Madchester - Invented By?

Just had an argument in the pub with a mate about this and i have to admit he did have a point (although he was pissing in the wind if he thought i'd admit it!).

He said Happy Mondays started Madchester and the likes of the Stone Roses, Northside, Charlatans etc all got dragged along for the ride. Now i agree with him upto that point, but then he pointed out that someone else was really responsible - VINCE FUCKING CLARKE!

Vince Clarke remixed "Wrote For Luck" into "W.F.L." which was the blueprint for everything the Mondays did after that, and without that remix there probably wouldn't have been the Oakenfold mix of Hallelujah, which led to Oakey producing "Pills,Thrills & Bellyache!" which was undoubtedly THE madchester album.

So Clarke of the (by 1989) washed up uncool Erasure accidently made what has arguably become Happy Mondays best 6 minutes and changed music forever.

I told him he was talking bollocks. But he might just be right...

Most, if not all of the answers are probably here:

Madchester

Of course, don't forget to check the External Links below.

Indeed*!*

The bones of the Oakey mix of WFL were there in the original Hannet mix. And shorely the Oakey mix of WFL was the start of it all?

And what came first the phrase Madchester or the Madchester rave on EP?

If you can remember, you weren't really there

Steve One wrote:

So Clarke of the (by 1989) washed up uncool Erasure accidently made what has arguably become Happy Mondays best 6 minutes and changed music forever.

I certainly doubt that the Mondays "changed music forever." Quite an overstatement there. Then again, I'd rather listen to Erasure than them.

Wasn't it Wilson who came up with the name "Madchester Rave On" for the Mondays single? I'm sure that was in one of the recent Wilson tribute programs?

Although that Wiki article says:

"The Happy Mondays record, featuring the lead track "Hallelujah!", coined the term "Madchester" - it had originally been suggested by their video directors the Bailey Brothers as a potential t-shirt slogan."

So, who knows?

Vince Clarke? Nice remix of WFL, but not really the start of "Madchester"!

BIGINOIL wrote: The bones of the Oakey mix of WFL were there in the original Hannet mix. And shorely the Oakey mix of WFL was the start of it all?

And what came first the phrase Madchester or the Madchester rave on EP?

If you can remember, you weren't really there

I can't remember either, but I would have thought the term Madchester could well have been coined up by the NME. I can't belive it was first used for the Rave On EP.

BIGINOIL wrote:

If you can remember, you weren't really there

A case of twisted melons...?

'Freaky Dancing'...The Dawn of Madchester

I think the point he was trying to make was, before Clarke's remix of WFL was released (it was the A side, Oakenfold was the B) Happy Mondays were just another indie band on Factory. Which to a certain degree is true.

It wasn't until that single came out the they went massive and the whole Madchester/Manchester thing kicked off.

And he was right that the mix changed music - before that came out the likes of Erasure were having more success than any of the bands mentioned above. But once the scene exploded, it was pretty much over for those type of bands - and they never really made a comeback.

The Mondays success led the way for Stone Roses to make a mark, which then allowed the likes of Oasis to come through. Music in the 90's had nothing to do with the music of the 80's and it was because of the music around 89-91.

Even U2 had to move on for fear of being out of favour.

I was not there, but to me "Bummed" sounds like a quintessential Madchester album. And that was 1988.

So Clarke shifted their music towards house? But the Stone Roses never really embraced that disco feel, and still they were a big part of Madchester.

I don't know, maybe Clarke's remix brought nationwide attention to the Happy Mondays and hence to the entire Manchester scene of the time. But invented it was not. Hey wasn't it invented by Blue Monday?

Tokoloshe Man wrote: 'Freaky Dancing'...The Dawn of Madchester

The Egg maaaaaaannnnnnnn!

...scousers who were scared of the sea :p

King John Honest John wrote: ...scousers who were scared of the sea :p