New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. The members regrouped after the disbandment of their previous band Joy Division due to the death by suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. They were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. New Order's integration of post-punk with electronic and dance music made them one of the most acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s. They were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records and its nightclub The Haçienda, and they worked in long-term collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville.
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 the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, the Charlatans, James and 808 State. It is widely seen as being heavily influenced by drugs, especially MDMA. At that time, the Haçienda nightclub, co-owned by members of New Order, was a major catalyst for the distinctive musical ethos in the city that was called the Second Summer of Love.
Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined the band onstage as a dancer/percussionist. Rowetta joined as a second vocalist in 1990. They were initially signed to Tony Wilson's Factory Records label.
24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British biographical comedy drama film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film was entered into the 2002 Cannes Film Festival to positive reviews.
Shaun William George Ryder is an English singer, songwriter and poet. As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he formed Black Grape with former Happy Mondays dancer Bez. He was the runner-up on the tenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.
Alan John McGee is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, running it from 1983 until its closure in 1999.
Claire Patricia Grogan, known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish actress and singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well as for supporting roles in the 1981 film Gregory's Girl and the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, as the first incarnation of Kristine Kochanski.
Black Grape are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1993, featuring former members of Happy Mondays and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Their musical style fuses funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples.
Bummed is the second studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays, released on 21 November 1988 on Factory Records. During 1987 and early 1988, the band discovered house music and the rave drug ecstasy. Factory producer Martin Hannett was subsequently enlisted to produce the band's next album. Sessions were held at The Slaughterhouse recording studio in Driffield over three weeks. The period was noted for heavy drug use by the band and Hannett, with their manager later calling it the first "ecstasy-fuelled" album. Hannett moved recording to Strawberry Studios, where extra instrumentation was added. Bummed is a Madchester release described as "stiff psychedelic funk" by AllMusic. Much of the lyrical content on the album was influenced by the 1970 film Performance, with dialog from the film sampled throughout.
Alfie were an English indie rock band, formed in 1998 in Manchester. The band were composed of singer Lee Gorton, guitarist-vocalist Ian Smith, drummer Sean Kelly, bassist Sam Morris and cellist-guitarist Matt McGeever.
Mogwai are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite, Barry Burns, Dominic Aitchison, and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwai typically compose lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces that feature dynamic contrast, melodic bass guitar lines, and heavy use of distortion and effects.
It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah is the debut studio album by English rock band Black Grape, released on 7 August 1995 through Radioactive Records. Following the break-up of Happy Mondays, frontman Shaun Ryder formed Black Grape with vocalist Paul "Kermit" Leveridge and dancer Bez. They were put in contact with management company Nicholl and Dime, who secured the band a recording contract with Radioactive Records. After demos and the band finalizing their line-up, Ryder met with producers Stephen Lironi and Danny Saber. Black Grape recorded their debut studio album in late 1994 and early 1995 at Rockfield Studios in Wales, Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire, and Boundary Row in London. It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah is a dance-pop and pop funk album, with its title meaning being sober from drugs.
Marmaduke Duke are a Scottish conceptual rock duo from Ayrshire, Scotland, comprising Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and JP Reid of Sucioperro. Within the band, the pair perform under the pseudonyms The Atmosphere and The Dragon respectively. According to Neil, the band, and its albums, are "based on a trilogy of unreleased manuscripts that a friend of ours brought to this country a few years ago. We're really just working to soundtrack those stories."
The View are a Scottish indie rock band that formed in Dundee, Angus in 2005. They incorporate various styles such as punk, pop, alternative rock, and folk in their music. They are best known for their 2007 single "Same Jeans" which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
Stupid Stupid Stupid is the second studio album by British rock band Black Grape, released on 10 November 1997 through Radioactive Records. While touring in support of their debut studio album It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah (1995), vocalist Paul "Kermit" Leveridge was diagnosed with sepsis. Carl "Psycho" McCarthy temporarily filled in Kermit's role, before being added to the line-up permanently. Though he was too ill to tour, Kermit joined the band in Hollywood to work on songs for their next album, which continued throughout 1996. They recorded their second album at Real World Studios in Bath, and Westlake Audio in Los Angeles, California, over eight weeks with Danny Saber, John X Volaitis and frontman Shaun Ryder as producers. Stupid Stupid Stupid is a dance-rock album that continues the party atmosphere of It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah while toning done that album's religious references.
The Twilight Sad are a Scottish post-punk/indie rock band, comprising James Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar), Johnny Docherty (bass), Brendan Smith (keyboards) and Grant Hutchison (drums). They have released five studio albums, as well as several EPs, live recordings and singles. Their 2007 debut album, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, drew widespread acclaim from critics, who noted Graham's thick Scottish accent and MacFarlane's dense sonic walls of shoegazing guitar and wheezing accordion. The Twilight Sad's notoriously loud live performances have been described as "completely ear-splitting", and the band toured for the album across Europe and the United States throughout 2007 and 2008. Sessions inspired by stripped-down and reworked live performances yielded the 2008 mini-album, Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did.
Uncle Dysfunktional is the fifth studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays. It was released by Sequel Records on 2 July 2007. After the band reunited in 2004, they toured into 2005; by 2006, a new album was recorded with producer Sunny Levine. Initial sessions were held at The Studiosound in Rochdale and Make It Nice Studio in Leicester with Dave Parkinson, before moving to Moolah Rogue Studios in Stockport with Levine. Uncle Dysfunktional is an electro-funk record, with influences from country and hip hop.
Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan (vocals), Rab Allan and Paul Donoghue, with Swedish drummer Jonna Löfgren joining the group in 2010 until her departure in 2020.
Honeyblood is the Scottish indie rock solo project of guitarist and singer-songwriter Stina Tweeddale. It was originally formed as a duo in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2012.
Pop Voodoo is the third studio album by British band Black Grape, released on 4 August 2017 through UMC. After a one-off show in 2010, Black Grape reunited to play a show in April 2015, by which point, they were being managed by Alan McGee. Following a tour of the United Kingdom and a collaboration with Paul Oakenfold, the band worked on a few ideas for new songs. They travelled to Spain in September 2016, initially as a writing trip, before it evolved into recording sessions for their next album. Recorded was done at Martin "Youth" Glover's residential studio in Sierra Nevada, Spain and in London. Pop Voodoo is a funk, pop and trip hop album that sees several instruments being played by Youth, alongside a variety of session musicians.
