Love
him or loathe him - gobby, charismatic, flirty, cocky, arrogant, loveable,
funny, polemic, cheeky, blunt, twat are but a few of the politer words that
could be used to describe a true Manc character. No, I’m not talking
about Anthony H Wilson but another television presenter who became a bit of an
icon back in the day. Arguably you could say that this someone could easily
have been pulled direct from the loins of Mr Wilson!
Terry Christian
Radio
DJ, television presenter, band manager, music journalist and general shit
stirrer. This person is none other than Terry Christian. Terry was to dominate
our late Friday night television viewing for the next 5 years. The name of the
show was 'The Word,' named after articles Terry wrote for the Manchester
Evening News show-casing Manchester’s up and coming music talent. There is no
getting away from the fact that Terry Christian played his part in bringing the
story of Manchester's youth culture to a wider audience - a parallel drawn here
with Mr Wilson me thinks!
The word - from October and November 1990 in the Manchester Evening News
By the end of the late 80's, popular
youth culture had gone stale. Shows such as Top of the Pops along with the Hit
Man and Her, were frankly crap leaving a gaping hole in entertainment for youth
culture. Friday nights consisted of getting home munted from the pub then switching on the television to find The
Hit Man & Her dismally showing us what a good time we could have. It was like watching peacocks
dancing round handbags trying to attract the opposite sex in the failing hope of having a pissed up one
night stand at the end of the night! Oh, what a lifeless good time we could
have! It was enough to make you scream. It’s little wonder that a new
underground scene emerged but that’s a story for another Blog51 post.
Hitman & Her
Wind
on a couple of years... 1990, the Haçienda was at fever pitch, kids were
dancing in fields and aircraft hangers; Madchester was biting the ankles of the
music industry, gripping firmly at the sinews of colourless music moguls, when
along came a new youth culture show that snarled, shook and spat out the remnants
of all we had known before. Anarchy was raising its beautiful chaotic head once
more. We switched on to a show certainly was chaotic, definitely in the moment,
as if you had brought your night out back home with you to be replayed on the
tv and definitely not to be screened in front of your mam and dad!
Channel 4 Banners advertising The Word Brazenly loud, psychedelic, fresh and in
your face; 'the Word' appeared on our screens from August 1990. It was as if
Madchester had been transported to our screens. Somehow the boundaries of
staid youth television had been broken, the studio decorated like a Happy Monday’s
album cover, the crowd danced between the stage and the presenters, the sound system
was cranked up and it seemed someone had added chemicals to the drinks. it was
cool, honest no-frills entertainment. Youth subculture was beginning to subtly
take over the mainstream. Through Terry, Manchester's hedonistic
legacy seemed to pour through every televised moment. Bands such as the Happy
Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and 808 State were interviewed and performed live, the
show even went as far to broadcast live from Los Angeles at the Roxy club when
the Hacienda DJs were on. Perhaps it was just the accent!
Dani Berr, mark Lamarr, Katie Puckrik and Terry Christian
The show's theme tune, straight from the
dancefloor, Manchester's own 808 State's 'Olympic' created an atmosphere that
something fresh was happening and what a ride it was. Suddenly, we were
exposed to some great music, bands, chat, interviews and some right funny
moments that once seen were not going to be forgotten in a hurry! Presented
by Terry, co-hosted by Mark Lamarr, Dani Berr and Katie Puckrik, the opening
weeks saw Adamski, 808 State and the Farm playing, we knew it had a different
pulse, a pulse seated in the knowledge and experience of underground Club
Culture... enjoy the trip and what a trip it was.
Shaun Ryder & 808 State live on The Word 1990
Picture a paralytic Oliver Reed trying
to ad-lib to the Troggs 'Wild Thing' performed by Neds Atomic Dustbin, I've
never seen someone so pissed stand, let alone sing but he did or tried too.
Imagine the singer of L7 going full frontal removing her clothes during a
superb airing of 'Pretend we are dead' It was a producer’s nightmare and it
happened live before our eyes. Weirdly enough, just as Tony Wilson
started off broadcasting bands on his television shows, introducing bands such
as the Sex Pistols, Joy Division and the Fall, Terry continued that tradition.
The Word gave us screen debuts for future Brit-Pop bands such as Blur playing
'Girls and Boys', Oasis's first airing of 'Supersonic' and Nirvana's performing
the excellent 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - can you ask for more? Yet more did
happen, Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays appearing on the show as he does best
so to speak and a rat-arsed Ivy Tilsey from Coronation Street drunkenly
crucifying Gloria Gaynor’s I will survive! Ouch.
Blur & Oasis Make Their Television Debuts on The Word - The Precursor to Britpop!
Then there was a hip audience, kids from
the clubs that seemed more clued up, a
crowd willing to let themselves go and more importantly kids rightly willing to heckle and stand
up (along with a Mark Lamar) to Shabba Ranks for his then anti-gay views. However it was an aspect of audience particiaption that was to lead to the show's demise - the Hopefuls. How could we forget the chance for fame
for the 'hopefuls'. We knew something was coming each week but perhaps we
weren't quite ready for what we saw - the sweaty belly button licking, tongue
kissing a pensioner or the fish licker - the things a member of the audience
did for a moment of television fame. It was a constant source of amusement the
next day. Bizarre I know, certainly for 1994 it was, yet perversely this seems
the norm for the TikTok generation.
Manc wit - tongue in cheek article for the Mancunion Newspaper - Manchester Students Union.
Terry Christian was brilliant. Fresh
faced with cheek bones to die for, energetic, tongue in cheek, flirting like a
dog with two tails, I’m sure he presented it purely for the ride. The show
seemed totally unscripted, nothing seemed to faze Terry and he let his
interviews go wherever the conversation went.... no boundaries for sure.
Where else on television would you hear a presenter ask the lead singer of Fem 2 Fem
'when did you lose your virginity' and get away with it! Terry did, after
which a woman from the audience slapped him a good one! Totally unscripted,
totally wild. Watching Snoop leaning away from Rod Hull and Emu was
priceless - we were heart in mouth at the sight of Snoops face, just waiting to
see if he was going to take that bird out! The media had a field day,
critics drew their knives - in the words of terry Christian 'the show with more
critics than viewers'. It was absolute television gold with an audience
of 3 million a week who all couldn't all be wrong. Nudity, mayhem and
hedonism rolled into 50 minutes of inebriated television viewing that somehow lasted
five years. Others have tried to replicate it, but none have even come
close (no names TFI Friday!) I could go on and on however, feel free to
search the web for yourself - best with a smoke and a drink though!
51 Whitworth Street - Manchester 1989
What has all this got to do with the
Haçienda? From my clubbing days I had stashed away a small box of tapes bought
from the DJ box or handed out between friends. Tapes that had been played over
and over and I had always yearned for more. Fast forward to 2000, I was
listening to Century 105.4 FM radio show when Terry Christian announced he was
airing a Haçienda set on New Year’s Eve.
Terry Christian - Radio DJ on Century 105.4 FM in the North West
Minidisc at the ready I set about
recording what is now perhaps the most shared and streamed Hacienda set on the
net. The energy is unbelievable. It feels like it has been recorded
from the middle of the dancefloor... impeccable mixing, superb tunes all set to
a backdrop capturing the atmosphere and the sounds of hedonism from an ecstatic
Haçienda crowd. What made it more special is that it was recorded from the time
I started going regularly, secretly I hoped it was from my first night there,
but I will never know for sure. I was over the moon and hammered these
minidisc recordings. However, I wanted more. At the time, the
internet was relatively new, it certainly wasn't in everyone’s home by a long shot. Imagine my
delight when I started my searches (it sounds weird to say but a new world
literally opened up, knowing others were after the same as me) so began my
journey collecting Haçienda sets; 560 recordings and still hungry for more.
The crowd is everything!
Known on the net as the 'Century FM'
recording, this is perhaps the go to tape for anyone wanting to hear what the Haçienda was like. 2 hours 50 minutes of pure
Haçienda delight. Everyone has it or has played it. However, this recording has
a little something extra. Introduced by Terry Christian himself, there is
no mistaking the broad tones of his best Manc accent. Terry leads us
through a description about Madchester, setting the scene before introducing the
infamous Nude night at the Haçienda, £3.50 to get in, Friday the 18th of August
1989 to be precise. Broadcast on NYE 2000/2001, I recorded this over
three minidiscs. This set is different from the one you may have already listened to. It has an extra 40 minutes or so not heard on the internet and brings
in the NYE chime bells. Here you will find part of the set that may be
new to you. What a night! I have kept the recording as is.
Should you choose to play it in its entirety, you will hear that part of the
night has been looped and played twice. This brings the total recording to approximately 4 hours long as was originally broadcast
by Terry Christian on his show aptly named 'the Haçienda Sessions.'
The second summer of love 1989 was special, Terry's broadcast made it extra special -
Enjoy...
1989.08.18 Graeme Park & Mike Pickering - Haçienda Sessions - Century 105.4 FM Part 1
1989.08.18 Graeme Park & Mike Pickering - Haçienda Sessions - Century 105.4 FM Part 2
1989.08.18 Graeme Park & Mike Pickering - Haçienda Sessions - Century 105.4 FM Part 3
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