2006 03 Q Classic Morrissey and The Story of Manchester - Part 4 - Artefacts

Atrocity Exhibition

Matthew Norman, from the Manchester Digital Music Archive, unveils an amazing cache of recently discovered Joy Division artefacts.

MANCHESTER’S BIGGEST EXPORTS are music and football,” explains Matthew Norman, curator of the Manchester District Music Archive and expert on all things Manc. “You can visit the football grounds, but there’s nothing here for people interested in the city’s musical history. Our long-term ambition is to create a proper museum, though we’re a bit scared of that word because it conjures up images of dusty shelves and glass cabinets.”

Matthew and his team have already sourced thousands of rare artefacts - records, posters, flyers, recordings, personal journals - including many predating the rock era.“It’s about everything,” he says, “not just indie kids in the ’80s. We’re just as interested in the Halle Orchestra, one of the first professional orchestras, which was started here in the 1850s. The Musicians’Union was started here too, in 1921; we have a photo of its first-ever meeting.”

Recently the Archive was thrilled to sift through the lock-up of the late Rob Gretton, near-legendary manager of Joy Division and New Order “People knew Rob as this lovely, mellow, chilled-out guy, but I don’t think people realised how meticulous he was. Every penny the bands ever spent or earnt was written down in his notebooks. And he kept everything.The notebooks amount to a complete history of Rob and the band, plus there are photos, posters, hundreds of Factory acetates, white labels, live tapes.

 “Rob was an important guy,” he adds, “and I hope this stuff will add to his reputation as one of Manchester s greats.”

You can contact the Archive via www.mdmarchive.co uk