Classic_Pop_Issue_30_July_2017

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T

his boxset has been

years in the planning,

but its arrival coincides

with a Manchester

reeling from the shock

of the Ariana Grande

tragedy and the

wonderful One Love

Manchester benefit

concert response. This

CD collection is a monumental,

albeit unwitting, tribute to the

city, to its vitality and strength,

and a guarantee that it will

emerge unbowed from one of

its darkest hours.

It’s the story of the

Manchester scene and the

way its future was shaped by

punk and the revolutionary

Spiral Scratch EP. There are

no Hollies or 10cc here, the

focus instead on 1977 and

beyond. But Manchester: North

Of England is no thin, ragbag

collection of minor-league

noise-mongers. No, Cherry Red

have managed to secure all the

main players – the only glaring

omission are The Smiths,

although Morrissey makes a

cameo with The Last Of The

International Playboys. It’s a

compendium of the greatest

acts of the last four decades

and charts the development

of British (alternative) music,

from the big bang of punk,

through post-punk, white funk/

Factory disco, C86 jangle, acid

house, baggy/Madchester, and

Britpop. The point is, it’s not all

guitar-driven indie, even if that

tends to dominate.

CD1 shows the city’s roots,

with punk-era bands Slaughter

And The Dogs, The Nosebleeds

and The Drones, but there are

demonstrations of dub life in

X-O-Dus’ English Black Boys, of

comedy amid the gravity (Jilted

John’s Going Steady), as well

as signs, in Magazine’s The

Light Pours Out Of Me and Joy

Division’s She’s Lost Control,

of the places musicians were

prepared to go next.

By CD2, there are glimmers,

in A Certain Ratio’s The Fox,

of a strange new experimental

rhythmical direction for so-

called guitar music, while The

Fall, Manicured Noise, Blue

Orchids, Crispy Ambulance

and The Chameleons all plough

their own unique furrows.

CD3 is filled with 1982-84

shards of electro light via

New Order’s Temptation,

52nd Street’s Cool As Ice,

Marcel King’s Reach For Love

and Section 25’s Looking For

A Hilltop.

CD4 sees a return, circa

1985-6, to rock values with

James, Easterhouse and

The Bodines, and a slew of

jangling, shambling bands (Big

Flame, The Weeds, The Man

From Delmonte) while Yargo are

one of many forgotten Manc

outfits brought to your attention.

By CD5, Manchester has

embraced Detroit techno and

Chicago house, which Happy

Mondays transmute into the

mutant disco of 24 Hour Party

People, while A Guy Called

Gerald’s Voodoo Ray is a

northern take on acid house.

CD6 features The Stone Roses

and some of their acolytes (The

Mock Turtles, Northside, Paris

Angels, The High).

Finally, CD7 includes baggy-

era mavericks World Of Twist

and Intastella, and ends with

the demo of Oasis’ Columbia.

Paul Lester

VARIOUS ARTISTS

MANCHESTER:

NORTH OF ENGLAND

CHERRY RED

A 7CD TREASURE TROVE OF DELIGHTS FROM ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSIC CITY

OF THE LAST 40 YEARS... BUZZCOCKS, JOY DIVISION, ROSES, OASIS, MONDAYS AND MORE

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98

CLASSIC

BEST COMPILATION

JULY 2017

Bernard Sumner on

stage with New

Order in 1981

CP30.Reissues.print.indd 98 08/06/2017 11:13