The Book

In the last couple of weeks, some new photos concerning The Irritators have come to light. They feature Iris, our lead singer, and her mum and tour promoter/band manager Ana, a ticket and a poster variation previously unseen by myself. To say I was over the moon was an understatement, my only regret is that they weren’t available to go into the book. The first, courtesy of Pete ‘Ranga’ Ryan, shows the poster used for the last night of the tour at Belle Vue in Gorton. This was an extremely similar  poster to the Dundee Caird Hall one, with the new Manchester date professionally and seamlessly altered along the bottom. This one has a silver shadow around The Damned’s name.

The original Caird Hall poster is in the book.

Speaking of Caird Hall, this is a ticket for that gig, also courtesy of Pete, which was quite an historic event. This was the first ever gig by the remaining Ruts after Malcolm Owen’s death. Iris and Ana went to the funeral (I think) but it was Rat who cajoled Segs, Foxy, and Ruffy to get back on the horse (so to speak), and to my absolute pleasure they accepted the invitation. We were on first (obvs) then I spent the rest of the gig stage right watching 2 great bands, with 2 superb drummers, show us how it should be done. Not bad for a band (The Irritators) who were thrown together for a 3 month stint.

Whilst writing Hanging Around Musicians, my biggest disappointment was not being able to get hold of Iris, lead singer of The Irritators, or Ana, our ‘manager’ and tour promoter. I didn’t even have a photograph of her. So when I received some images of Iris and also Ana, I was made up.

First up was a live shot from the Wakefield Unity Hall gig, sent to me by Steve Forsythe. The picture was taken by Andy Cawley, who was there with Steve and is the only live photo I’ve seen of her.

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BOOK AVAILABLE NOW

MANCHESTER; IT NEVER RAINS…

£12.95 plus £1.72 U.K. postage. Overseas postage available on request.

Thank you.

Manchester: It Never Rains…

When Pete McNeish and Howard Trafford invited the Sex Pistols to Manchester, they knew that the city would accept them, and that feeling was reciprocated by the band as they returned 4 times in 6 months to play in two of it’s contrasting venues, The Lesser Free Trade Hall and The Electric Circus. This at a time when they were persona non grata in most other provincial towns and cities of the U.K. 

The story of how bands were formed and lives irrevocably changed forever at that first gig on June 4th 1976 has been well documented over the years (and touched on in this book), and the myths and selective memories of that night are still being contested. As the ripples of rumour and notoriety spread to Manchester’s wider community, for some of the kids amongst the inner city estates and further afield to the outskirts of the city, the emergence of punk rock was no ‘year zero’, just a natural progression from the music they had been listening to growing up. Punk for them was attitude over fashion; self expression amid hostility; individuality kicking (literally) against the mundane. This is what they’d been waiting for. 

This is their story, told in their words, of a constantly changing musical, cultural, and social landscape, in a city whose past was firmly ensconced in those 3 environments. It’s a snapshot of personal development, finding an identity firstly through music, and for some, through the clothes that defined them. 

Synopsis.

In 1976, a brand new, exhilarating musical revolution was beginning to gather momentum in London, instigated by grown ups, but embraced and spearheaded by a dissatisfied youth, bored of the stagnant stench of a music industry that said, and meant, nothing to them. 200 miles North up the M1 was a city that was primed ready and able to play it’s part in the growth of punk rock in the U.K; Manchester.

This book aims to explain why punk was the ideal natural musical progression in the city, as told by the people who were there at that embryonic stage before it entered into mainstream consciousness. In a time when hairstyle and dress sense defined your personality, nailing your colours to the mast of a grey and monochrome backdrop. Where people’s indifference to difference was measured in punches, and intolerance of tolerance was metered out in kicks. Working class kids from the inner city council estates who found escape from their surroundings in music and fashion. Not off the peg fashion, but homemade ingenuity, glamour through austerity, there’s nothing like a bit of individuality to make the natives restless.

Manchester has been the home of many musical firsts; Halle Orchestra, Top Of The Pops, Sex Pistols on television, Independent record release. An infamous gig that spawned a plethora of bands, writers, photographers, artists. It was home to The Electric Circus, Pips, Rafters, Band On The Wall, venues which are all (predominantly) fondly remembered as memories of a well spent youth.

The book charts those protagonists from their early life growing up, socially and musically, the impact that punk had on their lives, including the bands that sprung up from it, how it allowed them to express their beliefs, and how it’s ideology has stayed with them up to the present day. The time line is between the early 1960’s until December 1977 (ish). The story is predominantly told through the words of the subjects, after hours of editing face to face interviews and emails, interspersed with my narrative connecting and introducing the differing topics and chapters.

It is a social history document as well as a musical coming of age memoir, a time capsule of days of which we will never again see the like.

Chapter Breakdown.

1: History of Manchester’s slum dwellings from the 19th century to 1960’s.

2: Interviewee’s experiences of growing up in the inner city. Musical influences and access to physical musical output.

3; Nightclubs/Bars of Manchester. The gay scene, Pips, The Ranch Bar. Bowie/Roxy

4; The Electric Circus. Early gigs including Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks.

5; So It Goes- Sex Pistols first appearance on T.V. Recollections from the producer.

6; Early punk fashion in the city. People’s stories of homemade clothing.

7; Violence on the streets of Manchester and the terraces. Football and punk.

8; Venues of Manchester; Band On The Wall, Rafters, The Oaks, Apollo Theatre.

9; The growth of punk in Manchester, interviewee’s gig memories.

10; So It Goes second series. Recollections of outside broadcasts from director and video assistant.

11; The closure of The Electric Circus.

12; The dissolution of punk at the end of 1977. The lasting legacy of what punk meant to the people interviewed for the book.

Manchester; It Never Rains…..

Synopsis.

In 1976, a brand new, exhilarating musical revolution was beginning to gather momentum in London, instigated by grown ups, but embraced and spearheaded by a dissatisfied youth, bored of the stagnant stench of a music industry that said, and meant, nothing to them. 200 miles North up the M1 was a city that was primed ready and able to play it’s part in the growth of punk rock in the U.K; Manchester.

This book aims to explain why punk was the ideal natural musical progression in the city, as told by the people who were there at that embryonic stage before it entered into mainstream consciousness. In a time when hairstyle and dress sense defined your personality, nailing your colours to the mast of a grey and monochrome backdrop. Where people’s indifference to difference was measured in punches, and intolerance of tolerance was metered out in kicks. Working class kids from the inner city council estates who found escape from their surroundings in music and fashion. Not off the peg fashion, but homemade ingenuity, glamour through austerity, there’s nothing like a bit of individuality to make the natives restless.

Manchester has been the home of many musical firsts; Halle Orchestra, Top Of The Pops, Sex Pistols on television, Independent record release. An infamous gig that spawned a plethora of bands, writers, photographers, artists. It was home to The Electric Circus, Pips, Rafters, Band On The Wall, venues which are all (predominantly) fondly remembered as memories of a well spent youth. 

The book charts those protagonists from their early life growing up, socially and musically, the impact that punk had on their lives, including the bands that sprung up from it, how it allowed them to express their beliefs, and how it’s ideology has stayed with them up to the present day. The time line is between the early 1960’s until December 1977 (ish). The story is predominantly told through the words of the subjects, after hours of editing face to face interviews and emails, interspersed with my narrative connecting and introducing the differing topics and chapters.

It is a social history document as well as a musical coming of age memoir, a time capsule of days of which we will never again see the like. 

Chapter Breakdown.

1: History of Manchester’s slum dwellings from the 19th century to 1960’s.

2: Interviewee’s experiences of growing up in the inner city. Musical influences and access to physical musical output.

3; Nightclubs/Bars of Manchester. The gay scene, Pips, The Ranch Bar. Bowie/Roxy

4; The Electric Circus. Early gigs including Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks.

5; So It Goes- Sex Pistols first appearance on T.V. Recollections from the producer.

6; Early punk fashion in the city. People’s stories of homemade clothing.

7; Violence on the streets of Manchester and the terraces. Football and punk. 

8; Venues of Manchester; Band On The Wall, Rafters, The Oaks, Apollo Theatre.

9; The growth of punk in Manchester, interviewee’s gig memories.

10; So It Goes second series. Recollections of outside broadcasts from director and video assistant.

11; The closure of The Electric Circus.

12; The dissolution of punk at the end of 1977. The lasting legacy of what punk meant to the people interviewed for the book.

As of today, Hanging Around Musicians will be available to buy from Rough Trade in Nottingham. This is the latest addition to a steady growth of stockists including Piccadilly Records in Manchester and Jumbo Records in Leeds, as well as Buxton Pavilion Gardens gift shop.

This website is designed to be an appetiser for my book ‘Hanging Around Musicians’ due to be finished at the end of this year. Hopefully it will strike a chord with not only drummers but anyone who has been a member of a band no matter how successful or otherwise they were. Most biographies and memoirs on the bookshelves are of people who have had made their mark in life, whether through music or another field. My story is intended to convey the lives of thousands of people who at sometime have had their 15 minutes of fame, whether it be a song played on the radio or a fleeting part of a local television feature. I managed about 23 minutes altogether, but it’s the stories behind the perceived veneer that are more interesting, and funnier. Read more >>