Interview with Yvette Livesy

I was lucky enough to get in contact with Tony Wilson’s former partner, Yvette Livesy. Yvette was kind enough to answer a few questions about Madchester.

1) Back in the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, Manchester was known as the music capital of Britain. Why?

“Tony always said the reason why the music scene came out of Manchester was that the kids had the best record collections. There was a generation of kids that collided alongside the musicians at the time such as Tony who came back from Cambridge and ITN, Peter Saville and Ben Kelly coming through the art school, Martin Hannett, etc etc…..a moment in time where people who turned out be world class at what they did provided an infrastructure of creative and then of investment from people and supporting the musicians was key – Strawberry Studios in Stockport, Factory setting up to sign and support local bands and the Hacienda, the countries first super club, to support the music scene that was emerging, Dry Bar – Britain’s first designer bar …. all of these things together focused the attention on Manchester.”

2) How influential was Tony Wilson in the development of the Manchester music scene? 

“Tony was first and foremost a journalist but his passion was music. He didn’t hang out with his colleagues from Granada as he saw them as grown ups, but instead hung out in clubs and around the emerging music scene. His setting up of Factory along with his partners gave a vehicle to the scene and the support for local talent that such Joy Division/New Order and the Happy Mondays perhaps would never have had from the major record companies.”

“He was always seen as the mouthpiece for the organization and was always given credit for Factory. It’s lazy journalism that Rob Gretton always used to complain about, but Rob never wanted to talk to the press so that’s how it was seen outwardly to the world. But it was a team effort, in fact, Tony collected people and had a big thing surrounding himself with people more clever and more talented than himself. Tony and I once had a conversation with Peter Saville about how if you had to describe if Tony was like the sun that all the other plans spun around… His personality was one of enthusiasm that was contagious and because he was so eloquent and one of the smartest people I have ever met, his powers of persuasion were amazing.”

3) Were there any other key figures apart from Tony that helped create Madchester?

“Tony didn’t help create Madchester, he helped facilitate what was happening. Of course, Tony just became the ‘rent a mouth’ that represented Manchester at the time in the press. Manchester at the time was unique in that young creatives of the city and the civic part of the city all hung out together. Everybody knew everyone else. The whole of the town used to come out to party. Manchester was a small town where everybody just wanted to be part of something and make things happen. If anyone earned any money out of it at the end then that was great too, but it wasn’t the driving force.”

4) Do you think there will ever be a movement like Madchester again in the city of Manchester?

“Manchester has grown up and quite rightly is evolving dramatically, but the visible investment and energy of the city council and a handful of creatives in town changed the face of Manchester, starting around at that time. There is new energy in the creative sectors and town living is becoming even more popular with a mix of generations moving in to enjoy the now grown up Manchester. If we achieved anything else in the changing face of Manchester, that to me is enough. So who knows what’s next, but the city understands the need to support the creative aspect of the city culture as well as big business.”

5) What made Madchester so special?

“The thing that makes Manchester so special – its people. Not only do we think we are good as anyone else or any other city, we truly believe in our bones we are better. What made Madchester so special was the energy coming out of the city at the time that just spurred on the confidence of the kids and allowed them to think they could do anything if they wanted.”

The Haçienda // The Second Summer of Love

Following on from my last blog post, I wanted to do a little more research on the Haçienda nightclub, a club that Tony Wilson opened. From what I read on Tony Wilson, it seemed that this nightclub played a key role in the making of Madchester. So what exactly was the Haçienda? Why was it so influential?

The opening of the Haçienda nightclub, an initiative of Factory Records, in May 1982 was also influential in the development of the popular culture in Manchester. According to Peter Hook, co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, “without the Haçienda there would have been no Madchester. It changed the face of Manchester, whether you like it or not. The whole indie music merging with dance, music, the fashion, everything, it all came from the Haçienda.”

In 1988, also known as ‘The Second Summer of Love’, the Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses ruled the world and Manchester had officially become ‘Madchester’. At the Haçienda, business was booming courtesy of acid house and ecstasy. Nights at the Haçienda during this period were like nothing people had ever seen. Manchester has always been a party city, and it’s been famous for people ‘having it large’ at the weekends and wanting to have a good time. For some, the Haçienda felt like it was the most popular place in the world.

People looked up to the DJ like a God and would beg to him at the end of the night to play one more song. Suddenly, this incredible youth culture in Manchester had exploded on the Haçienda nightclub floor. It was the summer of love all over again but this time it was happening in the heart of Manchester. The American news magazine ‘Newsweek’ picked up on the amazing buzz in the city and put the club on its cover. The secret was simple: the Haçienda made people happy and it made them feel part of something special.

Tony Wilson

After exploring Syracuse University’s library database, I came across an interesting source about the Madchester era. The source was a Sunday Independent newspaper article written in 2007, which talked about the mourning of the highly influential Tony Wilson in Manchester. Tony Wilson was described in the article as a key drive force in the Madchester culture and devoted his life to promoting talented new musicians in the city of Manchester.

The occasion that gives rise to this particular article is the recent death of the former broadcaster, record label boss and owner of the Hacienda nightclub. The writer comes across as quite knowledgeable of the issue, with the intention to praise the life of Tony Wilson. The writer also includes a number of quotes from reliable sources such as NME and the BBC, which increases the credibility of the article. It’s quite clear the audience who the writer is trying to target are people who were heavily involved with the Madchester scene.

But how will this source help me answer my question? Well, it’s quite obvious to learn from this article that Tony Wilson was the backbone of the Madchester music scene. He’s the man who had the vision of a new and exciting music culture in the city of Manchester in the beginning and made it come alive. Researching more about who Tony Wilson was and what he believed in will give me a greater understanding of why Manchester became the music capital of Europe.

You’re twisting my melon man!

As far as genres within a discourse community go, the Madchester music scene was exceptionally unique and a completely refreshing new dynamic to British life, more prominent in the north of England. It was the outsiders of this community that misunderstood this new and creative music culture in the city of Manchester.

The type of language used during this period would seem foreign to an outsider of the Madchester culture. Words and phrases such as: ‘acid house’, ‘having a buzz’, ‘madferit’, and ‘you’re twisting my melon man’ to name a few. This in-group language would seem second nature to followers of the Madchester music scene and is still used to this very day in Manchester.

But what kind of texts get written on this topic? Well, there are many types ofdifferent writing genres that focus on the Madchester culture. There are a number of websites specifically dedicated to Madchester, as well as music magazine websites, including ‘NME’ and ‘AllMusic’. Twitter and Facebook are also being used as platforms to help educate people about this highly influential period.

The Madchester Scene – An Introduction

Back in the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, Manchester was known as the music capital of Britain. Some people thought it was the music capital of Europe, others said the World. WHY? The music that was produced as a result of this music scene included ‘alternate rock’, ‘psychedelic rock’, and ‘acid house’ music. Artists associated with the scene included the Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, The Inspiral Carpets, and The Charlatans.

This blog is all about how the city of Manchester single-handedly reinvented the British music scene, which was also known as ‘Madchester’. In this blog, I will be discovering how the Madchester music scene began, the effects it had on everyday lives, and the legacy that it left behind.