In pictures: Manchester music memories
- Published
Music fans and scene veterans in Manchester have staged a personal exhibition of the city's musical history, from the formation of the Halle Orchestra in 1858 to the heyday of the Hacienda nightclub and beyond. Those contributing mementoes and memories for the exhibition at The Lowry gallery include Bill Mather, who kept the actual gladioli thrown by The Smiths singer Morrissey from the stage of the Hacienda in 1983. They are now rather dry.
Manchester singer Pete MacLaine (left) is one of the nearly men of 1960s rock 'n' roll. He fronted a couple of groups and was a regular performer at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. He says Paul McCartney and John Lennon offered to write him some songs to record, but turned them down because he wanted to write his own. He recorded one single for Decca Records in 1963, but it was not a hit. This photo was taken at the Manchester Apollo in 1963.
Brian Smith (second left) fell in love with blues and country music in Manchester in the 1950s and would regularly watch US legends perform at venues like the Oasis, the Twisted Wheel and the Free Trade Hall. He also met heroes like John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, and Howlin' Wolf. This shot shows him watching a game of cards between Cousin Joe, Otis Span and Muddy Waters backstage at the Twisted Wheel in 1964. Photo: Roger Eagle.
Mark Makin was 17 when he decided to take his camera to a Bob Dylan gig at the Free Trade Hall on 17 May 1966. Doing so, he captured a show that has gone down in music history. One audience member famously shouted "Judas" at Dylan in protest at the singer going electric and abandoning his folk roots. Dylan's own approved photographer was not available for the gig, meaning Makin's shots are the only known photos of the event.
Manchester's home-grown music scene exploded in the wake of the punk frenzy in the late 1970s. This letter was sent in April 1978 by Tony Wilson, a local TV presenter and record label entrepreneur, to Rob Gretton, who managed an up-and-coming band called Joy Division. Wilson gave the band their TV debut that September and soon signed them to his Factory label. They went on to become one of the most important bands in British music.
The rooms in Pip's Nightclub included the Roxy Room, which was adorned with paintings of Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry. This photo shows Melanie Smith and Simon McGrath at the club in 1981. Smith later described it in John Robb's book Manchester Music City as an "an adult fantasy playground [with] exotic creatures decked in wild and wonderful outfits". The exhibition has been put together by the Manchester District Music Archive. Photo: Karen McWilliams & Melanie Smith.
This photo of Stone Roses singer Ian Brown was taken by John Kertland, who promoted this gig in Shrewsbury in May 1989. Kertland had moved from Shrewsbury to Manchester and, inspired by the city's music scene, decided to put on gigs in his home town. The Stone Roses gig came just as the band were beginning to take off, and Kertland had to move venues to meet demand. The exhibition, titled Defining Me: Musical Adventures in Manchester, is at The Lowry until 23 February.