New Order/Joy Division bassist Peter Hook is the chosen one out of a list of many Hacienda-involved people to tell the story of the club that spawned a generation of ravers, nurtured indie rock, became a haven for gangs and drugs and brought Manchester to the attention of the world.
The book is prefaced with the warning “If you remember [the 60s] then you weren’t really there. That’s how I felt about the Hac.” It’s not a book you can hang off every word as though it’s gospel, but it is full of brilliant anecdotes from right in the heart of the then-burgeoning Madchester scene.
The club began as an art-space. The brain child of Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson. A chance for Manchester’s artistic youth to have a place to go. A chance for the people of Manchester to meet, hang out, dance, chill out, have a drink, watch bands, anything! It eventually morphed, almost by mistake to the centre of the late 80s/early 90s acid house scene.
Peter “Hooky” Hook at times speaks with regret about the amount of money squandered on Fac 51, The Hacienda, (Fac 51 was the club’s Factory Records catalogue number), but remains proud of his part in this incredible, sometimes ludicrous tale.
You can follow the clubs financial woes with excerpts from the end of year statements. Each year, despite turning over well over a million pounds (towards the end), profits were barely enough to scrape by on when split between the amount of owners. On average, Hooky claims, the club lost 10 pounds for every person who went in there.
Was the club a monumental cock-up? Was it a spectacular cultural upheaval that even the most idealistic punks of the 70s couldn’t have dreamed? In fifteen years, what the fuck was The Hacienda? The answer, it was whatever you wanted it to be.
The book comes out in Australia on November 1 through Simon & Schuster.
Follow the author, Tim Cashmere on Twitter.
