Mancky

When everything got too hectic at the Hacienda post-1988, lots of Hacienda regulars decamped to The PSV Club in Hulme. I was told at the time that PSV stood for ‘Public Service Vehicles’, and the club was originally a social club for bus service staff. (It was also called The Russell Club, The Factory or The Caribbean Club depending on who you spoke to.)

Many Hacienda regulars lived in Hulme anyway; the no-rent, close-to-town lifestyle meant that even the unwaged art students and bohemians went out regularly. The PSV was really convenient; there was no queuing nonsense, the music was varied and interesting, and it was only a short walk home.

The PSV was near the Henry Royce Pub, at the junction of Royce Road and Bonsall Street, on the 85/86 bus route into town. For years the pub’s owners kept Doberman dogs on the flat roof - we would peer down at them from the top deck of the bus as we went past. Only once, I went to the Royce for a drink before going to the PSV, encouraged by an older friend that it was a safe place to meet. It was very laid back in there, much better than the exterior suggested. But most of my friends didn’t want to go there so I didn’t make a habit of it.

The PSV itself had a large ground floor, with a smaller first floor which could be reached by 2 staircases at either end of the building. The upstairs bar was directly above the downstairs bar. Upstairs, they played mainly reggae; there was a small dancefloor which was quite well-lit, and large glass windows, through which you could see the darker dancefloor and stage-area downstairs. The DJs downstairs used decks on tables on the stage; sometimes vibrations made the needle jump and skip bits of the records. One of the DJs was my friend’s boyfriend, Paul Vesty, who moved to London in the early 90s.

The music downstairs was really varied; I remember hearing this downstairs early on, on more than one occasion:

Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove

I was made up because I had no expectation of hearing this anywhere other than The Man Alive in those days. They also played Jocelyn Brown ‘Somebody Else’s Guy’, InDeep ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’, Gwen Guthrie ‘Nothin’ Goin’ On But The Rent’ and ACR ‘Shack Up’.

Gwen Guthrie - Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ On But The Rent

As well as Hacienda refugees, there were locals of all ages at The PSV so the crowd was really diverse. I bumped into people I was at school with who I hadn’t seen for almost ten years. I once saw a middle-aged woman dancing around in her nighty just feet away from a really great break-dancer who was mid-windmill; we all hoped she wouldn’t try to copy him, in case she wasn’t wearing knickers.

Musical highlights of the last hour included:

Ce Ce Rogers - Someday

Joe Smooth - Promised Land

Sterling Void - Alright

And of course Black Box, Ride On Time, which was Number 1 for six weeks in 1989:

Black Box - Ride On Time

We discovered that the vocals were taken from Loleatta Holloway’s ‘Love Sensation’, but it didn’t stop this track from being one of the most exciting songs I’ve ever heard on the dancefloor. When this was played at the PSV, it was the last track of the night and everyone went completely mental!

There was sometimes trouble at the PSV, so we all had to submit to being searched on the way in. I remember atleast one night ending early because of violence, although I don’t remember the details. But I think these incidents became more frequent so that people eventually stopped going. If you can remember whether these nights fizzled out or stopped abruptly, please let me know. ([email protected])