Madchester: Encyclopedia II - Madchester - Before Madchester

Madchester - Before Madchester

The music scene in Manchester immediately before the Madchester era had been dominated by indie bands The Smiths, New Order and The Fall. These bands were to become a major influence on the Madchester scene, but just as important was the Haçienda nightclub.

The Haçienda had been opened by Factory Records in 1982. For the first few years of its life it played predominantly indie music, but gradually began featuring more disco, hip-hop and electro (in this respect, the club enjoyed a relationship of mutual influence with its part-owners New Order).

In 1986, it became the first club outside the US to start playing house music, with DJs Mike Pickering and Graeme Park hosting the Nude night on Fridays. This night quickly became legendary, and helped to turn around the reputation and fortunes of the Haçienda, which went from making a consistent loss to being full every night of the week by early 1987.

Another key factor in the build-up to Madchester towards the end of that year was the sudden arrival of the drug ecstasy in the city - legend has it that a friend of the Happy Mondays was a pioneer in bringing the drug into the country from Amsterdam. According to Haçienda DJ Dave Haslam: "Ecstasy use changed clubs forever; a night at the Hacienda went from being a great night out, to an intense, life changing experience" [1].

During 1988 Acid House became popular throughout the UK, another influence on the club culture building in Manchester.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Before Madchester", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki