Exemplary triple-whammy of dance anthems that filled the Hacienda and shaped the future of clubbing
9/10
Unless you've been asleep for the past few years, you'll be well aware of the build up to celebrating an important anniversary of Manchester's first and most familiar nightclub, Whitworth Street's ill-fated Hacienda, or Fac 51 to give it its full Factory blessing. History was essentially rewritten when the club opened its doors in 1982 and again when it closed them for the last time in 1997.
During its rollercoaster 15-year tenure, it gave the North its first superclub (eventually), imported American and Balearic house, techno and electro-anthems, switched attention from live-music to 'superstar DJs' and injected a shot in the withered arm of Manchester's, then ultimately Britain's, ailing nightlife, whereby entertainment was previously either a pint of warm Watneys top, watching a ropey blues tribute band or maudlin indie outfit (in cardigans) or, if you were really (un)lucky, a cheeky intake of something illegal and a grope from the local constable. What a shame the gun-runners and drug-peddlars saw fit to use the Hac as a trading floor rather than a dancefloor, causing it to fold. It's now a block of apartments. A newer, leaner FAC51 is currently doing fine less than a mile down the road.
Earlier this summer, the car park of that very apartment block was temporarily mutated into an underground basement party in celebration of the 'good old daze'. Cunningly-entitled Hacienda 30, several luminaries, both behind the decks and out in the audience, cranked up the bass and strutted their stuff to some of the biggest club-anthems, many of which had created a similar, if not greater, level of euphoria some 25-30 years previously. This CD package enables you to relive that same exclusive night in the company of three of the Hac's key players.
Disc 1 is Graeme Park's baby and features upfront UK and US garage and uplifting house - indeed, the opening track in this mix, Let The Music Lift You Up by Darlene Lewis, sets the tone perfectly for the next 70-odd minutes with similar classics such as Inner City's Share My Love, MK's Burning, Shawn Christopher's Make My Love (the days when the name Stonebridge appeared on all the hot remixes of the age) and the under-rated slammer, Rushing by Loni Clark. There's some Kenny Dope, Victor Simonelli and more MK throughout - essential stuff.
Mike Pickering, riding on the recent reissue of his T-Coy material on CD, takes up the knobs on disc two and edges it with a ripe selection of UK bleep, Chicago house and deeper techno that ranges from Sweet Exorcist's killer Testone, Hashim's must-have Al-Naafyish and Pickering's own Carino from the aforementioned T-Coy project. There isn't a dud among these - Jamie Principle's Baby Wants to Ride, The Fog's Been a Long Time and Robert Owens' I'll Be Your Friend should be on the national curriculum, quite frankly. For the record (pun intended) I haven't seen a copy of Rio Rhythm Band's Carnival de Casa ever - nice choice, Mr Pickering.
And so to the third and most varied slice of Haccy history from Peter Hook. Somehow, the melting pot of Raze, De'Lacy, New Order, The Stone Roses, Robin S and Happy Mondays bubbles like a student night should, before getting all grown up with Strings of Life, Salsa House and Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use). Again, another superlative assembly from a man whose involvement with the Hacienda has perhaps been rather more personal than most.
Yes, many of these tracks have appeared on dance compilations before, perhaps even glued to the tracks either side of them, but that's the fun and the beauty of ensuring the present remembers the past while shaping the future. Without these tunes, you'd be on that second pint of warm Watneys by now.
For further clubbing events in the UK, head to Allgigs here
This CD is available from Amazon here and Fac51 here
For further information on Factory and Hacienda-related items, head to Cerysmatic here
9/10
During its rollercoaster 15-year tenure, it gave the North its first superclub (eventually), imported American and Balearic house, techno and electro-anthems, switched attention from live-music to 'superstar DJs' and injected a shot in the withered arm of Manchester's, then ultimately Britain's, ailing nightlife, whereby entertainment was previously either a pint of warm Watneys top, watching a ropey blues tribute band or maudlin indie outfit (in cardigans) or, if you were really (un)lucky, a cheeky intake of something illegal and a grope from the local constable. What a shame the gun-runners and drug-peddlars saw fit to use the Hac as a trading floor rather than a dancefloor, causing it to fold. It's now a block of apartments. A newer, leaner FAC51 is currently doing fine less than a mile down the road.
Earlier this summer, the car park of that very apartment block was temporarily mutated into an underground basement party in celebration of the 'good old daze'. Cunningly-entitled Hacienda 30, several luminaries, both behind the decks and out in the audience, cranked up the bass and strutted their stuff to some of the biggest club-anthems, many of which had created a similar, if not greater, level of euphoria some 25-30 years previously. This CD package enables you to relive that same exclusive night in the company of three of the Hac's key players.
Disc 1 is Graeme Park's baby and features upfront UK and US garage and uplifting house - indeed, the opening track in this mix, Let The Music Lift You Up by Darlene Lewis, sets the tone perfectly for the next 70-odd minutes with similar classics such as Inner City's Share My Love, MK's Burning, Shawn Christopher's Make My Love (the days when the name Stonebridge appeared on all the hot remixes of the age) and the under-rated slammer, Rushing by Loni Clark. There's some Kenny Dope, Victor Simonelli and more MK throughout - essential stuff.
Mike Pickering, riding on the recent reissue of his T-Coy material on CD, takes up the knobs on disc two and edges it with a ripe selection of UK bleep, Chicago house and deeper techno that ranges from Sweet Exorcist's killer Testone, Hashim's must-have Al-Naafyish and Pickering's own Carino from the aforementioned T-Coy project. There isn't a dud among these - Jamie Principle's Baby Wants to Ride, The Fog's Been a Long Time and Robert Owens' I'll Be Your Friend should be on the national curriculum, quite frankly. For the record (pun intended) I haven't seen a copy of Rio Rhythm Band's Carnival de Casa ever - nice choice, Mr Pickering.
And so to the third and most varied slice of Haccy history from Peter Hook. Somehow, the melting pot of Raze, De'Lacy, New Order, The Stone Roses, Robin S and Happy Mondays bubbles like a student night should, before getting all grown up with Strings of Life, Salsa House and Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use). Again, another superlative assembly from a man whose involvement with the Hacienda has perhaps been rather more personal than most.
Yes, many of these tracks have appeared on dance compilations before, perhaps even glued to the tracks either side of them, but that's the fun and the beauty of ensuring the present remembers the past while shaping the future. Without these tunes, you'd be on that second pint of warm Watneys by now.
For further clubbing events in the UK, head to Allgigs here
This CD is available from Amazon here and Fac51 here
For further information on Factory and Hacienda-related items, head to Cerysmatic here