Dave Haslam interviews Richard Boon as part of MDMArchive's 'Defining Me' project, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.
Richard Boon isn't just an important eye-witness to Manchester's music scene, but also a major player and an influential figure, with the inside story of one of the most glorious eras of Manchester music.
He was the Buzzcocks' manager who set-up the UK's first punk/post-punk independent record label (New Hormones), and helped run a precursor to the Hacienda, the Beach Club.
New Hormones was an inspiration to later labels like Factory, and released records by artists including Biting Tongues, Dislocation Dance, Ludus and Eric Random.
The New Hormones office at 50 Newton St was also the home of gig promoters Wise Moves and 'City Fun' fanzine. Morrissey was a regular there, or, as he puts it, "I was not an unfamiliar face on the stairs of the New Hormones offices as a limbless teenager."
Richard Boon was a prime-mover in the Beach at Oozits, which featured underground films and gigs by the likes of the Passage, Felt, the Fall, and A Certain Ratio. He left Manchester in 1983 went on to work for Rough Trade Records, and became production manager there just as 'This Charming Man' was about to be released.
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