Former New Order bassist Peter Hook is to publish three, limited edition versions of his book The Hacienda How Not To Run A Club. The Special Editions contain signed and individually numbered volumes with previously unpublished material, and a vinyl 10” record in which Hooky revisits classic New Order tracks and records a new one, The Viking. The Special Editions also feature rare specially sourced and presented memorabilia. The Standard edition (400 copies) includes a mounted piece of The Haçienda’s dance floor, while the Deluxe edition (100 copies) and Ultimate edition (2 copies additionally include a piece of The Haçienda’s granite bar top. The Ultimate edition comes with a custom made FAC51 Hacienda bass guitar. We bumped into Hooky at his 80s stomping ground, the Groucho, and asked him about it.
Esquire: So the neck of the guitar is made out of the old Hacienda floor.
Peter Hook: “Yep, there are a few nicks and dents here and there – probably where someone’s head hit it and was then stamped on by a gangster.”
E: Where’s the floor been all these years?
PH: “There were actually two floors. Tony Wilson (Factory boss) carved up one floor. It was pre-memorabilia days, pre-eBay and all that. He tried to sell them off but wasn’t very successful. When his builder was doing alterations to his flat, he said to Tony ‘should I get rid of that old shit in the cellar?’ and Tony went ‘Oh yes darling, get rid of it” So these bits were the last bits that Ang Matthews (assistant manager at The Hacienda), got off Tony – originally for some wood on bonfire night. I got a lot of the Factory stuff off the skip outside when it closed down. When we came to do the 24-Hour Party People film, the guy said he was going to rebuild the Factory table for the scene. I said ‘you don’t have to rebuild it, I’ve got it’. He came round to my house, had a look at it, and went ‘nah it’s alright, I’ll rebuild it’. I went ‘why would you want to do that?’ We’ve got the table here, why he went ‘it’s just MDF’ I went ‘it’s not fuckin’ MDF, it cost us 32 grand!’ and he’s going ‘no, look it’s MDF’ he’s scratching at it and it was fuckin’ MDF!”
E: What is it about bass players and collecting stuff? And why do they always drive the bus?
PH: “Well you wouldn’t want the singer driving it would you? I dunno, I’ve always had that thing about collecting all the things to do with the Hacienda. When I did a memorabilia auction, a guy bought the toilet door because he shagged a bird against it. Which is fantastic, but imagine explaining that to your wife.”
E: It can’t be the easiest to live with, can it?
PH: “Yeah, imagine your kids going ‘why have you got this toilet door, dad?’. The thing is, you can’t underestimate the impact the Hacienda over the years.”
E: So why the book now?
PH: “When I came to do the original book I expected it to be a bit more . . .designed. Maybe that runs through everything I’ve done in the past. With (Peter) Saville, every detail was looked at. I expected that they’d do that with the book but they didn’t and I didn’t get much control over it. Then Foruli came to me with the idea of doing this. At first I thought this is like, really cashing in, proper flogging the horse. But I looked at some mock-ups they’d done and they were kind of how I’d imagined the original book.”
E: You and Rob (Gretton, New Order manger) stuck with the Hacienda longer than the other band members, didn’t you?
PH: Steve and Gillian quit in ’82 or ’83. Bernard stopped putting any effort or money into it in about ’86. Me and Rob soldiered on until ’97.”
E: When we interviewed Bernard Sumner this summer he was rather disparaging about you. Have you seen him at all lately?
PH: “Amazingly enough I hadn’t seen him until last Saturday. I did a gig at the Electric Picnic and we were on the same flight as his band, Bad Lieutenant. I spoke to the others guys but I didn’t see him. When I got off the plane I was waiting for me bag. You know what always drives me mad in airports – you always get those daft bastards who wait right at the baggage carousel opening where the bags first come out– the ones who are there, going ‘c’mon I wanna get my fuckin’ bag right now!’ Fuckin’ idiots. And there was Barney; ‘come on! Give me it!’, Give me it!’ He didn’t see me but to be that close to him and not speak was really weird.
E: He feels aggrieved that you bought the Hacienda name – that’s it, isn’t it?
PH: Well supposedly, yeah. In all fairness, Barney hadn’t been involved with the Hacienda for eight years, and so the fact that he’d want to buy the name is a fuckin’ mystery to me.
E: Does it sadden you?
PH: “Yeah it does actually, because the thing is when you listen to the music and realise how fantastic it is, it’s really sad. It’s gone.”
E: But surely as soon as someone waves the right-sized cheque. . .
PH: “Well the great thing about groups is that they can be bought. I don’t know if you know but musicians are very mercenary!”
E: Surely not.
PH: So it seems. I got asked last week, actually, to reform New Order.
E: How much?
PH: “4 million quid for one gig. So I said no.”
http://www.esquire.co.uk/2010/10/peter-hook-on-the-hacienda/
lots and lots of money indeed that is.
I can't understand why he refuses...he can't be no-to-4-million angry with barney..
