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Tosh Ryan, OK Dave
Solem Bar (Academy 3/Hop & Grape)
Photograph, 1975
Photo: Ged Murray

Lovely photo of Manchester poster designer and DJ 'OK Dave' with Tosh Ryan (Rabid Records) on Alexandra Road, Moss Side, just before it was all bulldozed.

OK Dave says: "I'm on my way to a weekly Tuesday night DJ residency in the Solem Bar at Manchester University Students' Union. My LPs and 45s are in the suitcase in the bike basket!"

(Note poster for Bob Marley and The Wailers at The Hardrock Concert Theatre in the background. Also, a Carnival '75 poster on boarded up shop and a poster which says 'YPOA - Manchester's Home Grown Funk EXPLOSION at Houldsworth Hall, Friday 4th May'.)

The fact that Tosh is holding a brush suggests he may be doing some fly-posting.
Academy 2 (Main Debating Hall)
Advert, 1976
Terrific advert featuring an AC/DC show in the Main Debating Hall, the band were on a UK tour promoting their Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album. The ticket price was a mere 80p.

Taken from the Mancunion newspaper, written and edited by University of Manchester students. With thanks to James Peters at the University of Manchester Archives and Ben Ward at University of Manchester Students' Union.
3
The Squat
Photograph, 1977
Photo: Bernie Wilcox

Don't know who these guys were but I found them on the same roll of film as Exodus and The Fall at a gig at the Squat in Oct 77. Anyone recognise him?
Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias
The Squat
Press, 1977
Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias played three consecutive nights with their rock play 'Razorblades and Roundshots' aka 'Lights! Camera! Mackerel!

This show eventually became known as the somewhat snappier 'Sleak'.

Taken from the Manchester Independent Newspaper, written and edited by University of Manchester students. With thanks to James Peters at the University of Manchester Archives and Ben Ward at The University of Manchester Students' Union.
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The Drones, Joy Division, The Negatives, The Worst, Warsaw
The Squat
Poster, 1977
A poster for The Drones, The Negatives, Warsaw (Joy Division) and The Worst (stars of the BBC documentary-discussion show Brass Tacks) at The Squat. There is some debate as to the authenticity of this poster, partly because the date is incorrect - the gig took place on Friday 3rd June. According to Dave Bentley (manager of the Drones), this night was called 'Stuff The Jubilee'.
The Worst, Warsaw
The Squat
Press, 1977
Taken from Sounds 09.07.77
Words by Tony Moon.

Warsaw (Joy Division) played three times at The Squat in June 1977. This review relates to their gig on the 25th.

I love the bit about the kids' Chad Valley drum kit.
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The Fall
The Squat
Photograph, 1977
Photo: Bernie Wilcox

Picture of Mark Smith and Tony Friel of The Fall at The Squat in October 1977 at a Rock Against Racism gig.
X-O-Dus (Exodus)
The Squat
Photograph, 1977
Photo: Bernie Wilcox

Moss Side reggae band X-O-Dus seen here on the same bill as The Fall at a Rock Against Racism gig in October 1978 at The Squat.

The X-O-Dus debut LP 'English Black Boys' came out on Factory Records in 1980 after Joy Division manager and lifelong reggae fan Rob Gretton spotted them. Check it out!


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The Fall, X-O-Dus (Exodus), The Reducers, The Longsight Clearance Band
The Squat
Press, 1977
A review of the annual Rock Against Racism show with local line-up including The Fall, Exodus and The Reducers.

Taken from the Manchester Independent Newspaper, written and edited by University of Manchester students. With thanks to James Peters at the University of Manchester Archives and Ben Ward at The University of Manchester Students' Union.
5
The Squat
Photograph, 1978
Photo: Bernie Wilcox

A photo of the inside of The Squat that helps to give a sense of what gigs were like there.

The Squat was the Old College of Music on Devas Street. It was occupied by a group of students who were protesting against its planned demolition and the lack of facilities provided by the University for community activities. By this stage the building was being used as a kind of multi-purpose 'art lab', including theatre productions and visual art.

For a time, The Squat and the occupation was financed by weekly music night held on a Friday in collaboration with Music Force, the socialist music collective/agency put together by, amongst others, musicians Victor Brox and Bruce Mitchell.
Harpoon
The Squat
Photograph, 1978
Story by Rowland Jones.

'Me on stage with Harpoon at The Squat playing my beloved but subsequently stolen 1969 Telecaster Thinline. Some bastard stole it from the van at 3.30am outside our drummer's house in West Didsbury. It was quite special - a rare model AND with a rosewood fingerboard. I seem to remember the serial number was 226445 - sad I know - but I think it was that those were the telephone codes for Rusholme and Didsbury!

Harpoon grew out of a band called Half-Weight.

The main line-up was:

Jon Ash - vocals, guitar, & keyboards
Rowland Jones - guitar & vocals
John Levenson - Bass
Mike Smith - drums

From October 1975 - July 1976 we did around one hundred and fifty gigs, including backing tours with Limmie and the Family Cookin' and the Exciters. Black Music magazine did a double page spread about the Exciters - we were described as "unsympathetic and out-of tune..."

After various changes in personnel, the band, with the addition of former Greasy Bear guitar player Steve Whalley, signed to Phonogram as The Boss Brothers. They recorded an album but I don't think it was ever released.

During the band's life we did quite a lot of interesting stuff - a lot of support gigs for Sad Cafe, Joe Jackson and Tom Robinson Band. We played the Marquee, where we met John Peel, who introduced himself with: “I’m John Peel I do a bit of work for the BBC. Just wanted to say how much I liked the band.” And he wrote something very complimentary about us in Sounds the following day. We shared a dressing room with Oscar Peterson at Ronnie Scott’s when he was playing downstairs and we were playing Upstairs at Ronnie’s.

I even had a chat with Don Van Vliet. We were playing the Speakeasy, and somebody pointed out that there was no less a person than the Good Captain sitting at the back of the room. As we doing the ‘get-out’ he spoke to me as he clambered over some flight cases. Those of you familiar with Beefheart will have realised that the conversation was in fact a series of short grunts, from which I extracted the phrase: Nice Gig.
The Drones, John Cooper Clarke, Emergency, The Slugs
UMIST (Barnes Wallis Building)
Advert, 1978
Manchester dole-punk heroes The Drones hit UMIST in February 1978. Their debut LP 'Further Temptations' came out on the Valer label at the back end of '77. Interestingly John Cooper Clarke was support for other gigs on this tour, but not the home date.
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The Passage, X-O-Dus (Exodus), The Elite
The Squat
Flyer, 1978
A second Rock Against Racism gig at The Squat, this time featuring The Elite, The Passage and X-O-Dus. This event was held during Southern Africa Solidarity Week.
Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias
The Squat
Ticket, 1978
Following on from their infamous play 'Razor Blades and Roundshots', Manchester spoof kings the Albertos return to The Squat with Light! Camera! Mackerel! in October of 1978. They scored a hit the same year with their Status Quo piss-take 'Heads Down No Nonsense Mindless Boogie'.
Academy 2 (Main Debating Hall)
Press, 1978
A review for a Siouxsie and the Banshees show in the Main Debating Hall not long after Hong Kong Garden smashed into the UK singles charts. The commercial success of the band and the popularity of the punk moment saw ticketless crowds being turned away and those lucky to get inside were treated to a pissed-off looking band, obviously not enjoying the torrent of spit coming from the poseur punks at the front of the stage.

Review credit: Andy Zero

Taken from City Fun No 2. Manchester's much-loved post-punk fanzine. A complete archive of City Fun can be found here.

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Magazine
Academy 2 (Main Debating Hall)
Ticket, 1978
The great Magazine play a hometown gig late 1978.

Excerpt from Wikpedia:

Howard Devoto formed Magazine in Manchester, shortly after he left Buzzcocks in early 1977. In April 1977, he met guitarist McGeoch, then an art student, and they began writing songs, some of which would appear on the first Magazine album. They then recruited Barry Adamson on bass, Bob Dickinson on keyboards and Martin Jackson (previously of The Freshies) on drums, forming the first lineup of the band.

After signing to Virgin Records, Magazine played their debut live gig at the Rafters in Manchester on 28 October 1977. 'Motorcade' co-writer Dickinson, whose background was in classical and avant-garde music, left shortly after several gigs in late 1977.

In early 1978, the band released their first single, 'Shot by Both Sides', a song Magazine recorded as a quartet. It featured a guitar-bass-drums sound similar to punk rock. Shortly after the single's release, Dave Formula, who had played with a briefly successful 1960s rock band from Manchester called St. Louis Union, joined as keyboardist. 'Shot by Both Sides' used a chord progression suggested by Pete Shelley, which was also used in the Buzzcocks track 'Lipstick'. The Magazine single just missed the UK Top 40. The band, with Formula on keyboards, made its first major TV appearance on Top of the Pops in February 1978, performing the single.

Following a British tour to promote their debut album Real Life (which made the UK Top 30), Jackson left Magazine in late July. He was replaced briefly by Paul Spencer, who performed with the band for gigs across Europe and some television appearances, including The Old Grey Whistle Test, where they played 'Definitive Gaze'. Spencer quit partway through the tour, joining The Speedometors shortly afterwards. He was replaced in October by John Doyle, who completed the Real Life promotional tour and remained in the band.

Magazine's second album, Secondhand Daylight, was released in 1979, reaching the UK Top 40. The album featured a greater use of synthesisers. That same year, McGeoch, Adamson and Formula joined electronic project Visage, recording and releasing the single 'Tar'.
Academy 2 (Main Debating Hall)
Press, 1979
Here's a review featuring a great line up of the Cure with support from The Passions and The Associates. This was the Cure's fourth visit to the city during 1979 following two gigs at The Factory and a joint headline show with Siouxsie and the Banshees at the Apollo.

The review picks up on the lightning speed playing, rushing though songs to reach a climax that never arrives and suggests the hurry could have been an attempt to make the audience dance, even to the more slower paced tracks.

Review credit: Harry

Taken from City Fun No.14, Manchester's much-loved post-punk fanzine. A complete archive of City Fun can be found here.
Academy 2 (Main Debating Hall)
Press, 1979
The task of programming the events calendar for the 1980 new year term was not an easy one, this article says that few bands were on the touring circuit and those that were preferred to play other venues in the city such as the Apollo.

I think they pulled together some great shows including Cheap Trick, Lene Lovich, Gruppo Sportivo and what looks like a cast of ex Fairport Convention members.

Taken from the Mancunion newspaper, written and edited by University of Manchester students. With thanks to James Peters at the University of Manchester Archives and Ben Ward at University of Manchester Students' Union.
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Academy 2 (Main Debating Hall)
Advert, 1979
Advert for The Pop Group playing at University to promote their debut album 'Y'. Possibly at the Solem Bar (Hope and Grape/Academy 3)

The Good Missionaries (featuring 'Sniffing Glue' founder Mark Perry) were support for the night along with reggae outfit Dambala.

Bit of a legendary gig according to some, with both Bernard and Hooky from New Order in attendance.
Academy 2 (Main Debating Hall)
Press, 1979
Poor ticket sales for gigs in the Main Debating Hall were a concern in this article from 1979. The looming threat of cutting live gigs to one per week was being touted in a bid to cut financial losses with the finger of blame being pointed at poor promotion and the increased popularity of the clubbing events in the University Cellar.

Taken from the Mancunion newspaper, written and edited by University of Manchester students. With thanks to James Peters at the University of Manchester Archives and Ben Ward at University of Manchester Students' Union.
The Squat
Press, 1979
This article gives a brief history of The Squat and details the plans to make the most of a small refurbishment budget.

Taken from the Mancunion newspaper, written and edited by University of Manchester students. With thanks to James Peters at the University of Manchester Archives and Ben Ward at University of Manchester Students' Union.
1
The Squat
Press, 1979
Rock Against racism held a special bonfire night event at The Squat as part of Manchester students week of action against racially discriminating tuition fees. The event featured a screening of the then banned documentary Blacks Brittanica, a US film based on Britain's colonial heritage from a Black British perspective.

More about the week of action can be found on a blog by Sarah Webster: 150 international students staged a fee strike (refused to pay their tuition fees), risking their education to protest increase fees. UoM students saw limits on international student numbers via higher fees and quotas as a manipulation of immigration statistics designed to pander anti-immigration sentiments. For them, the policies were essentially racist as they excluded BME international students from British higher education for being international students.

Source: aiucentre.wordpress.com/2...

Image taken from the Mancunion newspaper, written and edited by University of Manchester students. With thanks to James Peters at the University of Manchester Archives and Ben Ward at University of Manchester Students' Union.
Manchester University (see Academies)
Advert, 1980
A cracking listing advert for the week long February Festival 1980 with diverse line-up featuring chart toppers The Pretenders, jazz and blues from George Melly's Feetwarmers, poetry by Adrian Henri, a hypnotist and the John Peel Roadshow amongst others.

The February Festival was funded by North West Arts with the aim to incorporate different events in venues people would otherwise visit and encourage visitors to discover new forms of entertainment to enjoy.

Taken from the Mancunion newspaper, written and edited by University of Manchester students. With thanks to James Peters at the University of Manchester Archives and Ben Ward at University of Manchester Students' Union.
Academy 2 (Main Debating Hall)
Poster, 1980
Story: Abigail

A poster for The Pretenders at MDH in 1980. I saw The Pretenders in the same venue in 2003. It was great gig. Halfway through a member of the crowd managed to pass a photo of the 1980 gig to Chrissie. I recall the photo was passed from hand to hand until it reached her and she had a bit of banter with the crowd about it.

She seemed moved by the shot, which would have shown former band members James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards) and Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals) in their prime. Honeyman-Scott died 1982 following a heroin overdose. Farndon died in 1983 of heart failure after taking cocaine.