“I set these gigs up ("presented by 'Debris' magazine"; 'Debris' was my fanzine). Less than 2 weeks before the first show a taxi driver was killed by two striking miners who dropped a brick off a bridge onto his taxi. The manager of Jilly's phoned me and told me that the strike was now too controversial and cancelled the hire. I moved the first one to the Tropicana (as Alastair above recalls), and the second one to the Gallery at the bottom of Peter Street. Pink Industry was Jayne Casey's band, which had evolved out of Pink Military.”
“Sonic Youth were paid £350 for this show. Hire of the Boardwalk was £50, discounted from £80. Membranes were the support, they played for free, bless 'em.”
“In the layout this page is opposite Morrissey's article about Sandie Shaw, and includes an advert for the first Smiths single. 'City Fun' in this era were arguably more supportive of Rough Trade (London) than Factory (Manchester), and the links between the 'City Fun' crew and Rough Trade at the time weren't just down to RT releasing the likes of the Fall and the Smiths, but also through ex-New Hormones boss Richard Boon who moved to London to take a job at Rough Trade in 1983.”
“Yes, it’s Morrissey. Morrissey had been just a reader of City Fun, then he was being written about (‘City Fun’ carried a review of the second Smiths gig, when they played Manhattan Sound). His next move was to become a contributor too. He’s Burt Macho; but this contribution is a bit dull, Sandie Shaw, yawn; but there it is. Throughout 1983 the Smiths feature heavily; see also page 13 of this issue, and passim.”
“It would have been "far too" expensive to print a colour so if I remember correctly this advert was hand crayoned blue. Each copy is therefore a one-off version!”
“The first issue of 'City Fun' had criticised Anderton and his police force. If there was one person that united the disparate factions in Manchester music and the alternative cultures in the city, it was hatred for the Chief Constable. 'God's Cop', in the song by Happy Mondays.”
“Fantastic line-up at the Ardri in Hulme on Thursday 27th March 1980; the Pop Group, manicured Noise, and Patrik Fitzgerald. The Ardri was 85 Coupland Street, Hulme, M15 6HN, noe demolished to make way for the Science Park. Dozens of good gigs there; later in the 1980s Sonic Youth played there, and in 1991 Fugazi played. It was also home to the Herbal Tea Party in the rave era. Mostly a very Irish club though, that was its main business, but cheap to hire midweek so was relatively popular with promoters looking for 400/500 capacity club near the students/Hulme etc. Oh, and Orbital played there too! 1994, on a Tuesday night.”
“Letter complaining the "executives" of the Manchester music business - eg. Tosh Ryan, Richard Boon, Tony Wilson - have sold their dreams for "cheap money". 'City Fun' described as a "fourth rate organ". Letter writer claims "Everyone decent left Manchester years ago". But as the reply suggests, the fanzine never gave these "executives" an easy ride. Throughout the pages 'City Fun' oscilates between support and encouragement on the one hand and sarcastic iconoclasm on the other.”
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