Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance saw artists merging indie music with elements of acid house, psychedelia and 1960s pop. The term Madchester was coined by Factory Records' Tony Wilson, with the label popularised by the British music press in the early 1990s, and its most famous groups include
"Blue Monday" is a song by the English rock band New Order. It was released as a 12-inch single on 7 March 1983 through Factory Records. It appears on certain cassette and CD versions of New Order's second studio album, Power, Corruption & Lies (1983). The track was written and produced by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner.
Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches is the third studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays, released on 5 November 1990 by Factory Records. DJ Paul Oakenfold and collaborator Steve Osbourne were previously enlisted by the band for remixes. The success of these led to the pair producing "Step On", a cover of the John Kongos song, for Happy Mondays. The band went on a tour of the United States, and by the end of which, had started recording their next album with Oakenfold and Osbourne at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, California. They returned to the United Kingdom, where further recording took place at Eden Studios in London until September 1990. Described as a Madchester album, Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches saw substantial input from Oakenfold and Osbourne, with the former making loops, while the latter handled song arrangements.
"Don't You Want Me" is a song by British synth-pop group the Human League. It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, Dare (1981). The band's best known and most commercially successful song, it was the best selling UK single of 1981, that year's Christmas number one, and has since sold over 1,560,000 copies in the UK, making it the 23rd-most successful single in UK Singles Chart history. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US on 3 July 1982, where it stayed for three weeks.
"Lovesong" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as the third single from their eighth studio album, Disintegration (1989), on 21 August 1989. The song saw considerable success in the United States, where it reached the number-two position in October 1989 and became the band's only top-10 entry on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, the single charted at number 18, and it peaked within the top 20 in Canada and Ireland.
"Pictures of You" is a song by English rock band the Cure. It was released on 19 March 1990 by Fiction Records as the fourth and final single from the band's eighth studio album, Disintegration (1989). The song has a single version which is a shorter edit of the album version. The single reached No. 24 on the UK Singles Charts.
"People Are People" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 12 March 1984 as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Some Great Reward (1984). Recorded at Hansa Mischraum in West Berlin, it was the band's first top-20 single in the United States, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Master and Servant" is a song by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 20 August 1984 as the second single from their fourth studio album, Some Great Reward (1984). Its subject matter is BDSM relationships, which caused some controversy, though it has an underlying political theme that is often overlooked by media. It reached number 9 on the UK Singles Chart, number 49 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart and number 87 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Policy of Truth" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 7 May 1990 as the third single from their seventh studio album, Violator (1990). It is the only Depeche Mode single to chart higher on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart than on the UK Singles Chart, and it became the band's second chart-topper on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
"Close to Me" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released in September 1985 as the second and final single from their sixth album, The Head on the Door.
"Lean on Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the first single from his second album, Still Bill. It was a number one single on both the soul and Billboard Hot 100 charts, the latter chart for three weeks in July 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972. It was ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010. Numerous other versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with versions recorded by two different artists.
"Need You Tonight" is a song by the Australian rock band INXS, released as the first single from their 1987 album, Kick, as well as the fourth song on the album. It is the only INXS single to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also achieved their highest charting position in the United Kingdom, where the song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart; however, this peak was only reached after a re-release of the single in November 1988. On its first run on the UK charts in October 1987, it stalled at No. 58. It was one of the last songs recorded for the album, yet it would arguably become the band's signature song.
"He's Gonna Step on You Again" is a song originally performed by John Kongos, co-written by Kongos and Christos Demetriou, and first released in 1971 by Fly Records. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 22 May 1971 and spent 14 weeks there, peaking at No. 4. Covers of the song have been chart successes several times, including for Happy Mondays in 1990.
"New Sensation" is a song by Australian rock group INXS. It was the third single released from their sixth studio album, Kick (1987). The music was composed by Andrew Farriss and the lyrics were written by Michael Hutchence. The song features a signature Kirk Pengilly sax solo and lyrics about a partying lifestyle.
"Fantasy" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, which was issued as a single in 1978 by Columbia Records.
"Nine in the Afternoon" is a song by the American rock band Panic at the Disco, and the lead single from the group's second album Pretty. Odd.. It was the band's first song release that did not include the exclamation mark at the end of the "Panic" in the group's name.
Cure for Sanity is the third studio album by English rock band Pop Will Eat Itself, released on 22 October 1990 by RCA Records. Upon its release, the album entered the UK Albums Chart and stayed there for two weeks, peaking at number 33, and re-entered the chart when it was re-released in July 1991, staying there for one week at number 58. In Australia, the album peaked at number 51 and spent six weeks on the ARIA top 100 albums chart.
"Bitter Tears" is a song by Australian rock band INXS, released as the third Australian and fourth UK single from their seventh studio album, X (1990). The song was written by Michael Hutchence, Kirk Pengilly, Garry Gary Beers, Andrew Farriss, Tim Farriss and Jon Farriss as part of the sessions for the X album. It peaked at number 30 on the UK Singles Chart and number 36 in Australia. The single was released to coincide with the band headlining the SummerXS concert at Wembley Stadium in July 1991, as documented in the Live Baby Live DVD.
"Never Never Love" is a 1996 song by British soul and pop band Simply Red. Written by frontman Mick Hucknall, it was featured on the album Life and reached number 18 on the UK chart when released in February 1996. The song additionally peaked at number 7 in Hungary and number 26 in Iceland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 93 in March 1996. The music video for "Never Never Love" featured British actresses Stephanie Beacham, Rula Lenska and Billie Whitelaw.
"Way of the World" is a song by Australian band Max Q, released in August 1989 as the band's debut and lead single from their debut self-titled album (1989). The song reached number eight in Australia, number five in New Zealand, and number six on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1990, the song was nominated for two awards: Single of the Year and Breakthrough Artist – Single.
