A new website celebrating one of Manchester's most important yet unsung record labels, New Hormones, has been launched by Justin Toland, a Belgium-based journalist who has written extensively about Manchester music.

New Hormones is best known for its first release, the Buzzcocks' seminal 1977 Spiral Scratch EP (ORG 1), which was the first DIY record of the Punk era, but other acts signed to the label such as Ludus, Dislocation Dance and Biting Tongues were equally important components of the Manchester post-punk story.

The idea for the website came from Stuart James, the New Hormones resident producer who refers to himself semi-jokingly as “the poor man’s Martin Hannett”. He says: “New Hormones didn’t have a lot of money to spend in the studios, so it was very much about getting it down. There wasn’t a great amount of time for experimentation. My idea was to just bring the best out of the bands, as much as possible."

Visit: newhormonesinfo.com to learn more.


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Versus Cancer 3

(Source: MEN)

SUPERGROUP performance in tribute to Tony Wilson provided a fitting finale to the third Versus Cancer concert.

The curtain was brought down on an eclectic night of music by a band featuring Badly Drawn Boy singer Damon Gough alongside New Order's Peter Hook, Versus Cancer organiser Andy Rourke and former Revenge and Monaco guitarist David Potts.

"Rest In Peace Tony Wilson," said Gough - part of a band which was a surprise addition to the M.E.N. Arena line-up - during a set which included The Smiths' classic Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.

The group also performed a moving cover of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart and led the crowd in a performance of John Lennon's Instant Karma.

A picture of Tony Wilson - who lost his battle against cancer last year - appeared on the venue's video screens.

Short of pulling off a minor miracle involving Morrissey and his sworn enemies from The Smiths, curating the third installation of Manchester Versus Cancer was always going to be a tough nut to crack.

Most of the once-in-a-lifetime collaborations were ticked off in years one and two, leaving organiser and former Smiths' bassist Andy Rourke with something of a dilemma.

Yet he clearly had a few favours left to call in and the resulting show was a slick and excellently executed display of acts good enough to accept the call to arms.

They may have fit together like a set-list from a DJ who was perhaps too eager to please every member at a family party - not necessarily in the right order, and each managing to please some of the people only some of the time - but it was all in a good cause.

The View, The Farm and Oldham favourites, The Inspiral Carpets, got the show started.

Athlete proved themselves to be highly polished and talented performers with a decent line in bed-sit background music.

The Fun Lovin' Criminals again proved themselves to be possibly some of the coolest men on the planet, laying down their lazy lines of funk with weathered smiles and indecipherable New York lyrics.

But the Happy Mondays were by far the biggest crowd pleasers of the night and should really have headlined.

Mondays' dancer Bez and singer Shaun Ryder - who was sporting a new Mohawk hairstyle - even entertained the crowd with a little play fighting.

The biggest current names were The Fratellis and The Enemy, both of them hot tickets in their own right.

The anti-cancer message was all around - apart from in the venue's toilets, where the smoking ban hasn't had quite the same impact - but it didn't detract from a good night out in aid of a cause which aims to raise £1m for research.

And to show just how important that research is, one crew member, who picked up the microphone and told the crowd that his beautiful brother-in-law had lost his life to cancer only two days before.

Another roadie made clear his belief that cancer would be no match for the ensemble.

If Versus Cancer returns as planned next year, he may even be right.


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24 Hour Tribute to Tony

(Source: MEN)

A HUGE 24-hour party is to be held to celebrate Tony Wilson's legacy.

The music mogul, who was known as `Mr Manchester', died last August of a heart attack.

Today, on what would have been his 58th birthday, the M.E.N. can reveal that a spectacular event will honour his memory.

On June 21, a unique 24-hour celebration will begin. It will bring together star guests for a series of hourly workshops. An audience of 200 people at Urbis will get to swap ideas with them.

Council leader Richard Leese said: “Tony Wilson was the epitome of the Mancunian spirit. He had a huge sense of civic pride, he was innovating, entrepreneurial and inspired many people in many different ways.

“The twenty-four hour event that will take place on 21st June is an opportunity to harness some of the great creative talent that has been formed and developed in Manchester.

“These ‘Experienced’ individuals will share their knowledge and pass on the legacy. We are very excited about the prospect of who may be taking part and details will be announced over the coming months once everyone has had the opportunity to offer their support.’

Tony was battling kidney cancer when he died. In happier times, his record label, Factory, and his nightclub, the Hacienda, created the `Madchester' scene.

Since his death the city has considered a string of ideas to pay tribute to the former Granada broadcaster.

Factory Records designer Peter Saville, the city's creative director, is the driving force behind the plan.

New Order bassist Peter Hook is already confirmed. It is hoped top comic Steve Coogan, who played Tony in the film 24 Hour Party People, will also be involved.

Dozens of people who worked with Tony over his years as a broadcaster are clamouring to sign up.

Leading figures who knew Tony include Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Tim Booth of pop band James, and Urban Splash developer Tom Bloxham.

Architect Ben Kelly and Happy Mondays' manager Eliot Rashman could also be among those organisers approach.

In tribute to the unconventional approach that made Tony so influential, the event will involve every creative discipline.

Music, architecture, design, writing, fashion and drama are all expected to be included.

The council-backed celebration will coincide with the 60th anniversary of another major event that put Manchester on the map. It was on June 21, 1948, that the world's first stored computer ran its initial program at Manchester university.

Organisers hope the event will sow the seeds for an annual summer school in Tony's memory.

Tony's son Oli, 23, who works for music promotions firm AEG in Los Angeles, said: "It's a great idea.

"Tony had a lot of influence on people when he was alive and that influence should continue down the line. The idea is to get people who worked with Tony to come and do talks and young people can meet these people and learn from them."

"It's fitting because it is about new ideas, it's original, it's about helping the next generation coming through.

"It's not just asking the Mondays and New Order to gig - which we'll probably do at some point - but something different. I think Tony would be really happy with it."

Oli is also in talks with the Warehouse Project about organising a rave in his father's memory. Peter Hook said: "Tony to me was everything. It will be a total pleasure to celebrate what he did for us, so I'll be available to do anything.

"The Factory community is still a close community. We're still keeping the old flame burning, so this whole experience has got everybody excited."


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Brits double for Take That

(Source: Anita Singh/MEN)

TAKE That continued to enjoy one of the pop world's most amazing comebacks as they won Best Live Act and Best Single at the Brit awards.

After a triumphant comeback tour their single Shine went straight to number one and has now earned them a Brit trophy.

Their album Beautiful World also topped the charts, selling more than 1.5 million copies to become the most successful album of their career.


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Twisted sisters

(Soure: BBC)

Manchester has long had a rich seam of eccentricity in its music scene, but even by such standards, an 'all girl Transistor Organ Quartet' is a band from the leftfield – but that is exactly how The Sisters of Transistors describe themselves.

In fact, Sister Naomi Doric Pencrest, one of the four Sisters, goes much further with her own description – she says that while some people say their music is "a cross between horror film soundtracks and disco, we would say it’s a contemporary take on 1930s occult parlour music."

So where did the idea for the Sisters come from? It turns out that that is a tale which wanders between truth, history and myth, and involves panic in America, army issue organs, a Derbyshire pub and a member of 808 State!

"There’s a tradition of organ quartets dating back to the 30s, when the Hammond organ became ‘THE’ instrument amongst the industrialists and debutants of New York.

"A concert by the Lillian Meyers Quartet at the World Fair in 1939 ended in panic, as the pavilion collapsed due to a wave formed by the four organists. This lead to a ban on organ quartets throughout the US, which remained until Steve Reich premiered his 'Four Organs' to a virtual riot at Carnegie Hall in 1968.

"Another organ quartet, a set of Manchester-based musicians known as the Burton Wood Quartet, managed to keep some of the earlier pieces from The Lillian Meyers Quartet alive during World War Two, as the Burton Wood Airforce Base became the distribution point for a special military model of Hammond organ - The Model D - supplied to US bases and chapels.

"The first Burton Wood Quartet were quite well known during the war years, as alongside their classical repertoire, they played at dances, though they never travelled from the base due to the untransportable weight of the Hammonds.

"Graham Massey, who plays drums for us, first found out about the Burton Wood Quartet whilst playing at a rave in the old US base. After contacting BWQ member Steve Garnier, who lives in Columbus in America, through the Combo Organ Forum, he discovered the band’s repertoire was kept alive during the 50s by an all-ladies quartet at a Warrington music shop on Sunday afternoons."

See The Sisters of Transistors honouring this magnificent tradition at the Kings Arms on Friday 29 February. Entry is £6.


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