The sound of Manchester

the sound of Manchester

A Portfolio of Mancheser’s musical past, from 1920s- 2000s

Mark Davison

Introduction:

The 1920s: Jazz era The 1920s saw the rise of both cinema and jazz, not only in Manchester but throughout the country. Although jazz is a heavily American based genre of music, the people of Manchester liked what it had to offer and the ability to dance made it all the more exciting. The jazz movement lead to dancehalls being a regular place for the youth of Manchester to go out and dance following the end of the First World War. Dave Haslam explores the history of popular culture of Manchester in his book ‘Manchester, England’ and recognises that the cinema and jazz (pp.54, 1999) ‘gripped, became central to existence, more important than work, better than sitting home or getting drummed out of school’.

The city of Manchester is celebrated for its huge impact on the music industry throughout history, particularly in the late 1980s and early 90s. Since the arrival of jazz in the 1920s to the modern day Manchester is renowned for its influential and powerful music. The unique styles situated around the Manchester music scene have influences from all over the world, with a combination of cultural influences with a Mancunian edge to make it Manchester’s own defining sound and image. This collection of ideas and research will examine the importance of music to the city of Manchester, it’s influence and impact on youth culture as well as the various sub-cultures surrounding Manchester (which have risen from music styles).

The Manchester music scene wasn’t just about the music, it was about also about the clothing, the live venues, the people. The unique Manchester image, more specifically from the ‘Madchester’ scene influenced various bands and artists from all around the country, even the world. Manchester is steeped in a strong musical history, and the relationship between the city and the sound was what made it so unique and continually celebrated.

The youth of Manchester found excitement in the development of jazz, which drove out and marginalised the old traditions of British culture.

Haslam states that (pp.54, 1999) ‘the coming of jazz was as much of a shock to Manchester as the industrial revolution. In fact, to some it seemed a fundamental part of the same journey, another leap away from rural, quiet, immutable conservative England’. The movement of jazz caused the youth to rebel against the norm, with dancehalls available all around the city offering a place for the people to gather and share their love to dance.

The dancehalls offered a place to separate themselves from society, and although the press were against the movement of jazz, the youth continued to celebrate it.

The dancehalls also offered a place for singles to meet and find sexual pleasure. As Haslam states, (pp.63, 1999) ‘Behind many forms of youth culture there’s lust for life and pursuit of the sweet smell of sex. The dancehalls were great meeting places; dark and noisy, with the allure of the illicit’.

Young women were able to find independence through jazz dancing, providing a place to dress up and have fun. (pp.62, 1999) ‘For working women, the independent young and urban middle class women, lives were changing, especially their social lives. Much was made of their changing habits: going out without the old-style whalebone corsets;

dancing without gloves; wearing not just lipstick, but rouge, and mascara too; drinking cocktails; smoking cigarettes’. Their was a shared identity, a uniform of the jazz era. Women could dress up and have fun, it offered an escape from the constraints of society.

The jazz music itself also avoided the traditions of British society, continually changing and offering something new and different. As Haslam states (pp.64, 1999) ‘The key to the survival of jazz was the turnover in styles. Ways of reacting to music in England, like so much in English society, had been bound by tradition, but jazz thrived on change’. Newer forms of jazz emerged, and the development of communications technologies and the arrival of the radio enabled the public to listen to jazz at home. (pp.65, 1999) ‘Radio transformed the life of the poor as nothing else had ever done...And it brought music; thus began the process whereby music was a daily companion’.

The Rock & Roll 50s on radio and lacked the support of British record companies’. During rock and rolls early movement to the UK, artists would imitate the greats from America and sing in an American accent. As Haslam recognises, (pp.93, 1999) ‘back in the 50s, the influence was purely one way, and most British acts marketed as homegrown rivals to the great Elvis Presley had sung with an American accent’.

Obtaining the music from America wasn’t easy or cheap. It was transported with ships which cost a lot of money and time, and the records themselves would cost a lot more than in America. As Haslam states, Manchester (pp.85, 99) ‘had its docks, courtesy of the ship Canal, which was regularly visited by ships from Montreal, New York and other ports on America’s East Coast... some sailors were on a nice little earner bringing boxes of records back’.

Following the jazz era, the birth of rock & roll in the 1950s transformed the sound of the city. American culture found its way into Britain through the music, from the jazz in the 1920s to rock and roll in the 50s. Manchester found a way of taking aspects of other cultures, and re-modeling them and turning them into the recognisable image of Manchester. As Haslam recognises, (pp.82, 1999) ‘by absorbing imported ideas, customising them and adding a twist of authentic Mancunian genius, it could make of them something unique’. The boom of Elvis Presley in the 1950s was hugely influencial to the music of Manchester, giving birth to rock and roll. The fresh sound of rock and roll offered something new to listen and dance to, (pp.84, 1999) ‘Not everybody in Manchester in 1956 wanted to hear modern jazz quintets playing cool jazz. On the margins, the raw sound of rock and roll had made an impact through teen movies like Rock around the clock but was rarely heard

The 1960s ‘Beat Boom’ The beat boom continued through to the 1960s, with bands such as the Beatles and the Kinks growing in popularity throughout the UK and the rest of the world. These bands, Haslam recognises (pp.94, 1999) ‘wrote their own songs based on their own lives and in their own idioms, and thus made pop music youth’s most viral form of self-expression’.

A musical rivalry emerged between Liverpool and Manchester, with the Beatles dominating the music industry providing a role model band for up and coming artists. (pp.96, 1999) ‘Throughout the first half of the 1960s, most of Manchester’s best beat-room Djs were playing an eclectic mix of tracks, reflecting the music of local bands, the domination of the Beatles, the soul classics, rougher and ever-present rhythm and blues, and the beginning of Motown’.

Although Manchester’s music was very Americanised, the city found a new sound, a distinct sound which defined rock and roll of Manchester. The beat boom enabled Manchester musicians to create a new style which took the raw sound of rock and roll with a Mancunian edge. According the Haslam, (pp.92, 1999) ‘The beat boom marked a shift in pop culture in England. Musicians became less slavishly imitative of American music..... In Liverpool, London and Manchester, local accents were heard in pop records. This was new; this hadn’t been done before’.

In the 1950s a new venue was also endorsed in to cities throughout the UK, the coffee house.

The coffee house was particularly popular amongst teenagers, offering a new place to share and listen to music. As Haslam states, (pp.86, 1999) ‘the coffee bar was probably the first sign of social emancipation. As a gathering place for the youth, it had no rivals.. The coffee bars provided a focus for teenage culture’. The coffee bar combined the coffee culture of Italy, with American music and a Mancunian twist which made it distinct and recognisable to the city.

The emergence of British sub-cultures began with the Mods in the 1960s, with a collective interest in style and music. Their fashion and style were distinctive to the city environment. The Mods also took an interest in a shared cultural identity, taking aspects of various cultures and combining them into their own identity. As Haslam states, (pp.97, 1999) ‘Their roots lay in a broad-minded and bold melding of other cultures; their dress sense they took from American West Coast jazz icons, their music from Detroit soul and rhythm

from Detroit soul and rhythm & blues of the Deep South, and their Vespas and Lambrettas from Italy’.

Although they relied on other cultural influences their combined image was distinct and recognisable, with different cities having slightly different styles. The Mods in some ways tried to kill off old definitions of Englishness, with youths creating their own style and way of life to avoid the expectations and traditions of society.

The Northern Soul scene also arose from the Mods, and was situated around dancing to soul and R&B. As Pete Mckenna states in his book Nightshift, (pp.95, 1996) ‘’It was and still is a unique youth culture born out of the best traditions of youth cultures. It had energy, enthusiasm, dedication, friendliness and notoriety’. Mods would gather in dancehalls, which would be open all night long. Their are various signs and symbols which represent the Northern Soul scene.

The adidas bag, talcum powder and badges were just some of these signs. The scene began in the North West of England, such as Manchester where the mod sub-culture was particularly relevant.

The 1970s- Punk era The issue of unemployment turned many young Mancunians into the Punk world as it gave them something to do. As Haslam recognises, (pp.117, 1999) ‘there was boredom, plenty of it, and poverty; were talking about 1976, a year when the number of people living on or around the official poverty level had trebled over two years to more than 15 million’. The mix of energy and a hint of violence in Manchester is what made punk so successful to the city.

The early 1970s didn’t provide a strong Manchester music scene. It wasn’t until the punk era in the later years of the 1970s that Manchester re-gained a strong defining genre.

According to Haslam, (pp.110, 1999) ‘Early in 1976, or even late in 1976, the notion of Manchester as a taste-making rock & roll town was unthinkable. There were no local labels, nor small venues or rising stars. Punk changed this’.

The rebellious nature of punk caused a big stir in the media, as punk heavily relied on controversy and anarchism.

Much like the other sub-cultures, Punks had a particular image, with safety pins and swastikas being key symbols of the group. The music was aggressive, anti-government and people were scared by it. Following the rather uneventful early

1970s, punk provided a tool for the youths to speak out against certain issues and gave them a voice to be heard. One of Manchesters most popular punk bands was the Buzzcocks, who raised the profile of the Manchester punk scene and put the city on the map. The Buzzcocks also launched their own independent label, which was punks biggest legacy to the British music.

According to Haslam, (pp.115, 1999) ‘Manchester started to develop as England’s second Punk city after London and, as the capital quickly became Punk-saturated, its most creative site’.

Since the late 1970s, Manchester has been associated with several styles of indie/ alternative music: in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the post-punk sound of Joy Division, which mutated into New Order; bedsit blues in the mid-1980s with the Smiths and James; and the tempo and mood was revived around 1988, in the wale of Acid House, with the arrival of the club and ecstasy sounds of ‘Madchester’, led by the Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses and Oldham\s Inspiral Carpets.

Shuker, R (2001) Understanding Popular Music. New York: Routledge.

The punk sub-culture also endorsed a certain look or style, one which defined the group and reflected their anarchistic behaviour and music.

The cliches of the punk scene are spiky hair, bondage trousers, leather and safety pins however, the Manchester punk scene didn’t follow this style. Haslam states that (pp.120, 1999) ‘the fact that punk in Manchester wasn’t so uniform was its great strength. What aided Manchester’s creativity in the years before punk was that formulas in music and fashion were broken by the best bands, or even ignored’.

The post-punk era then took shape following the emergence of Manchester punk influenced band Joy Divison. The band Joy Division sparked a lot of creativity to the Manchester music scene, with their edgy, industrial sound. Their creativity shone throughout the city, inspiring a new genre of

music, heavily influenced by the punk scene. However, in 1980, the front-man of Joy Division Ian Curtis killed himself which ended the bands short lived, powerful life. According to Haslam, (pp.127, 1999) ‘the death of Ian Curtis shocked the city, but it didn’t kill off creativity. Out on the fringes all kinds of Manc malcontents, unleashed by punk, were already making music, doing gigs, putting out records’.

Joy Division were not the only post-punk band which emerged and influenced, there were many others throughout Manchester and the rest of the UK however, their short life was significant and revolutionary to the Manchester music scene and their creativity and uniqueness shone through.

Punk made Manchester a credible pop city, bred nonconformist attitudes, nurtured indie labels and gave us a DIY tradition, but it was the Madchester era in the late 1980s that opened everything up, bequeathed us a city of endless possibilities’.

Haslam, D (1999) Manchester, England. L ondon: Fourth Estate Limited.

1980s- 1990s: Madchester The Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and The Charlatans were just some of the great British bands surrounding the Madchester era, who set a new standard for Manchester bands surrounded by ecstasy.

The Happy Mondays set the standard of the Madchester music scene, with a unique, distinctive sound with took Manchester by storm. They put themselves at the forefront of Manchester’s dance explosion with their music, which seemed to be influenced by a collaboration of different styles and genres of music. John Robb states in his book ‘The Nineties’, (pp.62, 1999) ‘The Happy Mondays made music that sounded like no-one else: a demented mixture of funkadelic, funk, northern soul, punk rock, indie and disco- a ragbag of influences all slapped together in a stunning whole’.

The 1980s saw the rise of rave culture in Manchester, with acid house and ecstasy dominating youth culture during a rather depressing era for the North of England.

Collapsing industries, unemployment and miners strikes disintegrated the buzz and excitement of Manchester. It wasn’t until the boom of house music until youth culture re-found something to celebrate, the Madchester era.

The Hacienda nightclub was the place to be for young Mancunians, a place where new music from America called house was celebrated and danced to. Haslam states that (pp.163, 1999) ‘when house finally arrived, it changed the Hacienda, Manchester, England indisputably and forever’. The Madchester style also was formed, where everything was baggy, with oversized t-shirts and 26 inch flares being part of the Manchester uniform.

However, it wasn’t just American music which was surrounded by the Madchester era. It spawned a new wave of British, more specifically Mancunian musical boom.

This bricolage of musical influences gave the Happy Mondays a distinct sound, unlike no other.

Their baggy clothes, psychedelic sounds and stage presence left them as the faces of the Madchester era.

Also at the forefront of the Madchester era were The Stone Roses, whose debut album has been dubbed one of the best British albums ever released. As Robb states, (pp.69, 1999) ‘Their debut album has been the soundtrack to a Mancunian and then a nationwide summer- one of the few albums that slotted in with the ecstasy buzz’. The Stone Roses along with The Happy Mondays weren’t only popular to the city of Manchester, their nationwide success brought people from all over the country to come and get a taste of the Madchester scene.

The drugs were a huge part of Madchester, as Stone Roses guitar player John Squire says in an interview in Robb’s book, (pp.71, 1999) ‘Manchester itself, the city, has always been hip but now it’s a totem of chemical cool. Droves of kids are pouring in at the weekend looking for some of the experience’.

The Madchester era was particularly important to the music of Manchester, as it showed and inspired other future artists that they could make it themselves. They didn’t need to rely on getting signed by mainstream record labels, as most bands in the era were signed by indie lables. The era gave the youth culture of Manchester something to celebrate, be proud of and be inspired by. The music, the fashion, the clubs, the drugs, all gave Manchester teenagers something to do, something to be a part of, something to be proud of.

Bibliography: The Madchester era continued to influence various bands following into the 1990s, such as Oasis with the emergence of Brit-pop. However, the Madchester scene has found its way back into modern British culture. Madchester bands such as The Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays have made recent comebacks over the years, bringing back with them the identity situated around the music. The Madchester scene has continued to live on, finding it’s way into other forms of popular culture such as the film industry.

The film ‘Spike Island’ for example released in 2012 focuses on a group of teenagers story of watching the legendary gig performed by The Stone Roses on Spike Island near Chesire.

Various documentaries have also been created following the Madchester era, such as Shane Meadows’ Stone Roses documentary, ‘Made of Stone’.

The music of Manchester throughout its history is heavily situated around youth sub-cultures.

The city has had its own defining, singular style conjured up by a bricolage of other pieces of culture. The music and the clothing in particular

defined various sub-cultures which emerged in Manchester. The Mods for example, took elements of Italian culture (scooters) and American culture (music), which when combined created a recognisable image and identity. Young Mancunians gave themselves the oppurtunity to gather and share a love for the music and styles of their city, and avoid the traditional expectations of British society.

The sub-cultures of Manchester were typically centred upon working class youths, and the groups they were a part of gave them something to celebrate and live for. The music was particularly significant to the working class youths, as their expression through music gave them a voice to be heard. Through their lyrics they could challenge and speak out against the constraints of society which proved to be a powerful tool.

Although each of the sub-cultures differ in terms of styles and music tastes, they share the similar characteristics what make them a defined subculture. A shared interest in music, dancing, and taking drugs for example are all characteristics of sub-cultures.

Haslam, D (1999) Manchester, England. London: Fourth Estate Realm.

Mckenna Pete, (1996) Nightshift Argyle: S.T Publishing.

Shuker, R (2001) Understanding Popular Music. New York: Routledge.

Robb, J (1999) The Nineties. London: Ebury Press.