Yeah agreed. He’s totally unique. I went round his house once as I wanted him to do something for us when I was at International feel. I’ve never left somewhere so stoned before. He played such brilliant music that night though. Loads of stuff you wouldn’t expect and that’s what makes him unique I think.
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Great read, really enjoyed it, the bit about the lock up made me laugh.
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Last time I went to the book and record bar shop, he was in there and the smell of weed coming off him was absolutely eye watering. 
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According to Hook he offered the Hacienda name to his bandmates and none of them were interested.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle as with most things in life.
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I didn’t know you were at International Feel? That’s cool!
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wow. very powerful read. thanks for posting.
Massive respect for the people that do this
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just a read a tweet by Tony Wilson’s son, which isn’t too complimentary about Mr Hook…
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I wonder will people still be wanging on about the Hacienda in 50 years time? It’s again just become one big boring brand. Hacienda Classical the apex of post acid house nonsense.
I was living in Manchester 1990 to 1994 and went probably every week or every other week, and I can count the number of amazing memorable nights I had there on one hand. So many other more exciting nights with a better atmosphere, better music and that felt safer. Saw so many violent incidents at the Hac.
Yes it was a massively important venue and inspired lots of people but is it really worthy of the acres of time spent on it? Discuss …
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It’s a brand. No longer actually anything to do with ever going to the Hacienda, it represents a time in the lives of 50-somethings when they were young, free, liked “house” music and probably necked a few pills. Oooh dangerous!
It is bought in the same way people buy any brand: because they like what they think it says about them. Others may think it says something else.
It’s akin to going to a revival festival of some sort. Almost verging on the military re-enactment scene imo.
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I think there is a cynical genius in the way they market nostalgia to people who were never there. Undecided as to whether it is just a simple money grab whilst the memories are still alive or whether people cling on because the idea of a fragmented popular culture (the reality of 2024) is too scary for older people to wrap their heads around… probably a bit of both
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Yes all spot on.
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It’s the same with the Paradise Garage, The Loft, CBGBS…the same stories over and over of NYC’s glory days, Chicago’s glory days, Ibiza’s glory days…
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Yes very true
Agree. There’s a certainty about nostalgia in people’s minds. It’s like this image of 1950s Britain that Brexit twats loved. People feel it represents a fixed point in a fluid world. A life raft to cling to.
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One thing I notice living in Spain is how little cultural nostalgia there is. You get very occasional tv programmes that feature kitsch 70s crooners or a bit of flamenco or punk from the transition years but there isn’t that collective appetite for shared memories, or late night talking heads analysing the past, partly because yoof movements were never iconic in the same way (it took years for the first books about makina or bakalao to emerge and balearic beat only became a thing locally long after the British had repackaged Ibiza completely). And perhaps also due to a political subtext that the past is best forgotten. What this means is that there is a continuum where people hear the same tunes all the time and never really tire of anything because there is no association with a time and place. Whereas in England people are OBSESSED with the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s which have to be commodified and monetised until the bare bones are left and even then they still have marketing potential. It’s so corrosive for culture, ossifying everything to extremes. So I think you have to trust the kids to come up with something totally different and in that they have my full support.
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Talking of the Hacienda and nostalgia and stuff I’m reading Jim Ottewill’s Out Of Space at the moment and I’m enjoying how everything is treated with equal reverence, stuff from 5 or 10 years ago with the same respect, or the smaller lesser ‘brand’ institutions and things.
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Yeah, I think one of the great strengths of TP is its appreciation of the best parts of the past alongside a celebration of the here and now.
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I’d never heard of Aslice until I read this piece, sounds like a noble idea but no surprise it’s quickly gone tits up unfortunately.
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