HAÇIENDA ACID HOUSE CLASSICS
HAÇIENDA ACID HOUSE CLASSICS
Label: New State Music Release Date: 19 October 2009
New State Music are proud to release ‘Haçienda Acid House Classics’, compiled & mixed by New Order, Joy Division’s and The Haçienda’s Peter Hook whose 30 year career in the business as a genre-defining bass guitarist and club owner has seen Hooky survive the rock and roll rollercoaster and emerge the other side with plenty of stories to tell. This personal compilation of Hooky’s favourite Haçienda tunes is the ultimate collection of Acid House classics, culled from the much-venerated, late Eighties Acid House daze.
A legendary, groundbreaking and influential club, FAC 51- The Haçienda became the crucible on which the UK dance music scene was forged. Conceived, founded and financed by Factory Records and New Order, The Haçienda opened its doors on May 21st 1982 sporting the now iconic Factory Records catalogue number of Fac 51, alongside a pioneering, space-age, film set interior by architect Ben Kelly and initial graphics by Peter Saville.
As The Haçienda struggled financially during the early 80’s, due to it being too ahead of its time and a grasp of financial issues best described as “tenuous”, it was still highly successful as a gig venue (Madonna made her UK debut there in 1984). Yet it was the underground US House scene that was to give The Hac its definitive sound from 1986 onwards, as Chicago and Detroit crossed the Atlantic and made The Haçienda the birthplace of UK Acid House, responsible for shaping the face of UK club culture and inspiring countless other clubs (Cream, Back To Basics et al) and artists (808 State, A Guy Called Gerald, Sasha, The Chemical Brothers et al) in its wake.
One of the founding members of Joy Division and New Order, Peter Hook was also a co-owner of the club and was ever present during the tumultuous set of circumstances that shaped the club during its 15-year tenure on Whitworth St West, 1982 to 1997. Yet even some 12 years after it closed, respect and fascination with The Haçienda still remains high, a testament to its unorthodox place in music history and the equally unorthodox characters who created it in the first place.
One of the earliest Acid House nights at the club saw Adonis, Frankie Knuckles and DJ Pierre / Phuture play to a half empty club in 1987 but by 1988 Acid House had firmly established itself as the soundtrack to The Hac, as nights such as Hot and Nude, and DJ’s Mike Pickering, Graeme Park, and Jon Dasilva ripped up the clubbing rule book and changed the face of a musical generation in the process.
‘What a fuck up we made of it. Or did we? Sitting here now I wonder. It’s 2009 and the Hacienda has never been more well-known. This year we celebrate 21 years of acid house and we are holding Haçienda nights across the UK and have merchandise deals for CDs, t-shirts, shoes, posters, even a bespoke bike frame and a fine art project. Where will it end?’
- Peter Hook in The Haçienda: How Not To Run A Club
Marking 21 years of the genre and the club’s seminal involvement since its heady early days, Haçienda Acid House Classics presents a selection of tracks handpicked and mixed by Hooky to portray the definitive sound of Acid House and The Haçienda. Spread over two CDs, this album collates many of the biggest Acid House moments from this time.
Highlights across the album include a new unreleased remix of “THE” Mancunian anthem Voodoo Ray (A Guy Called Gerald), Baby Wants To Ride (Jamie Principle), Washing Machine (Mr Fingers) This Is Acid (Maurice), Acid Tracks (Phuture), True Dub (New Order), Acid Rain (Victor Romeo), Jesus Loves The Acid (Ecstasy Club), and Lack Of Love (Charles B & Adonis). Hooky has also selected the later tracks Higher State Of Consciousness (Josh Wink) and Acperience 1 (Hardfloor) and includes two unreleased tracks of his own, Ways Of Making Music and We’re On It (both under the name of Manray).
No other nightclub can lay claim to anything like the cultural history of The Haçienda, with film, books and documentaries continuing to be made about FAC 51 whilst The Haçienda lives on today as The Haçienda Tour, with gigs across the UK, Europe, and The World which feature many of the original cast and crew that made the club so special.
Creating the world of dance music, as we know it today, The Haçienda became an all-encompassing way of life for its founders, creators and the clubbers who all came to call it their own. Haçienda Acid House Classics captures the uniquely exhilarating spirit of this era making it a must-have album for your music collection.
