Madchester
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2018) |
Years active | Late 1980s and early 1990s |
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Location | Manchester, England |
Major figures | |
Influences | Second Summer of Love |
Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of
Pre-Madchester
The music scene in Manchester immediately before the Madchester era had been dominated by the Smiths, New Order, and the Fall, who were to become a significant influence on the Madchester scene. The May 1982 opening of the Haçienda nightclub, an initiative of Factory Records, was also influential in the development of popular culture in Manchester. For the first few years of its life, the club played predominantly club-oriented pop music and hosted gigs by artists including New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, Culture Club, Thompson Twins, and the Smiths. It had DJs such as Hewan Clarke and Greg Wilson and switched focus from being a live venue to being a dance club by 1986.[13] In 1987, the Hacienda started playing house music with DJs Mike Pickering, Graeme Park, and "Little" Martin Prendergast hosting "Nude Night" on Fridays.[14]
The
The Haçienda went from making a consistent loss to selling out by early 1987.
The British music scene was such that The Guardian later stated, "The '80s looked destined to end in musical ignominy".[20] The Madchester movement burgeoned as its sound was new and refreshing, and its popularity soon grew.[21] Music by artists such as the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays began to chart highly in 1989 with New Order releasing the acid house-influenced Technique, which topped the UK Albums Chart.
Beginnings
In October 1988, the Stone Roses released "Elephant Stone" as a single. Around the same time, the Happy Mondays released the single "Wrote for Luck" (followed by the Bummed album, produced by Martin Hannett). In November, A Guy Called Gerald released his first solo single, "Voodoo Ray". Only "Voodoo Ray" was a commercial success; by December of that year, however, a sense had started to develop in the British music press that there was something going on in the city. According to Sean O'Hagan, writing in the NME, "There is a particularly credible music biz rumour-come theory that certain Northern towns—Manchester being the prime example—have had their water supply treated with small doses of mind-expanding chemicals. [...] Everyone from Happy Mondays to the severely disorientated Morrissey conform to the theory in some way. Enter A Guy Called Gerald, out of his box on the limitless possibilities of a bank of keyboards."[22]
The Stone Roses' following increased as they gigged around the country and released the "
The club scene in Manchester continued to grow during 1988 and 1989, with the Haçienda launching
"Baggy"
The "
Growing success
In mid-1989, media interest in the Manchester scene continued to grow. In September, the Happy Mondays released a
In November, the Stone Roses performed a gig at London's
Madchester became something of an industry
The Charlatans came to prominence through appearances in Manchester, particularly as a support act to the Stone Roses and became strongly associated with the scene. They released a debut single "Indian Rope" in October 1989 and their second "The Only One I Know" made the UK top ten. A number of other Manchester bands gained the attention of the music press during 1990, including World of Twist, New Fast Automatic Daffodils, the High, Northside, the Paris Angels, and Intastella. These "second wave" bands, according to John Robb, "copped the critical backlash, but were making great music".[33] and they also received a great deal of local support with TV appearances on various Granada shows and local radio play.
Commercial success
Bands associated with the Madchester scene released material almost exclusively on
The success on the UK Singles and Albums charts of a number of indie acts associated with a "scene" was unprecedented at the time. "Step On" and "Kinky Afro" by the Happy Mondays both made number 5 on the singles chart, whilst James scored the biggest Madchester hit, making number 2 in 1991 with a re-recording of "Sit Down". On the albums chart, the Happy Mondays made number 4 with Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, and the Inspiral Carpets got to number 2 with Life. The Charlatans were the only Madchester band to take the number 1 spot, with the album Some Friendly in the autumn of 1990.
Outside the UK, the success of Madchester was limited, although some releases gained recognition in specialist charts around the world. In the U.S., the albums
Decline
On 27 May 1990,
The Stone Roses cancelled their June 1990 tour of America and issued a press statement saying, "America doesn't deserve us yet".[36] However, their debut album sold more than 350,000 copies in the U.S. that year. The band also cancelled a gig in Spain and an appearance on the UK chat show Wogan. They did not face the public again until the end of 1994, spending the intervening time in and out of studios in Wales, where they recorded the album Second Coming, and fighting in court to release themselves from their contract with Silvertone Records.
The making of the next Happy Mondays album, Yes Please! was also problematic, and it would not be released until October 1992. The band flew to Barbados to record it, and went "crack crazy" according to Paul Ryder,[37] making repeated requests to Factory Records for extra time and additional funds. This is reputed to have been the major factor in the bankruptcy of the label in November 1992.[38]
With the two bands seen as the most central to the scene out of action, media fascination with Madchester dwindled. James, the Inspiral Carpets, the Charlatans, and 808 State continued to record with varying degrees of success during the 1990s, but ceased to be seen as part of a localised scene. Local bands catching the tail-end of Madchester, such as
Legacy
Musical legacy
Part of a series on |
Psychedelia |
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The immediate influence of Madchester was an inspiration to the wider baggy movement in the UK, with bands from various parts of the country producing music in the early 1990s heavily influenced by the main Madchester players. These bands included Flowered Up (from London), the Farm and the Real People (from Liverpool), the Bridewell Taxis (from Leeds), the Soup Dragons (from Glasgow) and Ocean Colour Scene (from Birmingham). Blur, from Colchester, adopted a baggy style in their early career, although in an interview with Select Magazine in 1991 they claimed to have "killed" the genre.[39] Blur famously shared a rivalry throughout the 1990s with fellow Britpop band Oasis, who hailed from Manchester.[40]
Bands formed in Manchester during the Madchester era included
There have been numerous polls in the years following the Madchester movement to find the best song of the era. In 2005, "
In 2010, a new nightclub managed by Peter Hook of New Order, FAC251 opened in Manchester, with musical emphasis on Madchester music.[42][43] Although Madchester faded by the mid-1990s, various bands have reformed for one-off concert tours. Notable bands which reformed in 2012 include the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays and the Inspiral Carpets.[44]
The Guardian critic Penny Anderson looked unfavourably upon the scene, calling it a "breeding ground for aggressively marketed mediocrity".[45]
The sound of the scene influenced the electronic and dance-influenced album by U2, Achtung Baby. Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stone compared the layering of dance beats into guitar-heavy mixes of the album to songs by British bands Happy Mondays and Jesus Jones. "Mysterious Ways" combines a funky guitar riff with a danceable, conga-laden beat,[46] for what Bono called "U2 at our funkiest... Sly and the Family Stone meets Madchester baggy".[47] It also influenced the Cure's song "Never Enough".[48]
Impact on Manchester
The mushrooming of Manchester's nightlife during the Madchester period has had a long-term impact, particularly with the subsequent development of the
The attraction of the city was such that, at the height of Madchester in 1990 the University of Manchester was the most sought-after destination for university applicants in the UK.[citation needed]
The scene also gave a boost to the city's media and creative industries.
Organised crime became a consequence of Madchester, with the vibrancy of the clubbing scene in the city (and the popularity of illegal drugs, particularly
In the late 1990s, a Manchester musical
A
See also
- Music of Manchester
- List of city nicknames in the United Kingdom
- Northern Soul
- The Haçienda
- Rave
- 24 Hour Party People
- The Boardwalk
References
- ^ "Madchester remembered: 'There was amazing creative energy in Manchester at the time'". The Guardian. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ "The Madchester scene – in pictures". The Guardian. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ "Madchester 1989 – How one year changed a city and the way we looked". Fluxmagazine.com. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ "The influential musical legacy of Madchester 30 years on". Ilovemanchester.com. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ "Twisting my melon, man! The baggy, brilliant indie-rave summer of 1990". The Guardian. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ISBN 9780253026590.
- ^ "Madchester – Genre Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
- ^ "Trailblazers: Madchester – S1". Radio Times. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ ""Trailblazers Of" Madchester (TV Episode 2016) – IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ "Trailblazers". Sky UK. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ISBN 978-0415347693. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ Anderson, Penny (18 February 2009). "Why are the Stone Roses adored?". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
- ^ Dave Haslam, Manchester England, Fourth Estate, London, 2000, p 158
- ^ John Robb, The North Will Rise Again, Aurum Press, London, 2009, p 233
- ^ Dave Haslam, Manchester England, Fourth Estate, London, 2000, p 128–9
- ^ Dave Haslam, Manchester England, Fourth Estate, London, 2000, p 165
- ^ "cerysmaticfactory.info". cerysmaticfactory.info.
- ^ Dave Haslam, Manchester England, Fourth Estate, London, 2000, p 167
- ^ "United Manchester website, 2003–present". Unitedmanchester.com. Retrieved 5 September 2002.
- ^ Clarke, Betty (14 June 2011). "Madchester arrives on the nation's TV screens". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ "Chapter Three – Madchester". manchester.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ New Musical Express, IPC, London, 17 December 1988
- ^ Dave Haslam, Manchester England, Fourth Estate, London, 2000, p181
- ^ Melody Maker, IPC, London, 29 April 1989
- ^ "Joe Bloggs owner and fashion firm East go into administration". BBC. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ Britton, Paul (29 January 2018). "Fashion house behind iconic 'Madchester' clothing label Joe Bloggs goes into administration". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ "King of Madchester clothing is bankrupt". The Independent. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ Bainbridge, Luke (21 April 2012). "Madchester remembered: 'There was amazing creative energy at the time'". The Observer. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
- ^ Malik, Kenan (19 June 1994). "All mouth and trousers – the rise of Joe Bloggs". The Independent. London. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ "The Quietus | Features | Subscriber Area | Low Culture Essay: Audrey Golden on 'Lost' FAC Film the Mad Fuckers".
- ^ Number One, 10 January 1990, IPC, London
- ^ Madchester – The Sound of the North, Granada Television, Manchester, 1990
- ^ John Robb, The North Will Rise Again, Aurum Press, London, 2009, p335
- ^ "Stark Raving Madchester". thedailybeast.com. 12 July 1990. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ Danny Kelly (2009). "Uncut Magazine: The Stone Roses (review)". IPC. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
- ^ "Say It's Your Birthday: Stone Roses John Squire". MTV. 24 November 1995. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ John Robb, The North Will Rise Again, Aurum Press, London 2009, p278
- ^ "The ten worst rock'n'roll career moves". The Independent. London. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ Select Magazine, EMAP, London, October 1991
- ^ "Timeline: Blur v Oasis after Britpop". BBC News. 16 August 2005. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ a b "The top sound of 'Madchester'". Evening Standard. 2 March 2005. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ "Madchester: the resurrection". The Independent. London. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ Simpson, Dave (11 February 2010). "FAC251 Opening Night". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ "Review: Inspiral Carpets". City Life. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- ^ Anderson, Penny (18 February 2009). "Why are the Stone Roses adored?". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
- Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
- ^ McCormick (2006), pp. 224–225, 227, 232
- ^ Nightingale, Jo (25 May 2010). "The Cure – Disintegration, Deluxe Edition". The Manchester Review. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Rental boom triggers bidding wars for Manchester city centre flats". Manchester Evening News. 20 February 2012. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ^ Dave Haslam, Manchester, England, Fourth Estate, 2000, p263
- ^ a b "MCFC. Music. The city. Part Two". Umbro. 3 July 2009. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
Further reading
- Christian Terry : Brothers From Childhood To Oasis
- Crossley, James (April 2011): "For EveryManc a Religion: Biblical and Religious Language in the Manchester Music Scene, 1976–1994". Biblical Interpretation 19 (2): 151–180. doi:10.1163/156851511X557343
- Luck, Richard: The Madchester Scene, Pocket Essentials, London, 2002 (ISBN 1-903047-80-3)
- ISBN 0-7522-2025-X)
- McNichols, Conor (ed): NME Originals: Madchester, IPC, London, 2003
External links
- Madchester at Curlie
- Madchester on Pride of Manchester website
- Madchester by Jonathan Schofield