Music of Manchester

[Sir Miles Platting]

Probably the best group (vocally) from the 60's/70's was Manchester's own The Hollies . Their close harmony was technically excellent and unrivalled by any of their contemporaries. The original treble/falsetto singer (Graham Nash) left to become one of the famous Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young of 70's fame.

[Sir Miles Platting]

Elkie Brooks as a jazz/soul singer is not to be sniffed at either.....

[Sir Miles Platting]

AND....I've always rated Lisa Stanfield as a special talent....

[Sir Miles Platting]

On a more classical note (cough) we cannot leave out our Russel Watson ....

[Martin G]

Miles - why couldn't you have put all that in just ONE POST? Is this a typically cynical way to either boost your post numbers or to flood-post?

[Sir Miles Platting]

Originally Posted by Martin G

Miles - why couldn't you have put all that in just ONE POST? Is this a typically cynical way to either boost your post numbers or to flood-post?

All of the above Marty baby....
More likely fuelled by booze though.....

[Mez]

Bit of promotion for a friend but relevant still.

A excellent Manc band are playin at 'The Late Room' tomoz as part of the HMV showcase. They're headlining. PRINCELY JADE.

Have a goosey.

PRINCELY JADE

[Martin G]

Originally Posted by Sir Miles Platting

All of the above Marty baby....
More likely fuelled by booze though.....

I knew it!!

[jrb]

Main event: Rising from the ashes



Hooked: New Order playing the Manchester Apollo, with bassist Peter Hook in full flow. Picture: Jon SuperNew Order, one of Manchester's most enduring bands, return with a homecoming gig at The Apollo. Conrad Astley delved into their long history.

NEW Order have enjoyed a career lasting quarter of a century, invented dance music, and made the best football song ever recorded.

Not bad achievements for a band which was originally written off for attempting to live in the shadows of its predecessor.

New Order's legacy continues, as they provide inspiration for a new generation of upstarts, being the name to drop by the latest crop of "post-punk" influenced bands such as Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and The Kaiser Chiefs.

US indie rockers The Killers even paid homage to the Manc legends by naming themselves after a fictional band which appeared on the video to their 2001 single Crystal.

As well as gathering their fair share of loyal fans, their superstardom has been confirmed by the fact there is also a number of New Order trainspotters out there with an encyclopaedia's worth of information about the band at their fingertips.
The very informative neworderonline website gives fans an idea of what they can expect at next week's gig, telling us that Temptation is their most popular live track, having been played by the band 265 times, while Blue Monday has been played 205 times.

Early Joy Diivsion tracks Warsaw and Shadowplay, however, have only ever been played once - both in October this year.

But it wasn't a following many people would have put money on them picking up back in 1980.

While describing a band as rising from the ashes of another has become a cliché, there is no other way of talking about the formation of New Order.

Salford schoolmates Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, who decided they wanted to form a band after watching the Sex Pistols' first gig at Manchester's Free Trade Hall in 1976, had been the founder members of Joy Division, teaming up with singer Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris.

The band's doom-laden lyrics and incessant beats were unlike anything audiences had heard before, and they quickly became heroes of the new wave generation.

But the dream came to an end when Curtis hanged himself in 1980, after they had just finished completing sessions for their second album and were on the brink of a US tour.

The remaining trio were devastated, but deciding to reform as New Order a few months later, adding Morris' girlfriend Gillian Gilbert on keyboards.

However, their early efforts were Joy Division tracks in all but name, leading to criticism they were attempting to live off former glories.

The attitude changed slightly when they brought out their second single Everything's Gone Green and began experimenting with synths and sequencers, influenced by the sound of New York's underground clubs.

It was 1983's Blue Monday that was the real breakthrough, with its steely lyrics and driving drum machine rhythm.

The idea of a punk-influenced guitar band "going disco" was unheard of at the time, and the single predated the UK acid house explosion by five years.

The rest of the 80s saw the band gradually lightening up and shaking off the spectre of Joy Division, with hit singles such as Bizarre Love Triangle giving them a mainstream pop audience and collaborations with US producer Arthur Baker even seeing them in the American R'n'B charts.

By the time their 1989 album Technique came out, recorded in Ibiza and heavily influenced by the island's house sound, they seemed to have nothing left in common with their dour punk heritage.

When they released World In Motion as the soundtrack to the following year's World Cup, one of the band members even described the single as the last straw for Joy Division fans.

The 90s saw the release of Republic, but the band members went their separate ways following the demise of their label Factory Records, only to reform towards the end of the decade.

This year's Waiting For The Siren's Call was hailed by many as a return to form, while the band were rumoured to have written so many songs for the album that seven were held over for another release next year.

[Mez]

Alfie have split up.

Partly because of that f**king ringtone dancin f**king frog. This time its personal.

What a shame.

[jrb]

Interview: Ian's still coming up roses



Ian Brown on the JJB stage

YOU only need a quick look at Ian Brown's schedule for the next few months to realise his solo career is in rude health.

There's the current tour of the UK and Ireland - which comes hot on the heels of dates in Spain - before his band flies over to Australia.

He returns to the UK early in January, before starting work recording his fifth album with classical musicians in Latvia - "apparently the orchestras there play a semitone higher than ours so it could be interesting" - followed by dates in south east Asia.

With achievements like this in the bag, it's not surprising he gets a bit miffed about being constantly referred to as "former Stone Roses frontman" Ian Brown.

"My greatest hits album went in at number five," he said. "My third album came in at number three, I've been in Japan 10 times now.

"I've not thought about the Stone Roses since we quit.

"How many LPs do I have to make to stop people talking about it?"

The unfortunate thing for Brown is that, for everyone who remembered the Stone Roses' glory days, there's as many who remembered the way they shuffled off this mortal coil.

When the band split up, they did so in style - days after a sensationally poor performance in front of thousands of disappointed fans headlining Reading Festival in 1996.

Guitarist John Squire had recently left following years of infighting, and Brown's flat notes were accompanied by uninspiring hired musicians.

Times have not always been easy for the singer since then, but the release of a greatest hits album in the summer - now followed by a DVD - went a long way to prove he had finally been accepted as a solo artist in his own right.

"With the Stone Roses I always thought we'd be successful because we had some great songs" he said.

"When I went solo I never had a clue which way I'd go, but I don't know if it's a surprise.

"I keep hearing this thing about me being the least likely member of the band to succeed. I don't get it. The Roses' LP still gets voted as one of the best records ever made, and I wrote half of that.

"When we did that show in 1996, very few headline acts ever blew it like we did. But those songs I wrote 20 years ago are still getting played every day somewhere."

If Brown wanted to lay the ghost of the Stone Roses, it seems strange he has recently started playing the band's songs again in his live sets, even recruiting a guitarist from a tribute band to get the sound as authentic as possible.

But this, he explained, had more to do with rivalry than anything else.

"It was mainly because I heard on TV that John Squire was doing it," he said. "I'd wanted to stand on my own two feet, and I wanted to tackle those songs on my own terms.

"By completing the fourth LP I thought I could embrace the past. I heard a CD of John Squire doing it and thought he wasn't doing the songs any justice. He wasn't showing us any respect."

With the hatchet clearly still not buried - Brown says he has not talked to the guitarist since the split - the hotly-debated Stone Roses reunion seems unlikely, despite the rumour mill being fed by his recent performances of their classic tracks.

His show at the MEN Arena next week will be the first in Manchester since his headline spot at the summer's Carling Live 24 festival, when Stone Roses songs featured heavily in the set.

While the singer is happy to report he will be bringing with him the biggest PA system the Arena has ever seen, he isn't giving much away about what fans can expect.

"I'm playing the Roses songs less and less now" he said.

"And this new tour isn't going to be about the old stuff. I might play 10 Roses tunes, but it just depends how I feel at the time."

Ian Brown plays the MEN Arena on December 3.

[jrb]

Take That reunion at the M.E.N Arena



REUNITED: Take That minus RobbieFORMER top boy band Take That have announced a reunion tour, including dates at the M.E.N. Arena.

The Manchester group - minus Robbie Williams - confirmed rumours of a reunion this morning. The band members announced they will play two dates at the MEN Arena on Friday May 5, and Saturday May 6 as part of the 11-day ‘The Ultimate Tour 2006’.

A rush for tickets, costing between £25 and £35, is expected when phone lines open at 9am on Friday, December 2.

Take That’s first tour for 10 years will kick off on Monday April 24 in Newcastle, with dates in Birmingham, Glasgow, Sheffield, London’s Wembley Arena, Dublin and finally Belfast on Sunday, May 14.

The Greatest Hits album and DVD ‘Take That: Never Forget-The Ultimate Collection’ shot straight in at No 2 in the charts and the documentary last week attracted 5.69 million viewers.

Explosive

A spokesperson for the tour promoters said: “Many will remember the explosive and creative live shows that Take That put on during their career, with outlandish costumes, pyrotechnics and perfectly choreographed dance routines.




“The 2006 tour promises to be no different, and will serve as a fitting tribute to their overwhelming success, and stature as Britain’s ultimate boy band.”

The band will perform hits including Back For Good, Pray, It Only Takes A Minute and A Million Love Songs.

The spokesperson added: “It will be anybody’s guess whether Lulu will join the band onstage for Relight My Fire!”

[9462]

'take that' can fuck right off. An utter descrace to todays music and an embarrasment for manchester.

[arbeiter]

Originally Posted by jrb

It was 1983's Blue Monday that was the real breakthrough, with its steely lyrics and driving drum machine rhythm.

The idea of a punk-influenced guitar band "going disco" was unheard of at the time, and the single predated the UK acid house explosion by five years.

Not to pick a nit, but the idea of a punk influenced guitar band going disco had been done plenty of times before Blue Monday. Gang of Four? Delta 5? plenty of others.

Also, it has been said that New Order were inspired to create Blue Monday after hearing the song "Dirty Talk" by Klein and MBO, which was an italo disco dancefloor hit.

[Scarecrow]

Even Radio Free Europe by REM....

[Pobbie]

Radio Free Europe - WOW!

Bunny, do you still listen to Murmur a lot?

[Pobbie]

Oh and I'm currently listening to Hatful Of Hollow...

[highriser]

Thats a classic album Pob

[caw123]

Originally Posted by Pobbie Rarr

Oh and I'm currently listening to Hatful Of Hollow...

Probably was the best Smiths release though not a true album.

At this moment I'm being slightly disturbed by November Spawned a Monster.

[Legin]

Forget about Doves, Oasis et al - just bought Elbow's "Leaders Of The Free World" album - it's excellent! I implore every discerning, musically aware Manc - GO OUT AND BUY AND THIS ALBUM IMMEDIATELY !! They are not getting anywhare near the credit they deserve - just wonder if they would have gained more acceptance if they resided in a more trendier area of the conurbation than Bury.