22:50 -0800

Seconding Brautigan's recommendation for the Stone Roses book. Also, the very cool 33 1/3 series has put out books on the Roses' self-titled debut, as well as the Smiths' Meat is Murder.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:43:29 -0800

they only get a passing nod in 24hr Party People, but any talk of the Manchester music scene without The Fall is missing the point. here's one book (disclaimer: haven't read it...yet)

By: Dee Xtrovert

Dee Xtrovert — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:46:23 -0800

But don't buy that Fall book, buy leader Mark E Smith's new autobiography. I can't remember the title, but I've read it and it's genius. Anyway, I second the Fall - really *the* crucial Manchester band, who've been around since 1977 and have managed to make important records fairly consistently. (And they're much more "about" Manchester than the Smith or Joy Division.)

But you may wish to start with the Blue Orchids, who were formed by the original guitarist and keyboardist of the Fall - they left after only a couple of records. That said, they made one of the best albums ever, "The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain)," which featured songs later covered and referenced by all kinds of people, from Aztec Camera to Slovenly to the Teardrop Explodes. The sound is sort of pastoral psychedelic and it influenced not only many of the later Manchester bands, but also much later developments like some of the new, strange folk-type stuff. It's on CD with their two earlier singles, a later EP and a track in which some members back up Nico. (They were her backing band for a number of years.) I've never met anyone who wasn't entranced by the music and lyrics after hearing it a couple of times - especially, "Work," "Bad Education," "A Year With No Head," "The Flood" and "Conscience." They didn't sell many records, but they cast a pretty big shadow over the Manchester music scene.

By: Dr.Pill

Dr.Pill — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:57:05 -0800

Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith
Loads of Tony Wilson on YouTube

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:08:34 -0800

Celebration: Madchester - The Sound of the North (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) - contemporary documentary

By: Beardman

Beardman — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:05:09 -0800

Casting a wider net than Manchester, there's always Simon Reynolds, "Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84". Good for breadth over depth, unless you consider a million variations on the adjective "angular" to be deep.