John Kershaw insisted that I post this and credit him. 
Playing Hooky
May 5 2006
By Paddy Shennan, Liverpool Echo
New Order's Peter Hook
NEW Order's Peter Hook was delighted when he was invited to DJ at the forthcoming Cream & Hacienda at Nation May Bank Holiday bash.
Delighted, but surprised.
He explains: "I was quite flattered because the reason I decided to put together my recently-released Hacienda Classics CD compilation, as I told a music magazine, was that I'd been listening to the Cream ones - and I thought they were all s**t!"
Legendary superclub Cream - obviously big enough not to take offence - could be considered Liverpool's answer to Manchester's legendary superclub the Hacienda which, launched by Tony Wilson's Factory Records and largely funded by New Order, built up a fanatical following during its 1982-1997 lifespan.
But the man they call Hooky, who resisted peer pressure to start DJing (from band mate Bernard Sumner and Mani from Primal Scream) for years, until finally discovering the joy of decks 18 months ago, always declined to join the regular Hacienda staff outings to Cream.
"I never fancied going," he says, before adding, with a mischievous laugh, "I've always bought into the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester. And I've got a load of mates coming to protect me when I go to DJ at Cream."
Though after taking his tongue out of his cheek, he explains: "In the late '70s, we used to play at Eric's in Mathew Street - first as Warsaw and then Joy Division - every fortnight. It was where we learned our trade."
Cue tongue being put firmly back in cheek ... "Later, we got the Hacienda, you lot followed us and the rivalry between the two clubs has always been there. But you don't scare me!"
It's a good job because the May 27 event, when he will play a special New Order set, including rare remixes, will be followed by New Order's eagerly-awaited appearance at the Summer Pops on July 8. Then the demon bassist-cum-DJ will headline the hospitality arena hosted by Cream & Hacienda at Creamfields 2006, on August 26.
Peter Hook - he just can't get enough of us.
Of his new life as a DJ - a 50-year-old DJ - Hooky says: "I spent so many years moaning about New Order not working. This enables me to work and, while it's not in the same ball park, it's a damn sight better than doing nothing.
"And I've grown to quite enjoy it. The older you get the more intolerant you become but being on my own up there suits me, because everything is down to me. I don't know what I'll be like when I go back to New Order."
Peter's time on the road as a DJ coincides with his time on the wagon, as the former hard-living, hard-staring veteran of the punk wars reveals: "I don't drink any more. It's been 18 months now."
Lifestyle choice or lifestyle necessity? "I had to do it," he says.
Later in the interview, he tells me: "Any idiot can get p****d. It takes a special kind of bloke to stay sober."
And later, still, the father-of-three says: "Nothing feels that weird to me any more. I was once married to Mrs Merton (comedienne-cum-actress-cum-scriptwriter Caroline Aherne), had a nervous breakdown and have been through re-hab - so I'm quite confident that my kids won't be able to top that!"
A bit of a character, then - which brings us onto his friendship with Pete Wylie , who's just as big a Liverpudlian as Hooky is a Salfordian.
"I must have been in bands with Wylie about five times. But unfortunately he's one of those people who takes so long to finish anything. His last LP, though, Songs Of Strength And Heartbreak, is one of my favourite LPs - and yet it's so unknown it's unbelievable.
"He can do it, but he frustrates me greatly. But we're very good friends and he's singing on some of the stuff with my new band, Freebass (which also features ex-Smiths bassist Andy Rourke and Mani from Primal Scream)."
Hooky has said that when the Hacienda closed, he and his band mates worked out that for every person who'd ever been in, it cost New Order £10.
He and the band's late manager, Rob Gretton , ended up buying the Hacienda name after it went bankrupt - because "no one else was interested".
So was that a clever move, bearing in mind you're now, finally, making some money out it? "No, you can't say it's clever, because I've waited nearly 10 years to use it!"
Recalling the Hacienda's glory days, he says: "It was such a special, special place and I met some of the most wonderful people I've ever met while it was open."
And now, thanks to some old CCTV footage he's found from New Year's Eve 1995, he can remind himself of its wonderful atmosphere - and enjoy a night he wasn't able to get to first time around.
The Hacienda club may be dead, but its name and spirit lives on - as those attending Cream and Hacienda @ Nation and Creamfields 2006 will discover.
Cream cracker
* Cream & Hacienda Bank Holiday Special, 10pm-6am, Saturday May 27, at Nation, Wolstenhome Square, Liverpool.
* Main room includes Ferry Corsten, Marco V and Mark Norman. Courtyard includes (New Order DJ set), Graeme Park, Justin Robertson and Dave Haslam. Annexe includes Seb Fontaine, X-Press2 and Richard Dinsdale.
* Price: £12.50 plus booking fee (NUS)/£15 plus booking fee, more on the door. Last entry 1am.
* More info at www.cream.co.uk or ring 0151-707 1309.
* Cream tickets: 0870 2427 326 and usual agents.http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/entertainment/previewsandreviews/tm_objectid=17036845%26method=full%26siteid=50061-name_page.html
