My 2012 “roots” prediction about London-based fashion designer Henry Holland was accurate, if somewhat premature: in 2016 he collaborated with documentary photographer Martin Parr on the presentation of…
Throughout the 1980s, I admired second-hand fake “leopard-skin” coats very much but I never could find one which passed muster. There was always something not quite right; a…
Henry Holland and Agyness Deyn famously left the Manchester area at the earliest possible opportunity… but their roots are still evident occasionally. Here, Henry’s knitwear references the Man…
Concerning Manc Lad Bands Take That were marketed to the gay community before they were scooped up by the girls but, more often, Manchester boy bands have been…
Concerning ‘Manchester Slingback’ by Nicholas Blincoe (1998) and Pips Night Club Manchester Slingback is a book about a group of gay and bisexual boys sharing a flat in…
The European Soul Weekender at the Palace Hotel on the Spring Bank Holiday was a Northern Soul event. Apparently ‘European Soul’ is a new name for ‘Northern Soul’……
Concerning: ‘Perry Boys The Casual Gangs of Manchester and Salford’ by Ian Hough (2007) In the late 70s and early 80s, the Perry youth sub-culture co-existed with New…
Nikie a.k.a. Barberella has been cutting my hair since the late 1980s. She moved into her current premises in 1994 when Cafe Pop opened on Oldham Street in…
In 1988, the Hacienda queue draped around the curve of the building several nights a week… even when there was hardly anyone inside. The management used the punters…
By Geraldine Hot Nights were probably the most exciting club nights I have ever been to. Starting in the second half of 1988, these Ibiza style Wednesdays at…