Manchester

After the 1976 Sex Pistols gig in Manchester, the city began its history of fabricating some of the most significant indie music to date. 

   Tony Wilson, who was present and the Free Trade Hall, set up a club called Factory Records in 1978 which went on to become a record label in ‘79. In this same year, the label released its first album, ‘Unknown Pleasures’, by the melancholic Mancunian band, Joy Division. The band made it onto the cover of NME and recorded a session for John Peel, a noteworthy BBC DJ.

    1983 saw the signing of another yet-to-be successful Mancunian band, The Smiths by London based record label ‘Rough Trade’. Led by Steven Patrick Morrissey, who was also at the Sex Pistols gig of ’76, The Smiths headed the UK indie scene throughout the ‘80s. ‘This Charming Man’ began a run of 16 chart singles from 1984-1987. A great deal of Morrissey’s lyrics were overtly about Manchester, with lines such as ‘Oh Manchester, so much to answer for’- Suffer Little Children.

      

After the melancholic, melodic indie music of the '90s the Manchester Indie scene took a different turn. This change was mostly caused by the opening of the 'Hacienda' nightclub and music by the likes of The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses. Enter 'Madchester'.



New Order, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Oasis, Blur, and Echo & the Bunnymen all played at the Hacienda in its glory days. However the status of the club, owned by Factory Records & New Order, began to dwindle in the late 90's due to high rates of crime and drug use in the club itself. The Hacienda officially closed in 1997.

From here on we enter the 'BritPop' era. From what started out as an 'alternative' 'independent' music culture back in the 1980's, we now have what has evolved into mainstream 'popular culture'. Some true 'Indie kids' would even express anger towards bands such as 'The Smiths' for bringing what was an underground scene into the limelight. Similarly in the US, some fans blame bands like Nirvana for popularising their style of 'alternative rock' known as Grunge.