Ten minutes of full on rave/ techno from The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu for today, 1991's maddest top ten single. The first half is all hammering beats, rain and rave bass, the heavy industry that made the north during the Industrial Revolution echoed in the drums and pistons firing the 12" onwards, and King Boy D (Bill Drummond) reciting the names of northern towns and cities, ending with the name of the motorway that runs east- west across the north of England, from Hull to Liverpool and back again...
'Bolton, Barnsley, Nelson, Colne, Burnley, Bradford, Buxton, Crewe, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan, Leeds, Northwich, Nantwich, Knutsford, Hull, Sale, Salford, Southport, Leigh, Kirkby, Kearsley, Keighley, Maghull, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Oldham, Lancs (Lancaster), Grimsby, Glossop, Hebden Bridge
'Brighouse, Bootle, Featherstone, Speke, Runcorn, Rotherham, Rochdale, Barrow, Morecambe, Macclesfield, Lytham St Annes, Clitheroe, Cleethorpes, the M62
Pendlebury, Prestwich, Preston, York, Skipton, Scunthorpe, Scarborough-on-Sea, Chester, Chorley, Cheadle Hulme, Ormskirk, Accrington, Stanley, Leigh, Ossett, Otley, Ilkley Moor, Sheffield, Manchester, Castleford, Skem, Doncaster, Dewsbury, Halifax, Bingley, Bramhall, are all in the North'
At seven minutes the song breaks down and Jerusalem appears through the gloom, Hubert Parry's rousing anthem a welcome coda- a socialist utopia reached through rave perhaps.
Top tune. Should become the National Anthem of the North when we break away from those southern softies. I posted a version of this (Club Mix) over on F&M with Pete Wylie doing the vocals.
ReplyDeleteThanks Webbie, I'd forgotten about the original Wylie version. Just checked and there's a copy at Discogs priced at £700!
ReplyDeleteI am certainly partial to the Wylie version. There's something very apt, having Pete on vocals- amps up the socio-political side of things - you know he's been there, experienced it.
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