Welcome to Moss Side Stories – the Hidden History of Moss Side and Hulme Club Culture.

This online exhibition was inspired, in part, by Manchester District Music Archive’s most profilic contributor, ‘Dubwise-er’, who has uploaded almost a thousand artefacts to our website in under two years. A great many of Dubwise-er’s flyers, photos, press articles and absorbing recollections relate to his time as a reggae-obsessed gig-goer in Moss Side and Hulme during the 1980s. We thought it was time to group together these fascinating uploads and let them tell their own tale. Dubwise-er (who wishes to remain anonymous) has also supplied an evocative personal history of the area, shot through with his trademark wry humour and encyclopaedic knowledge. His musical memories include Desmond Dekker at Hulme Hippodrome; Prince Far-I at The Ardri (cancelled due to ‘mental instability’) and Barington Levy at the PSV: “…with ear- piercing whistles blowing, cans, bottles, anything and everything banging against walls and tables, it was a cacophony of deafening appreciation in a sweat -dripped room, to a man at his unique peak.

Dubwise-er, we salute you!

We have also been supported on this project by Commonword Writers’ Development Agency, who have kindly donated audio interviews with a number of pioneering Moss Side scenesters, including Reno Club DJs Persian and Hewan Clarke; flamboyant Caribbean Club compere Franklin Jackson; Jah Music soundsystem builder Owen Townsend and writer Yvonne McCalla. Many topics are touched upon in these candid oral histories, but recurring themes include: shebeens and blues - why they sprung up as a response to stifling UK drinking culture; the sense of community that was generated by the clubs of Moss Side and Hulme (particularly the Nile and the Reno); and the strained relationship between the black community and the police, which culminated in the July 1981 Moss Side riot. These spoken-word snapshots reveal a culture of defiant partying in the face of hardship and oppression - a thread that runs through Manchester music as a whole. They highlight how clubs can unite communities and shape lives. In his interview DJ Persian states: “In The Reno the music took over everybody. The music took care of everything. This is why people still talk about it today. Their romantic lives were formed from that; their kids were born from that. Everything that happened in their life came from that experience and they still talk about it in those terms today.”

As with our main site, this exhibition is a work in progress put together by volunteers. There are still many gaps, which we hope you will be inspired to fill. If you have any artefacts or recollections that you would like to add, please email them to info@mdmarchive.co.uk. Every contribution will be properly credited.

Please note, due to circumstances beyond our control, Moss Side Stories is not compatible with iPhones or Google Chrome.

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