For Mancunians, the popular musical heritage of the city has always been a source of great pride. The city's eclectic mix of music has created the sense among its inhabitants that Manchester is the most important city in world music.

Although Manchester had an impressive music scene before 1976 (with groups like The Hollies, The Bee Gees and 10cc, and with Top of the Pops being recorded by the BBC in the city), undoubtedly the key moment in Manchester’s musical history occurred on 4 June 1976, when the Sex Pistols, at the invitation of Howard Devoto & Pete Shelley (of Buzzcocks), arrived at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Castlefield to play a legendary gig - legendary, because in spite of an audience of less than 42 people, several key members of Manchester’s future music scene were present: Tony Wilson Granada TV presenter and creator of Factory Records, Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner (of Joy Division & New Order), Morrissey - later to form The Smiths with Johnny Marr - producer Martin Hannett, and Mick Hucknall of Simply Red. Soon after this gig, Tony Wilson created Factory Records and signed Joy Division. 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Hollies The Hollies are a British rock and roll band formed in the early 1960s. ... The Bee Gees: Maurice, Barry and Robin The Bee Gees were a British and Australian band, originally a pop singer-songwriter combination, reborn as funk and disco. ... 10cc is a British rock music group who achieved their greatest commercial success during the 1970s. ... Top of the Pops is a long-running British music chart television programme shown each week on BBC One and now licensed for local versions around the world. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national publicly funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. ... June 4 is the 155th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (156th in leap years), with 210 days remaining. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Sex Pistols in 1977. ... Howard Devoto (Born Howard Trafford, 1955, Manchester) was the singer in the UK post-punk band Magazine, which he formed, with guitarist John McGeoch, after leaving the Buzzcocks. ... Pete Shelley was born as Peter McNeish on April 17, 1955 in Leigh. ... Buzzcocks were one of the key first generation punk rock bands in the mid to late 1970s. ... Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall was a Victorian building formerly on a site near the G-Mex Conference Centre in the Castlefield area. ... Castlefield Castlefield in Manchester, UK was a site where the Roman Empire established a fort. ... Anthony (Tony) Wilson (born February 20, 1950) is a British record label and nightclub manager and journalist for Granada Television, who made him anchor of the rock programme So It Goes. ... Factory Records was a Manchester-based record label, managed by Tony Wilson, which featured several prominent musical acts, such as Joy Division, New Order, The Durutti Column, The Happy Mondays, and (briefly) James and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. ... Ian Curtis performing Ian Kevin Curtis (July 15, 1956 – May 18, 1980) was a singer-songwriter born in Manchester, England. ... Peter Hook (born February 13, 1956 in Salford, Greater Manchester, England) was the bass player for the influential British post-punk/goth band Joy Division and later New Order. ... Bernard in 2005 Bernard Sumner (born January 4, 1956 in Manchester, England) was the guitarist and keyboardist for Joy Division. ... Joy Division in 1980, photographed by Anton Corbijn. ... New Order, circa 2005 Promotional shot. ... Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey, (born May 22, 1959 in Manchester, England), dropped his forenames to become Morrissey, the lead singer of the highly influential British indie band The Smiths. ... The Smiths were a British rock group, active from 1982 to 1987. ... Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is a British guitarist, keyboardist, harmonica player and singer, best known as the man behind the music of The Smiths. ... Martin Hannett Martin Hannett (May 1948 - April 18, 1991) was an innovative record producer who helped discover Joy Division and co-founded Factory Records with Tony Wilson. ... See also Hucknall Categories: People stubs | 1960 births ... Brussels December 22nd 2003 Simply Red is a British band currently composed of Mick Hucknall (lead singer) and various backing musicians. ...

With the industrial revolution as its model, Factory Records played upon Manchester's traditions, invoking at once apparently incongruous images of the industrial north and the glamorous pop art world of Andy Warhol. While labelmates A Certain Ratio and The Durutti Column each forged their own sound, it was Factory's Joy Division who somehow managed to grimly define what exactly it was to be a Mancunian as the '70s drew to an end. At the same time, and out of the same post punk energy, emerged Mark.E.Smith’s ground breaking group The Fall, who would become one of the most inventive, original and prolific groups of the next three decades. The group that would ultimately become the definitive Manchester group of the '80s was The Smiths, lead by Morrissey and Marr. With songs like 'Rusholme Ruffians' and 'Suffer Little Children', Morrissey sang explicitly about Manchester, creating songs that are as iconic of Manchester as the paintings of L.S.Lowry. Pop art was an artistic movement that emerged in the late 1950s in England and the United States. ... Andy Warhol, circa 1965. ... A Certain Ratio is a rock band from Manchester. ... Vini Reilly The Durutti Column is the ongoing band project of guitarist Vini Reilly (born in Didsbury, Greater Manchester, August 1953), usually accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell (and, on the groups debut album, producer Martin Hannett). ... Mark E. Smith (born March 5, 1957) is the lead singer, lyricist and hub of The Fall, a renowned and idiosyncratic offshoot from the UK post-punk/new wave music scenes. ... Mark E. Smith, Fall frontman (1981) The Fall are a British rock music group, formed in Manchester in 1977, and named after Albert Camuss novel. ... The Smiths were a British rock group, active from 1982 to 1987. ... Lawrence Stephen Lowry (November 1, 1887 - February 23, 1976) was an English artist born in Rusholme, Manchester. ...

As the 80’s drew to a close, a new energy arrived in Manchester, fuelled by the drug ecstasy. A new scene developed around The Haçienda night club (again part of the Factory Records ‘empire’), creating what would become known as the Madchester scene, – the main proponents being the Happy Mondays, The Inspiral Carpets, and The Stone Roses. The history of the Manchester music scene over this period was dramatised in Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film 24 Hour Party People. Fac 51 Haçienda (also known as simply The Haçienda) was one of the most well known nightclubs in Manchester during the Madchester years of the late 1980s and early 1990s. ... Madchester refers to a period during the late 1980s and early 1990s when bands recording for labels such as Manchesters successful Factory Records amongst others began to attract a lot of popularity. ... The Happy Mondays were a band formed in Manchester, England in 1985. ... The Inspiral Carpets are a band from Oldham in Greater Manchester formed by Graham Lambert in 1986. ... The classic line-up at the time of the Spike Island concert. ... Winterbottom at the Toronto International Film Festival. ... 24 Hour Party People is a 2002 film about Manchesters popular music community from 1977 to 1997, and specifically about Factory Records. ...

After the "Madchester" period, Manchester music lost much of its provincial energy, though many successful and interesting acts were still to emerge. Other notable musical acts in Manchester have been Take That, 808 State, M People, Oasis, James, Badly Drawn Boy, Michael McGoldrick, Elbow, Mr Scruff, and Doves. Morrissey and The Fall still continue to produce original ground breaking music. Take That was a boy band which originated in Manchester, England in 1990. ... 808 State are a British techno/house outfit formed in 1988 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. ... M People was a British house music act from Manchester which formed in 1990. ... The bands nucleus - The Gallagher brothers Noel and Liam Oasis are a British rock band, originally formed in Manchester. ... James are a band from Manchester, England, formed in 1982. ... Badly Drawn Boy (b. ... Michael McGoldrick is a flute and tin whistle player. ... Elbow Elbow emerged from the late 1990s Manchester music scene centred around the citys vibrant Northern Quarter on Oldham Street. ... Mr. ... Doves is a British indie rock band from Manchester, England. ... Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey, (born May 22, 1959 in Manchester, England), dropped his forenames to become Morrissey, the lead singer of the highly influential British indie band The Smiths. ... Mark E. Smith, Fall frontman (1981) The Fall are a British rock music group, formed in Manchester in 1977, and named after Albert Camuss novel. ...

Manchester's main popular music venue is the Manchester Evening News Arena, which seats over twenty thousand, and is the largest arena of its type in Europe. Other major venues include the Manchester Apollo and the Manchester Academy. There are over 30 smaller venues for signed and unsigned artists of all genres to perform in, ensuring that the music scene in Manchester constantly remains vibrant and interesting. An area known as the Northern Quarter, considered the cultural and musical heart of the city, houses some of the more famous of these venues such as the Roadhouse, Night and Day Cafe, The Bierkeller and Dry Bar. The Manchester Evening News Arena or MEN Arena is a large indoor arena situated in Manchester, England. ... The Carling Apollo Manchester is a concert venue in Manchester. ... Harris Manchester College, formerly Manchester College, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom; it has the emphasis on mature students. ... The Northern Quarter is an area in the centre of Manchester, UK, generally marked out between Piccadilly, Victoria and Ancoats, and centred around Oldham Street, just off Picadilly Gardens. ...