Cuttings

Close, but not quite close enough, to being my second New Order double-header, Hammersmith was only two nights after Hemel Hempstead. I'd ordered the tickets before the ULU gig, but two more mates decided later on that they would come along, and managed to get tickets from touts for £10. I noted that drinks were expensive at £1.40 (roughly £4.50 in 2022 prices, so it looks like I wasn't far off the mark). This was my only ever visit to the Hammersmith Palais, yet another venue that is no more. I seem to recall that in a rectangular space, the stage was on one of the longer sides, which is a bit unusual. A Certain Ratio were the support - the third time I saw them this year. Although they performed a very good set, the crowd were incredibly indifferent to them.  The bootleg I have (which, during the first song - Seems Like Something Dirty - features me telling one of my mates that the show was being taped ) has Jez Kerr after that song saying that New Order audiences d...

50 GREAT MANCHESTER ALBUMS From the Buzzcocks to Doves, Britain's second city has unleashed a succession of albums that changed the face of music. Here's your guide to the best of them.... THE DURUTTI COLUMN The Return Of The Durutti Column FACTORY 1979 Cult miserabillst plays super-sad instrumental guitar. For a movement that was meant to be about free minds and expression, punk dogmas were quick to harden. The Durutti Column, aka guitarist Vini Reilly, kicked against them profoundly with nine meditative instrumental pieces, augmented by minimal programmed rhythms and the judicious use of an Echoplex unit, courtesy of producer Martin Hannett. The seemingly improvised results were delicate and melancholic. But there’s still comfort and even joy here. IH JOY DIVISION Unknown Pleasures FACTORY, 1979 Stark and atmospheric - this is their solemn, definitive st...

A CERTAIN RATIO THE NORTH-WEST'S PUNK FUNKATEERS MANCHESTER NEVER KNEW what hit it - A Certain Ratio (their name lifted from Brian Eno’s track The True Wheel) exploded on to the punk scene in 1977 with their exhilarating, obdurate live show, which mixed James Brown-styled syncopated funk with punk, disco and electronica. Tony Wilson was so impressed that he signed them to Factory, where a seven-year tenure with the label spawned five albums - 1979’s cassette-only The Graveyard And The Ballroom, 1981’s Martin Hannett-produced To Each..., the following year’s Sextet and I’d Like To See You Again, and their label swansong, 1986’s Force. And that’s not to mention a string of truly awesome singles, including Do The Du and their irascible funk-punk take on Banbarra’s Shack Up. Beginning life in 1977, the combo - comprising singers Martha Tilson and Simon Topping, guitarist Peter Terrell,...

THE 20 BEST MANCHESTER ALBUMS 1 JOY DIVISION CLOSER Factory (1980) IAN Curtis was beset by health, psychological and personal problems when Joy Division entered Britannia Row studios to record Closer in March, 1980. Their second tour de force was far removed from its predecessor: side two particularly revealed a new, breathtaking, almost supernatural, symphonic music. Painfully honest and unflinchingly emotional, Closer was Joy Division's triumph and Ian Curtis’ personal testament. By the time of its release, he’d committed suicide.  (Un?)intentional parting message to bandmates:  " You take my place in the showdown. I'll observe with a pitiful eye ” (“ Heart And Soul ”)  Highest UK chart position: 6 3 JOY DIVISION UNKNOWN PLEASURES Factory (1979) FOR...

The East of England has not been served well by New Order. Only one gig in Norfolk ( Pennies in Norwich in 1982 ), none in Suffolk, only one in Kent ( Margate Winter Gardens in 1984 ), and this, their sole appearance in my own county of Essex. I wonder if in part it's proximity to London, although that logic can hardly be applied to part of Suffolk, Norfolk and Kent that can easily be two hours away. WOMAD itself has had a nomadic existence, although unlike some of its venues, Mersea Island was not repeated. Mersea Island sits a little way outside of Colchester in North Essex, and is reached by a causeway that can flood at high tide (and the official programme for the event included high tide times to help with that). This meant that getting to and away from the venue was not an easy task. On the Saturday in question, there'd already been plenty of thunderstorms rattling around, so a late July festival was not likely to be as pleasant as the season would s...

DURUTTI COLUMN: Say What You Mean Mean What You Say (EP) ( Factory ) A CERTAIN RATIO: Brazilia ( Factory Benelux ) Just the FACs, ma’am ... Vini Reilly's found himself a fine spar in percussionist Bruce Mitchell but his elegant, limpid mood music almost invariably either soothes me into a nice snooze or else makes me wonder if it’s time to do the washing up or take the rubbish out. Unfortunately this latest six-track marathon is no exception. A Certain Ratio weigh in with a light, fast, smooth groove dedicated to the joys of ‘sunshine music’ and blessed with some sparkling piano, even though the percussion break in the middle is somewhat heavy-handed. This probably tell you at least as much about my prejudices and assumptions as it does about ACR, but in its way this is one of the most pleasant surprises of the week.

A CERTAIN RATIO Manchester Hacienda I BLINK twice, but still the fact that this is ACR doesn't sink in. Their 'development' from the graveyard to the dancefloor is nearly over. After the inspired, innovative whirlpools of ‘Flight/'Blown Away', the glistening slinky beat of ‘Sextet’ and the “Work-that-body-sugar" Hunk-Funk of ‘Guess Who’, Ratio are now dipping their toes more surely into the smooth, rippling pools of pure technique, classy inanity and a passably pleasant groove, so shallow they could play it in their sleep. ‘Multi-instrumentalists’ to a man (huh !), they run through a series of anonymous ‘Mauritian cruise music’ instrumentals full of breezy whistles, busy bass-runs, tinkering Latin touches and jazzy interludes, all built around the base of Donald Johnson's easy beat, a Herb Albert trumpet and a lazy Al Jarreau 'feel' (sic). New vocalgirl, Carol McKenzie, has to be content with a song of " Dancin‘/Romancin '"s until, fin...

A CERTAIN RATIO: I Need Someone Tonite  ( Factory )  Clumsy, gritty pop/funk that tries to push its obvious American influences (Cameo?) into some kind of order and ends up with an identity problem. From Donald Johnson’s forced yelp about a minute into the song to the upfront bass that irritates rather than moves, 'I Need Someone Tonite' is neither desperate or dirty enough to justify its intentions. Rather it's a grab exercise in funk meddling which, when placed next to the exuberant d rive of say The Weather Girls, is shown up for its complete lack of character. On the flip side is a word perfect rendition of Stevie Wonder's ‘Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing’, which, like the JB All Stars, begs the question why?

SIMON TOPPING: Prospect Park  ( Factory Benelux ) Good old Factory Benditoys present Mr Khaki Shorts 1982: Simon “A Concrete Patio" Topping in his solo debut, and most odd it is too. A terribly authentic slab of Latin piano and what one presumes is Si's own trumpet on the A-side - named after part of Exeter, seemingly - while the B-side has Topping announcing in a doomy way that he loves the conga. The conga better watch out.

. . . (honk) . . . (squawk) . . . "OK, you try and get a percussion solo out of one of these things then!!" OUTA THEIR GOURDS A CERTAIN RATIO Glasgow Rooftops IT IS a rare thing to soak up the atmosphere before a gig and be driven to despair by it thinking pessimistically that if they play 40-minute percussion solos that I will die of boredom and then being overwhelmed by a really excellent set. This was mostly—no. totally - due to the fact that A Certain Ratio have almost forsaken that awful Latin thing and returned to hard, driving (thank) funk. Their first number 'Sounds Like Something' was, well... downright foot-tapping despite their typically dour-faced Factory delivery. This is a Serious Business for them getting rid of the well-known 'Shack Up' early in the set they go on (and on) to illustrate in the most extreme way their homebred brand of Muso Ability, A Certain Ratio never let a smile break over their faces (although I saw a couple of twitche...

A CERTAIN RATIO LIVERPOOL PLAYHOUSE THESE DAYS, it's Donald Johnson that wears the shorts in the ACR house. Jeremy Kerr, a skeleton with eyes like death who should immediately consider eating at least three Shredded Wheat, looks like the music once sounded. Thin, white and worried. Tonight its Johnson’s percussive violence - there is no other word for it - on both drums, and slap-happy bass that holds sway. The music is loud and simply irresistible. The audience remains seated. A Certain Ratio play to 12 million, radio listeners. They are not overly concerned about it.  There are maybe five songs called things like 'Inside'. These are from a new album called ‘Force’. Right now, that title suits them well. And then Kerr wrests the mantle from the magnificently flailing Donald Johnson for a moment or two. He sings but it doesn’t matter. The rhythm is brutally precise. Tapes and massively distorted guitar spray across it. They do nothing to diminish its powe...

A CERTAIN RATIO Sheffield Leadmill IRONIC TO see a band like ACR playing in a town like Sheffield where so many hammer and tongs, fumace-fired funkateers have grown up under their influence, mentioning no names, of course. The ground is thick with students and hoppity-boppitty peak capped and fatigue'd rationarios blowing whistles with a comic ferocity. A Certain Ratio are certainly not what they used to be. The magnificence of their red level bass lines, percussive enormity and minimal frills have been sanded down to a trim, well-oiled light engine. Out with the funk dynamo and in with the software. All the dirt, rough edges and abrasive surfaces have, unfortunately, disappeared. Even though the percussive bones still grind and snap, guitars still slice and horns punch pinholes in the rhythmic rationale, ACR wear an overall blanket sheen that smacks violently of average funk all-dayer floor-fillers. Perhaps within the context of the all-dayer circuit they'd achieve a degr...

ACR: 'Mickey Way (The Candy Bar)' ( Factory ) Not so gritty these boys, but no couch potatoes either. Having as good as slouched through a laidback Latin phase, only to return with the crushingly swell 'Wild Party' single of last year, ACR (F.A.B.) seem to have come good again with this frilly, uptempo dance number. When I was a little younger A Certain Radio (we used proper names in those days) were one of the most influential bands around; everyone except the school caretaker wanted to be obscure funksters with short trousers and (even) shorter hair. They’re certainly not so fashionable these days, but the remaining Ratios seem pretty content just to chisel out their own groove in their own sweet way. 'Mickey Way (The Candy Bar)' is from the forthcoming 'Force' LP. It's maybe reminiscent of Colourbox's roaringly uplifting 'Unofficial World Cup Theme', but here they're all hand-made sounds. There's no singing of any s...

OUT OF THE GRAVEYARD, INTO THE BALLROOM A CERTAIN RATIO The Old & The New ( Factory ) IT'S A MIRACLE that they're still with us, surviving the flak and the sorry neglect; eternally, it seems, walking in the shadows of Factory front-runners; never quite deathly enough to match Joy Division or as perfectly synthesised as New Order. Feel free to see this as a purely mercenary offering from Factory, but, as 'The Old & The New' bears witness, ACR have mined their own spiritual seam since '79; untainted ( I tell you ) by label-mates or contemporaries. Okay, so it's not a barrel of laughs, but nobody said it was going to be easy. I concede that 'Do The Du', 'And Then Again' and 'Thin Boys' may present bleak, bass-fired, mortal pictures of collapsing bedsits ( never Curtis copyists, they co-existed with the great man), but somehow ACR's structures - weird conurbations of funk, jazz, soul, avant garde - consistently hook yo...

A CERTAIN RATIO: Wild Party ( Factory ) Whoopee! A Certain Ratio are wearing their party hats again: this means lots of reverb on the drum machine, plenty of chorus on the slap bass and deadpan voices intoning something very important.