The Haçienda Read online

  For New Order 1985 was a watershed year. The Low Life album had been released earlier that year and by mixing rock and dance was leading the way forward. They were also featured on the soundtrack of the John Hughes movie Pretty in Pink, before forging a huge link with the US ...

  Suddenly things changed. We signed a licensing deal in America with Qwest, the label owned and ran by Quincy Jones – a great compliment to our production skills – and which was a part of Warner Brothers.So we went from being available only on import to being released on a major label, which meant massive promotion and distribution.

  On the back of this huge increase in popularity, we set off on our first big tour of the States. It was a success, the first one where we made any money. We were ecstatic . . .

  Until we were told we had to sign it all immediately over to the Haçienda to bail it out.

  I remember the day well. We were called into Keith Taylor’s office to pick up our money and it felt like Christmas. Better than Christmas. This was sixteen thousand dollars each. Sixteen grand. The first time we’d been paid by a company that wasn’t Factory; the first time we’d had cheques made out to us, personally.

  Then Rob asked us to countersign the cheques so the money could go to the Haçienda. Shit.

  Well, we did it. I don’t think we had any other choice, and perhaps the decision was easier because we’d always got by without money. Still, though,it bloody hurt.And never mind the missus’reaction ...

  But looking back there was one silver lining: after three years of ignoring what was going on,we started to take an interest.We became involved. At last my eyes were being slowly opened.

  Because before that, mad as it sounds, I hadn’t really been paying any attention. None of us had been. We earned our £100 a week (plus bonuses whenever Rob deemed fit) and got on with the business of being New Order and doing a lot of unpaid production work for Factory. I produced records for Stockholm Monsters, Royal Family & the Poor and loads more; Barney produced 52nd Street, Section 25 and even a young Happy Mondays; and Steve did Red Turns to ..., Life and Thick Pigeon. And, while we might have been mad to do it for free, none of us minded. To a person, we loved music and wanted to use our status and state of the art equipment to help others – while gaining more experience ourselves, of course.

  Which was all very well,but in the first two years of the club being open we’d put £667,000 pounds into it; money from record sales, which came in to Factory Records, then was passed on by Tony to Rob to invest in the club. Not the greatest investment in the world, surely?

  So, for three years, we’d been blissfully unaware of the problems. But now that things had gone so horribly wrong – so badly wrong that we had to sign over all our tour money – New Order finally had to take an interest.

  So the band began attending meetings. Well, I did. Steve and Gillian went to some while Bernard only attended the crisis meetings when he absolutely had to, and he stopped going altogether after 1987.

  The first thing we discovered at the meetings was that there were no answers. None. For example, when it came to this management committee we found out that everyone was more or less setting their own wages. When they thought it was time for a raise, they’d give themselves one, never taking into account the fact that the Haçienda was losing money. When we found out about this, we went fucking mental. Although, in fairness, they weren’t being told of the real scale of the losses.

  There were so many stories like that. They had this huge safe downstairs; and for security reasons they changed the combination every week. This was too complicated for the staff; they kept forgetting the combinations and couldn’t open it. So instead they’d stash the money in a filing cabinet – which, after a weekend, amounted to quite a lot for a filing cabinet. Guess where they put the files from the filing cabinet? In the safe! Meanwhile, someone blabbed about the cash in the filing cabinet and over the weekend it got robbed. Because the money wasn’t in the safe, it wasn’t insured. Brilliant.

  That stress of it all didn’t affect the quality of New Order’s songs, but it did affect our thinking when it came to why we were writing them. Bernard, most vocal among us, would say, ‘Why are we doing this if it’s all going to the Haçienda?’

  As soon as we finished that tour of America only to hand the money over,we started asking ourselves if we really wanted to work so hard for the club. (How hard? I’d been away for eight and a half years of the ten years my first relationship lasted, performing and recording all over the world.) New Order had always excelled at letting problems simmer rather than dealing with them. But now they boiled over and we all felt the same way.

  The band never got into fist-fights, although I sometimes wonder if we should have chinned each other every now and then – perhaps there wouldn’t have been such a build-up of resentment. Even Steve and Gillian, normally quite placid, spoke up when it came to what the club was costing us, because the fact was we still didn’t have much cash to our names.

  Why didn’t we sack Rob and Tony, you might wonder. It never crossed our minds. Despite it all, we were an easy-going bunch. And loyal. We were all in this together, we felt, and as a band we disliked change.

  In December, New Order took over the club to play two gigs – on the same day.

  We performed two sell-out shows – a kids’ matinee and an evening concert – in December that year.We did the former because of fond memories from when Joy Division used to play at Roger Eagle’s club Eric’s in Liverpool: Roger always scheduled a show for the under-eighteens. Really thoughtful, and the kids loved it. We felt we should do the same at the Haç.

  In typical Haçienda fashion the staff allowed over-eighteens to attend the afternoon gig, so it turned into a complete debacle. All the kids got crushed. Then, because our bouncers in these early years were too nice, they wouldn’t force the fans at the matinee to leave afterwards to make room for the evening crowd. A riot broke out on Whitworth Street as the evening audience struggled to get inside.

  By now the management-committee situation had reached a head. The club began looking for an experienced, full-time manager, while the directors began casting around for ways to shore up the financial situation ...

  We were looking for ways to dig ourselves out this money-pit we were in. The directors’ loans, our investment, made the Haçienda uninviting to outside investors because if we ever actually turned a profit the loans to us would need to be paid off. As soon as investors looked at the balance sheet, they left.

  In the fullness of time, Rob and all of us in New Order simply agreed to forgive the club’s debts to us, which by now totalled about £2 million.

  We had no choice but to do that: we had no hope of ever getting the money back.

  At that point, in 1985, Steve and Gillian relinquished their share-holdings and distributed them to the rest of us because they wanted to be free of the company.

  They were so sick of it, they literally walked away. They still had their personal guarantees for the initial loans/mistakes, but at least they had the satisfaction of knowing that they didn’t need to be involved in the business any more.

  I don’t blame them.We were all badly hurt by what had happened to us financially, and very angry about it. Bernard and I hung on; we stayed optimistic, hoping it could still succeed. Plus, the shares Stephen and Gillian passed to us were quite a juicy carrot: it meant that each of us possessed a greater percentage of the company. The shares were worthless,of course,but we felt like we’d gained something:we owned more of nothing. Then again, if a miracle occurred – like it reversed course and turned a profit – we might actually stand to gain more.

  Meanwhile, Rob actively tried to eliminate all the personal guarantees. He knew it had been a mistake. We spent a fortune on lawyers and all of them told us the same thing: you can’t get out of personal guarantees unless you pay them off.

  I remember looking over the Haçienda’s accounts. I did the sums and in the first five years it had been open we’d lost more th
an £20,000 a month on top of the set-up costs . . .

  Also in December, the club hosted A Transatlantic Happening, featuring Pickering’s Quando Quango and 52nd Street. The event was held to celebrate the birthday of Ruth Polsky, ‘the Queen of New York City’, and also included DJs Mark Kamins and Frank Callari. After this, Rob Gretton’s health took a turn for the worse ...

  He was admitted to hospital suffering from a full-blown psychosis. It left him incapacitated for many months and with health problems for the rest of his life.

  I presume Tony took over the running of the club. We briefly thought of getting our American manager,Tom Atencio,involved,trying to get him to manage both New Order and the Haçienda, but Tom didn’t have a clue about running a club. He was quite honest about that: he wasn’t interested, plus he didn’t want to move – living an ocean away in California suited him. Trouble was, this left both New Order and the Haçienda without leadership and with no money – we literally couldn’t get money out of the bank without Rob. Taking pity on us, the promoter Phil McIntyre helped us out when he and Terry Mason arranged three gigs,starting in Warrington,and paid the band £10,000 in advance.That money literally allowed us to survive.

  With all this on my mind, the daily operations of the club receded in importance for a while . . .

  JANUARY

  Friday 4th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 5th Hewan Clarke

  Friday 11th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 18th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 25th NUDE Mike Pickering

  FEBRUARY

  Friday 1st NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 8th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Monday 11th Milltown Brothers; Midwich Cuckoos

  Wednesday 13th James; A Certain General

  Friday 15th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 22nd NUDE Mike Pickering

  Thursday 28th Einstürzende Neubauten

  Set-list: ‘Seele brennt’, ‘Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T.’, ‘Meningitis’, ‘Armenia’, ‘Yü-Gung (Fütter Mein Ego)’, ‘Sehnsucht’, ‘Sand’, ‘Negativ Nein’, ‘Letztes Biest (Am Himmel)’, ‘Hör mit Schmerzen’, ‘Tanz Debil’, ‘Die Genaue Zeit’, ‘Abfackeln!’

  MARCH

  Friday 1st NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 2nd Run DMC

  Tuesday 5th RAW POWER (The Tuesday Night. The Haçienda. The Real Music. The Cramps and Joy Division and Test Dept and Buzzcocks and T-Rex and the Fall and U2 and Bowie and the Inca Babies and Billy Bragg and Strongarm and Other Hard Stuff . . .)

  Thursday 7th The Pogues

  Friday 8th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Thursday 14th The Associates

  Friday 15th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Thursday 21st THE EASTER BALL Baby Go Boom

  Friday 22nd NUDE Mike Pickering

  Wednesday 27th The Redskins; Pete Shelley

  Friday 29th NUDE Mike Pickering

  APRIL

  Monday 8th NUDE Mike Pickering (rescheduled from 5 April)

  Friday 12th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 19th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Thursday 25th Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds; Sonic Youth

  Set-list (Sonic Youth): ‘Halloween’, ‘Death Valley 69’, ‘Brave Men Run’, ‘I Love Her All the Time’, ‘Ghost Bitch’, ‘I’m Insane’, ‘Brother James’, ‘Kill Yr Idols’

  Friday 26th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 27th BODY AND SOUL, BODY AND MIND Hewan Clarke

  MAY

  Thursday 2nd Xmal Deutschland

  Friday 3rd NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 10th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Thursday 16th The Colourfield

  Friday 17th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 18th WILL SATURDAY EVER BE? the Happy Hooligans

  Tuesday 21st THIRD ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (Three at last)

  Thursday 23rd The Explorers

  Friday 24th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 31st NUDE Mike Pickering

  JUNE

  Wednesday 5th Gil Scott-Heron

  Friday 7th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Monday 10th GAY MONDAY

  Tuesday 11th THE SUMMER OF LOVE Martin Prendergast

  Thursday 13th The Pogues

  Friday 14th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 15th WILL SATURDAY EVER BE? Chad Jackson

  Thursday 20th Afro-Caribbean Connection

  Friday 21st NUDE Mike Pickering

  Monday 24th Pete Shelley

  Wednesday 26th The Jesus and Mary Chain

  Thursday 27th War

  Friday 28th NUDE Mike Pickering

  JULY

  Tuesday 2nd RAW POWER – RAW MEAT (All the hard stuff)

  Thursday 4th Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers

  (American Independence night. Rally around the flag with Johnny Thunder and the Heartbreakers and many more Yank surprises.)

  Friday 5th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 12th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Monday 15th GAY MONDAY; the Communards

  Tuesday 16th New Order

  Set-list: ‘State of the Nation’, ‘Dreams Never End’, ‘Subculture’, ‘This Time of Night’, ‘Your Silent Face’, ‘Love Vigilantes’, ‘Weirdo’, ‘The Perfect Kiss’, ‘Face Up’, ‘Sunrise’, ‘Ceremony’, ‘Confusion’, ‘Temptation’

  Friday 19th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Thursday 25th Paul Blake

  Friday 26th NUDE Mike Pickering

  AUGUST

  Friday 2nd NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 9th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Thursday 15th Playn Jayne; the Stone Roses

  Set-list (the Stone Roses): ‘Fall’, ‘Heart on the Staves’, ‘So Young’, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, ‘Here It Comes’, ‘All I Want’, ‘Tradjic Roundabout’, ‘Getting Plenty’, ‘Tell Me’

  Friday 16th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Monday 19th GAY MONDAY

  Wednesday 21st George Clinton

  Friday 23rd NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 30th NUDE Mike Pickering

  SEPTEMBER

  Friday 6th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Monday 9th GAY MONDAY The Life and Times of Harvey Milk

  (film)

  Friday 13th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Wednesday 18th The Pogues

  Friday 20th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Wednesday 25th Husker Du; Crime & the City Solution

  Friday 27th NUDE Mike Pickering; the Latino Beat (Classic Dance-Floor Show Electro/Soul/Funk/Reggae)

  Saturday 28th WILL SATURDAY EVER BE?

  Monday 30th MUSIC AND DANCE FOR LESBIANS AND GAY MEN Liz Wright; the Fallen Angels

  OCTOBER

  Tuesday 1st THE SUMMER OF LOVE Little Martin; Martin Prendergast

  Friday 4th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Monday 7th MUSIC AND DANCE FOR LESBIANS AND GAY MEN

  Tuesday 8th FRESHERS’ BALL

  Wednesday 9th The Fall

  Friday 11th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 12th WILL SATURDAY EVER BE?

  Tuesday 15th Everything But the Girl

  Friday 18th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 19th WILL SATURDAY EVER BE?

  Wednesday 23rd Primal Scream; Meat Whiplash; Weather Prophets

  Friday 25th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 26th WILL SATURDAY EVER BE?

  Monday 28th GAY MONDAY Miquel Brown; the Joan Collins Fan Club; Liz Wright; the Fallen Angels

  Thursday 31st Gil Scott-Heron

  NOVEMBER

  Friday 1st NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 8th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Thursday 14th The Cool Notes

  Friday 15th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Friday 22nd NUDE Mike Pickering

  Tuesday 26th The Jesus and Mary Chain

  Friday 29th NUDE Mike Pickering

  DECEMBER

  Tuesday 3rd New Order (two concerts, matinee and late show);

  the Happy Mondays

  Matinee set-list (New Order): ‘As It Is When It Was’, ‘Sunri
se’, ‘Face Up’, ‘The Perfect Kiss’, ‘Your Silent Face’, ‘Sooner Than You Think’, ‘This Time of Night’, ‘Confusion’, ‘Temptation’, ‘Age of Consent’

  Evening set-list (New Order): ‘As It Is When It Was’, ‘Everything’s Gone Green’, ‘Subculture’, ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Lonesome Tonight’, ‘Love Vigilantes’, ‘586’, ‘Face Up’, ‘Ceremony’, ‘State of the Nation’

  Wednesday 4th MANCHESTER POLYTECHNIC CHRISTMAS PARTY (produced by students and featuring their own DJs)

  Thursday 5th A TRANSATLANTIC HAPPENING Quando Quango; 52nd Street; Mark Kamins; Frank Callari

  Friday 6th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Monday 9th GAY MONDAY

  Friday 13th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Saturday 14th STREET SCENE

  Monday 16th GAY MONDAY

  Tuesday 17th WINTER OF DISCONTENT PARTY CITY

  Thursday 19th LIFE PARTY

  Friday 20th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Tuesday 24th CHRISTMAS EVE PARTY

  Friday 27th NUDE Mike Pickering

  Tuesday 31st NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY

  FACT 51 Limited

  Trading as: the Haçienda

  REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS

  The Directors submit their report and the audited accounts for the year ended 21 May 1985.

  Principal activities

  The principal activity of the Company is that of proprietors of a licensed club and recreation rooms.

  Review of the business

  The Directors consider that the Company’s trading position will improve in the long term.

  Fixed assets

  The movement of fixed assets is set out in note 8 of the accounts.

  Results and dividends

  The trading loss for the year after taxation and extraordinary items was £52,528. The Directors do not recommend the payment of a dividend.

  Directors

  The Directors who served during the year and their interests in the Company at the end of the year were as follows: