Jan 21
Ben Kelly (Song of The Sea)
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Ben Kelly (Song of The Sea)
the haçienda interior design by ben kelly
From punk and disco, through the ecstasy and acid house years, up to gangster door staff, people pulling guns and the club's eventual closur
today 21 may 1982, The Hacienda Club was opened in Manchester, England. Madonna made her UK TV debut at the club when C4 music show The Tube was broadcast live. The Tube presenters Paula Yates and Jools Holland .
From punk and disco, through the ecstasy and acid house years, up to gangster door staff, people pulling guns and the club's eventual closure.
Home to many Manchester acts including Oasis, Happy Mondays, The Smiths, Charlatans, Liaisons Dangereuses, 808 State, Chemical Brothers, James, M People who all played at the club, (The club closed in 1997).
The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, England, which became famous during the Madchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s, it was run by the record label Factory Records.
The name comes from a slogan of the radical group Situationist International: "The Hacienda Must Be Built", from Formulary for a New Urbanism by Ivan Chtcheglov.
A hacienda is a large homestead in a ranch or estate usually in places where Colonial Spanish culture has had architectural influence.
Even though the cedilla is not used in Spanish, the spelling "Haçienda" was decided on for the club because the cedilla makes the "çi" resemble "51", the club's catalogue number
A wide range of musical acts appeared at the club. One of the earliest was the German EBM band Liaisons Dangereuses, which played there on 7 July 1982.
The Smiths performed there three times in 1983.
It served as a venue for Madonna on her first performance in the United Kingdom, where the renowned music photographer Kevin Cummins took photos of the evening on 27 January 1984.
She was invited to appear as part of a one-off, live television broadcast by Channel 4 music programme The Tube with then-resident Haçienda DJ Greg Wilson live mixing on the show.
Madonna performed "Holiday" whilst at The Haçienda and the performance was described by Norman Cook (better known as Fatboy Slim) as one that "mesmerised the crowd".
At one time, the venue also included a hairdressing salon. As well as club nights there were regular concerts, including one in which Einstürzende Neubauten drilled into the walls that surrounded the stage.
The venue was instrumental in the careers of Happy Mondays, Oasis, The Stone Roses, 808 State, Chemical Brothers and Sub Sub
The club’s legacy continues to live on, with a free 24-hour charity livestream event taking place this New Year’s Eve, featuring many of the club’s original DJs.
Here, DJs, staff, punters, bands and designers discuss the history and legacy of the club.
In 1986, it became one of the first British clubs to start playing house music, with DJs Hewan Clarke, Greg Wilson and later Mike Pickering (of Quando Quango and M People) and Little Martin (later with Graeme Park) hosting the visionary "Nude" night on Fridays. This night quickly became legendary, and helped to turn around the reputation and fortunes of The Haçienda, which went from making a consistent loss to being full every night of the week by early 1987
The club opened in 1982, eventually fostering the Manchester acid house and rave scene in the late 1980s. The early success of Factory band New Order, particularly with their 1983 dance hit "Blue Monday", helped to subsidise the club even as it lost considerable amounts of money (in part due to clubbers' embrace of the street drug ecstasy, which drove down traditional alcohol sales).
The club's subculture was noted by the Chief Constables of Merseyside and Greater Manchester as reducing football hooliganism.
Crime and financial troubles plagued its later years, and it finally closed in 1997.
It was subsequently demolished and replaced by apartments.
Fac 51 Haçienda (better known simply as Haçienda) was a music club in Manchester, England. It became most famous during the late 80s and early 90s; during the 90s it was identified as the most famous club in the world by Newsweek magazine.
The Haçienda was opened in 1982, and despite considerable and persistent financial problems, it survived until 1997 - During most of that time the club was financed mainly by the record sales of the band New Order, who were founders of the club, along with the businessman Tony Wilson.
The Haçienda is highly associated with the rise of acid house and madchester and the emergence of rave culture.
The British newspaper "The Guardian" considered the club the 10th key event in the history of Dance Music .
It was conceived by Rob Gretton, and largely financed by the record label Factory Records, the band New Order, and label boss Tony Wilson.
It was on the corner of Whitworth Street West and Albion Street, close to Castlefield, on the edge of the city centre. FAC 51 was its official designation in the Factory catalogue. New Order, Tony Wilson and Howard (Ginger) Jones were directors of the club.
Designed by Ben Kelly, upon recommendation by Factory graphic designer Peter Saville, upstairs consisted of a stage, dance area, bar, cloakroom, cafeteria area and balcony with a DJ booth.
Downstairs was a cocktail bar called The Gay Traitor, which referred to Anthony Blunt, a British art historian who spied for the Soviet Union. The two other bars, The Kim Philby and Hicks, were named after Blunt's fellow spies.
From 1995 onwards, the lower cellar areas of the venue were converted to create the 5th Man, a smaller music venue. Classics nights and private parties were held in the 5th man and local DJ Roy Baxter from Eccles was a resident warm up DJ handing over to the likes of Nipper and Jon Da Silva.
The sound and lighting design and installation for the Haçienda was done by Martin Disney Associates and later by Eddie Akka from Akwil Ltd.
Peter Saville (Factory Records partner/graphic designer): In 1978, all the venues for the punk groups had systematically been closed by the authorities. On behalf of the youth culture of the city and, to some extent, as an ambassador of punk and new wave, Tony Wilson [Factory records partner/TV presenter] took it upon himself to find a venue, which he did, at the Russell Club, to start the Factory nights, which then turned into the label. When [Joy Division singer] Ian Curtis died, there was this unprecedented and unexpectedly enormous influx of money. Tony thought it would be a good idea to give the money back to Manchester.
Martin Moscrop (trumpeter, guitarist, A Certain Ratio): ACR went to New York with Tony to record our album. We spent a lot of time going out to these amazing clubs, like The Ritz, Tier 3 and the Danceteria. New Order did the same when they were out there. We used to talk about the clubs all the time. The more we spoke about it, the more the idea became reality.
Peter Saville: I was invited to look at this former boat showroom. It was a phenomenal but daunting space. It’s important to know, in whatever occupation you have, when something is beyond you. I knew it was not something I was able to do. But I knew a man that could: Ben Kelly.
Ben Kelly (architect/designer of the Haçienda): We did a big tour of this huge, cavernous, empty, dirty, scruffy building, which was amazing. Tony looked at me and said, “Well, do you want the job?” I said, “Of course I want the fucking job.”
Peter Hook (bassist, New Order): Tony and Rob Gretton [New Order manager/Factory partner] started the Haçienda for people like us - punks who had nowhere to go. It wasn't about making money, it was about housing oddballs.
Ben Kelly: They had never commissioned a nightclub, and I'd never designed one before. There was an awful lot of naivety, but I see that as a very positive strength, as there were no strings attached and no preconceptions. I went about the design as a journey. You arrive at the building to a very minimal sign, then, in the entrance, you pass through doors that had 5 and 1 cut out of them [FAC51 was the catalogue number given to the club by the label], with glass set into those two numbers, then to the bar around the dance floor.
Martin Moscrop: Strippers were quite common in pubs in Manchester around the time, and the Haçienda even tried that out to bring in midweek business. Things were quite bleak in the early-80s, recession-wise. Everyone was fighting for customers, including the Haçienda.
Graeme Park (resident DJ): In the early days, at the band nights, there were a lot of moody men in long overcoats with fringes, drinking beer.
Fiona Allen (box office/reception): It was full of people trying to be mean and moody, and not dancing.
The Tube presenters Paula Yates and Jools Holland .
From punk and disco, through the ecstasy and acid house years, up to gangster door staff, people pulling guns and the club's eventual closure.
Home to many Manchester acts including Oasis, Happy Mondays, The Smiths, Charlatans, Liaisons Dangereuses, 808 State, Chemical Brothers, James, M People who all played at the club, (The club closed in 1997).
The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, England, which became famous during the Madchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s, it was run by the record label Factory Records.
The club’s legacy continues to live on, with a free 24-hour charity livestream event taking place this New Year’s Eve, featuring many of the club’s original DJs.
Here, DJs, staff, punters, bands and designers discuss the history and legacy of the club.
Home to many Manchester acts including Oasis, Happy Mondays, The Smiths, Charlatans, Liaisons Dangereuses, 808 State, Chemical Brothers, James, M People who all played at the club, (The club closed in 1997).
The Haçienda is one of the most notorious nightclubs in the long and notorious history of nightclubs. Open from 1982 to 1997, at its peak the former boat showroom in Manchester’s city centre was at the forefront of music and youth culture – and, for many, became the spiritual home of acid house music.
Ben Kelly (architect/designer of the Haçienda): We did a big tour of this huge, cavernous, empty, dirty, scruffy building, which was amazing. Tony looked at me and said, “Well, do you want the job?” I said, “Of course I want the fucking job.”
Say Something by Emma-Jean Thackray from the album Yellow - Director: Avesta Keshtmand
The Apartment, Mayfair | Ben Kelly Design
Dry Bar, Oldham St, Manchester FAC 201
The view of Ben Kelly’s studio
Pett Level, Rye
On This Day In Cincinnati History
Ben Kelly was in court on 2 May 1911, charged with not paying the bill after eating 5 chicken dinners. The released him on bail because it would be too expensive to feed him in jail. #CincinnatiCuriosities