Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches: The Story of Madchester – Part 1: From Punk to Dance Music

This BBC documentary goes deeper into exploring an era of music that has already been mentioned in The Mancunian Way and The Great Bleep Forward: Madchester, or how in the late 80s, Manchester became the world capital of pop. Who could have predicted that such an industrial city, characterised by massive unemployment and bad weather, would give birth to such a vibrant and hedonistic scene?

In part 1, Stuart Maconie tells the story of how Manchester’s effervescent post punk scene inspired New Order members and head of Factory Records’ Tony Wilson to create the Hacienda, a place that quickly went from being an art space to an eclectic club venue. Its cheap drinks and no door policy allowed bohemian working class Mancunians to escape their hard lives and enjoy Chicago’s and Detroit’s all new techno and acid house rhythms. A mix of two cultures that established Manchester as the coolest place on earth and inspired The Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, and many more.

Listen here:

Download Link (right-click > save as):
Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches – Part 1

The Great Bleep Forward: The History of Electronic Music – The Selected Playlist

For those who enjoyed The Great Bleep Forward, the series on the history of electronic music, here’s a playlist of the best tracks featured on the documentary.

If you missed the documentary, it’s still available to stream or download here:
Part 1: The Pioneers
Part 2: Synths for the Masses
Part 3: The Advent of Dance Music
Part 4: The Home Computer Revolution 

The Great Bleep Forward: The History of Electronic Music – Part 3: The Advent of Dance Music

This is the third part of The Great Bleep Forward, a BBC 6 documentary series about the history of electronic music. Listen to the previous parts here: Part 1: The Pioneers, Part 2: Synths for the Masses.

Like the declining cost of synthesizers in the late 70s early 80s lead to a new era in popular music, the introduction of the microchip offered bands a whole new way to make music. As their equipment became more and more sophisticated and cheap, they mastered the art of sampling. Making music became so much easier that soon they didn’t need studios anymore. In fact they didn’t need musicians either, starting with the drummer, so easily replaced by the lastest drumbox.
All this pushed people to make sounds that had never been heard before, bringing us the Dance Music revolution with the advent of Chicago House and Detroit Techno.

Listen here:

Download Link (right-click >save as):
The Great Bleep Forward – Part 3