"The Greatest Night Ever!"
I had to sample that line from one of the finest fanzines that I have ever been lucky enough to read! Mr postman was extremely kind to me and this dropped in my letter box a few days ago!
Wow, I am blown away - I love it! Freaky Dancing is an anarchic, humorous, heartfelt, warm and personal insight into that first moment when the world changed for us all! If you were there you know what I mean!! It was a moment that we all wanted to share with our friends, our enemies - well with just about everyone except ya mum and dad! It needed to be dropped, added to the water supply, given away free and it was the start to each and every 'Greatest Night in the World!. Read the first few pages and you will understand exactly what I mean! Simply put - this is a superb read and one you can't afford to miss out on! Tony Wilson's Kickers! (well we all wore them!), Mr Smiley's 'How Does It Feel' Russian Fridays and Adam Pain on a mission will have you creased up - so bad it's good!
Freaky Dancing - the complete collection does what it says on the tin! As previously mentioned in my last BLOG51 post, Freaky Dancing was a fanzine that was given away free to clubbers as they waited to get into the Haçienda on a Friday night. For the first time ever, it is now available to buy as a complete collection, lovingly illustrated and as thoughtfully provoking as it is funny! Freaky Dancing captures exactly those clubbing experiences and moments that we all went through, how we all thought and how we felt felt during those mad years of 1989 and 1990 when the Haçienda exploded onto the world stage and became the place to go to.... It was not a place to go to to be seen, it was the place to go to lose it like you had never done before - Freaky Dancing encapsulates this so succinctly that the memories will flood back so sweetly that you will think you are having flash backs and living it all one more time! What more can you ask for - and cheaper than that first New Yorker! However, for me, this book is priceless!
As I settled down to read my newly acquired book, an idea struck me! I thought it would be good put on a tape to replicate the time, moment and sound that clubbers had when they were first given a copy of the fanzine, waiting in the queue, to recreate that original experience! Haçienda tunes, a good read and a bottle or too!
With this in mind, a mix tape on in the background, Graeme Park & Mike Pickering from the month the fanzine was first given away, I soon completed Volume One! Now I faced a dilemma! Do I change mixes and read Volume Two? I couldn't bring myself to do it though! Instead, I thought it would be a nice gesture to Paul Gill and Ste Pickford, who had lovingly put the collection together; to share with you all a mix recorded at the Haçienda from each of the months in which the fanzine was published.
Haçienda Queue!
As the first edition was 'excitedly' given away free during the hot, heady, hedonistic, Haçienda month of July 1989, 😍 what better way than to enjoy it with a free Park n Pickering Haçienda mix from that month too! So, sit back, grab your book, pour a glass and head back to the messy month that was July 1989 at the Haçienda, Manchester!
Superb!
Look out for monthly Freaky Dancing Updates and an accompanying mix! Oh yes, go buy the book too!
