What happened in Manchester’s indie scene between punk and post-punk.
The three CD set, compiled by pop archivists Cherry Red, tells the first part of the story of Manchester’s indie scene. If you want to get to know the other chapters, you also need the Cherry Red Box MANCHESTER – NORTH OF ENGLAND, released in 2017, which covers the whole spectrum from punk to Britpop, i.e. from the Buzzcocks to Oasis. The tracks on KEEPING CONTROL focus on the years 1977 to 1981, so they lead from punk to post-punk with its many variations between noise, grooves and cuteness. Here, too, the round begins with the Buzzcocks and their hit “Orgasm Addict”, an initial spark for the scene in Manchester, above all because the single was also heard and appreciated in London.
New Order closed the third and last CD with “Everything’s Gone Green” – that’s the moment in which post-punk had perfectly transformed in the direction of house and electro. The path to the rave-o-lution with their baggy trousers was already laid. One city, four years, three CDs – that sounds like a bold plan, like a lot of music from a limited space and time frame.
A self-sufficient scene with its own language
But this is Manchester: The eternal concrete, the oppressive hopelessness of the Thatcher years – this mood got on the young people’s minds and drove them to basements, where they founded bands, provided attitudes and developed adventurous, great music. The punk bands from Manchester played much rougher than those from London. They lacked patrons and managers, so groups like Slaughter & The Dogs or The Nosebleeds went about their business without compromise. No sooner had punk made its commercial breakthrough than a self-sufficient scene with its own language developed in Manchester.
John Cooper Clarke presented himself as a punk poet – “I Don’t Want To Be Nice” is the name of his track in this set. A young, scrawny singer, very interested in literature, groped his way through the darkness with his band Joy Division; also strongly influenced by books were The Fall around the odd, bad-tempered, loud-mouthed boss Mark E. Smith. These big names work like magnets, pulling you deep into Manchester’s indie bubble with the help of this box, right down to obscure projects like Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias (“Fuck You”) or the song “The Music Room” from the sparse own work of the miracle producer Martin Hannett.
There are also bands to be discovered that no longer exist outside of the world of this outstandingly curated compilation. Their records are out of print and their ex-members are doing all sorts of things these days – just no more music. Only the singer of the garage rockers Frantic Elevators still sings today. At Simply Red. Crazy how Mick Hucknall sounded back then.