Like The Haçienda Classics album? Then check out these 10 other Haçienda anthems below
If you’re even slightly familiar with famous UK nightclubs, house music, and the raves of yesteryear, you will have probably heard of The Haçienda.
It was a very famous club located on Whitworth Street West and Albion Street, near Castlefield, on the outer edge of Manchester city centre, UK.
And it’s a nightclub which played a pivotal role in the club culture of the UK, as well as the notorious ‘Madchester’ scene in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Table of Contents
How did The Haçienda start?
The Haçienda was situated in a former warehouse. Its design, look, and layout were heavily influenced by various house music clubs in the USA.
The club was originally devised by Rob Gretton and the band New Order, plus Factory Records boss Tony Wilson.
The label appended FAC51 on to the club’s name as this was the nightclubs position in the Factory Records catalogue. Also, Factory Records financed most of the club as well most of the music and the acts who played there.
The Haçienda was host to many important bands during the early eighties and nineties, including Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Stone Roses and many more.
Around 1986 it was one of the first UK clubs to start playing house music. At first, DJ’s Hewan Clarke and Greg Wilson were the first resident house DJs to play at the club. But a while later Mike Pikering (M People) and Graeme Park took up residencies.
When did The Haçienda close and why was it shut down?
There were various reasons why The Haçienda closed. The main causes were money problems, drugs, and the venue being dragged into the local gang violence during the 80’s and 90’s.
When The Haçienda started playing house music in 1986 it was full every night of the week and it was profitable. But around this time a new drug called Ecstasy (MDMA) appeared on the party scene. And this new drug was becoming popular with club goers and ravers – including those going The Haçienda. Unknown to The Haçienda at the time, this new party pill was going add to the clubs problems.
You see, most normal nightclubs rely on the profits of alcohol sales for revenue – and The Haçienda was no different. However, the trouble with catering to ‘pilled-up’ ravers is that they usually don’t want to drink much in the way of alcohol. Many Ecstasy taking clubbers would just buy a single bottle of water and refill this from sinks in a clubs toilets. But this isn’t good for alcohol sales. So, as the use of MDMA grew, the club’s alcohol sales tanked, thus affecting the nightclubs bottom line.
Many other nightclubs later found out as they tried to cater to the new rave scene. And increasingly this caused many clubs – usually in a clandestine way – to try and control the drug trade on their premises. This could be a very lucrative gig for a club owners and rave organisers. But it often led to many clubs becoming the target (or working with) local organised crime and gangs. Because whoever controlled the illicit drug trade would make a lot of money. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this led to turf wars between rival gangs and security outfits for control of clubs, their doors, and the ability supply pills to attending ravers. And unbeknown to The Haçienda at the time they were about to find themselves in this situation.
Unluckily, during the late 80’s and 90’s, gang violence was a major problem around Manchester. So, The Haçienda was surrounded by the perfect storm of problems, problems which would eventually lead to its closure. Assaults, violence and even shootings started to happen in and around the nightclub. And this, in turn, made it increasingly difficult for the club to obtain a licence.
The Haçienda faced a barrage of challenges: Unprofitability, illegal drug consumption, local gang violence, and licence issues all lead to a strained relationship with the town council and the local police – eventually causing the clubs demise.
But although the club closed the brand lived on in a variety of musical forms. One of these was a CD mix album which was released back in 2006.
The Haçienda classics CD (2006)
The Haçienda club classics album is a cracking 3-disc album which was produce in 2006. The CD has a variety of music including classic hip hop, acid house, house music and other dance tunes.
Some of the artists on the album include K-Klass, 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald. But it also had some nice hip hop tunes on it too, including Sugar Bear, Young MC, and Rob Base.
The CD is also has peppered with clips and talks by the crowd – however, some reviews of the album say these vocal clips spoil the flow and ambience of the album.
The Haçienda Classics track listing
Here’s the track listing for the album
CD1
1-01 K-Klass – Rhythm Is a Mystery
1-02 Mr Lee* – Pump Up London
1-03 Turntable Orchestra – You’re Gonna Miss Me
1-04 Charles B– Lack of Love
1-05 Soft House Company – What U Need (LuvDup Sat at Home Mix)
1-06 The Beat Club – Security (Midnight Club Mix)
1-07 Farley “Jackmaster” Funk & Jesse Saunders Feat. Darryl Pandy – Love Can’t Turn Around
Featuring – Darryl Pandy
1-08 Happy Mondays – Hallelujah (Club Mix) Remix – Andrew Weatherall, Paul Oakenfold
1-09 Sugar Bear – Don’t Scandalize Mine
1-10 808 State – Pacific State
1-11 Urban Soul – Alright
1-12 A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray
1-13.1 New Order – Confusion
1-13.2 Rockers Revenge – Walking on Sunshine
1-14 Humanoid – Stakker Humanoid (Snowman Mix)
1-15 Kenny “Jammin” Jason & “Fast” Eddie Smith – Can U Dance
1-16 Black Box – Ride on Time
CD2
2-01 Alison Limerick – Where Love Lives (Classic Mix)
2-02 Inner City – Good Life
2-03 Richie Rich – Salsa House
2-04 DJ Mink – Hey! Hey! Can U Relate (Hard Rap)
2-05 Mr Fingers* – Can You Feel It
2-06 Orange Lemon – Dreams of Santa Anna
2-07 T-Coy – Cariño
2-08 Primal Scream – Come Together
2-09 Orbital – Belfast
2-10 Young MC – Know How
2-11 Kariya – Baby Let Me Love You for Tonight
2-12 Degrees of Motion – Do You Want It Right Now (King Street Mix)
2-13 Jaydee – Plastic Dreams
2-14 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock* – It Takes Two
2-15 Shannon – Let the Music Play (Original 12” Mix)
CD 3
3-01 Sub Sub– Space Face
3-02 Todd Terry Project* Featuring Class Action – Weekend
3-03 TC* – Berry
3-04 Bassheads – Is There Anybody Out There?
3-05 Eric B & Rakim* – Juice (Know the Ledge) (Instrumental)
3-06 Hashim – Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)
3-07 FPI Project – Everybody (All Over the World)
3-08 Loleatta Holloway – Love Sensation
3-09 Joe Smooth – Promised Land
3-10 New Order – Ruined in A Day (K-Klass Remix)
3-11 The Future Sound of London – Papua New Guinea
3-12 Sueno Latino*– Sueno Latino
3-13 King Bee – Back by Dope Demand
3-14 Rhythim Is Rhythim – Strings of Life
3-15 Sterling Void – It’s Alright
3-16 The Source Feat. Candi Staton – You Got the Love
There’s quite a lot of tracks packed on these CDs. I feature many of these tracks on my old school house music mixes (click here to view).
Haçienda classics download
To my knowledge there are no official digital downloads available of this CD. So if you want a copy then you’ll need to buy a copy from Discogs and then rip it to your hard disk. I recommend EAC for this task. You’ll also need a CD reader/burner which are rare these days to enable you to digitise the album.
Haçienda classics Playlist
A few people have collated all the tracks on this CD album and created a YouTube playlist of all the tracks (video below). The sound quality and volume of these tracks does vary as they have been compiled from different sources.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzSr_eZ6u7Yq-KxyS57FLOzZ0vhqtnlRY
Haçienda classics vinyl
At present there’s no official Haçienda classics vinyl available. Sorry vinyl lovers.
However, Factory Records and Deconstruction records did release a couple of EP’s featuring Haçienda tracks. You can view them here:
Haçienda Classics alternatives
Okay, so let take now look at some more records which were played at The Haçienda. Tunes which weren’t featured on the CD album which was released in 2006.
Onward…
1. Jomanda – Make My Body Rock (Feel It)
Jomanda was a 3-piece girl group from New Jersey, USA. They made many R&B and house records. The group produced two albums and a total of 19 singles and Eps.
Throughout the late 80s they produced some great jacking house music – this track was one of them.
“Make my Body Rock” has a lovely warm bass line, catchy piano hook, and some very fine vocals. As with every Jomanda track the production levels are first class considering when it was released (1988).
2. Blaze – If You Should Need a Friend
Blaze was another New Jersey house music group.
But in the late 80’s, British dance music was dominated by US house. This was because it found a receptive audience in the newly forming acid house and rave scene.
This track is superb. It’s a fine example of early USA Garage music. The production levels on this record are insane. Masterful work.
3. Denise Lopez – Don’t You Wanna Be Mine
This was a massive tune back at the time, and it’s a record which still tears dancefloors apart to this day.
For many years (or even decades) it was hard for most DJ’s (including myself) to obtain an original copy of this record. However, the vocal version was heavily bootlegged, and many DJ’s like me bought these illegal copies as it was the only to own a copy of this track.
But times have moved on, and thanks to sites like Discogs you can now obtain a copy of this record at a reasonable price.
I also believe this track has been repressed and there are even some high quality (official looking) bootlegs for sale too. I’m not surprised because there are still some shops selling this record for upwards of £50 even though it’s gotten easier to find an original copy.
The single of this record has five tracks and four of them are dance floor gems. The only one to avoid is the LP version which was clearly aimed at the charts.
Individual DJ’s used to be famous for preferring and playing the various remixes of this track. Sasha – when he was still playing cheesy house – used to play the big vocal version (the one in the above video), whilst DJs like Mike Pikering and Graeme Park tended to play the dub or instrumental versions.
Which is best? It depends. I love them all, but the full on vocal version will always have a place in my heart because I used to hear it at the Retro nights at the Angels, in my hometown of Burnley.
The production on “Don’t you Wanna Be Mine” is top notch as house music heavyweights Clivillés and Cole produced it.
One thing I love about this track – and most other Clivillés and Cole songs – are the phased percussion rolls they use. The use of these types of rolls were very popular in tracks around this time, but I don’t think anyone used the technique better than those guys.
Clivillés and Cole went on to have some massive chart hits, mainly under the alias of C&C Music Factory. Some of their biggest records include “Gonna Make You Sweat”, “A Deeper Love”, as well as many others. They also went on to work with the likes of Mariah Carey, Donna Summer, and many other big names.
This prolific partnership produced a string of dance and chart hits. If you think I’m joking just checkout all the stuff they remixed on Discogs.
Lastly, if you’re looking for a DJ mix featuring this track checkout this free mix of mine (click here to download).
4. House Gang* – Hittrax II
This is an unrated gem of track from 1988. Very tough, hard and unforgiving, especially when you consider the year it was made.
Great track though. Still sounds good today. And you can buy a copy for around £2.00 – what a bargain!
5. 101 – Move Your Body
A classic record produced the Belgian New Beat act 101.
101’s most famous track was the big hit “Rock To The Beat” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NVS0tz8u4M, but personally I think “Move Your Body” is a better track.
One of the members of 101 is Nikkie Van Lierop – more widely known as Jade4U.
Nikkie was a very prolific produce during the 80’s and 90’s. She was involved in many famous dance music and techno acts, the most famous probably her collaborations with Praga Khan, CJ Bolland and the tracks she produced as the Lords of Acid.
She’s produced a staggering amount of work, having several top 40 hits, UK chart hits and she was nominated for an American Billboard award. If you enjoy early euro techno you will probably have heard some of her work without releasing as she’s made records under many aliases and she’s still making records to this day.
6. Renegade Soundwave – The Phantom
Instantly recognisable breakbeat classic. Big Haçienda tune and a massive warehouse tune. This is also a record which still destroys dancefloors today.
“The Phantom” starts with a super catchy breakbeat loop, then the percussion rattles kick in, and then you’re hit with that funky-as-f’ck bassline (and when that bass kicks in the crowds go nuts). Layered over this is the memorable chorus in the form of a vocal chant – which even today I have no idea what it says.
Even though this was a released in 1989 – and acid house was the dominant sound during that year – this is proof of some of the superb and experimental music in circulation around the time.
Also, this record is like a precursor of the oncoming wave of UK rave sound which is going to become popular in the coming years.
Class record. Probably one of the best tunes of all time. And a very futuristic sounding track.
7. The KLF – What Time Is Love? (Pure Trance 1)
Another record which needs no introduction. However, usually most people are more familiar with the rap version of this KLF tune, which was the version which charted.
Personally, I don’t mind either version of this record. I do like the rap version even though it’s clearly a more commercial record.
One thing about the KLF is that their production was always very top notch, and their later stuff has that wall of sound feel to it. Drummond & Cauty have always known how to produce a very over-the-top sounding record, whilst pulling it off well.
But that’s why I love this version of “What time Is Love”. This version is much barer, minimalist, and stripped back. Many consider this tune as one of the first trance tunes to be released.
There’s a degree of controversy considering the main melody of this record. Around the time a lot of different artists used it for tracks. I’m sure Liasons D used it for a track, but I can’t remember which one it is (feel free to tell me in the comments). But the original innovator for this memorable melody hook is Anne Clark – Our Darkness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OguHIyNNblM.
This record is also on this DJ mix of mine if you fancy a punt (and a bit of free music).
8. New Order – MTO
You can’t have a list of Haçienda anthems and not have at least one New Order tune in it.
Anyway, I love this little unrated acid house gem of a tune from 1989.
I think during the 80’s New Order were at the top of their game. Back then they were making all sorts of different stuff. Pretty much any of their albums from the 80’s are fine examples of some of the best electronic music of the time – possibly all time.
The record MTO stands for ‘Much Too Old’. I always think this track is reminiscent of one of their earlier tracks, namely ‘Everything’s Gone Green’. One of the remarkable things about ‘Everything’s Gone Green’ is that it sounds like an acid house tune with some guitar licks, but it was released in 1982!
Honestly, if you’re not familiar with New Order early work, and you love electronic music. Do yourself a favour and sit down one afternoon with a few beers and listen to their first six albums. Stella work and such an important band. And whilst you’re at it don’t forget to add Joy Division to your listening session too – another Manchester tour-de-force.
9. R.J.’s Rule – On the Arsenal
![R.J.'s Rule - Kinectic Flight [1991]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_lZuaUOjsvo/0.jpg)
A bit of a harder style track here, especially when compared with the rest of the tunes in this list.
This is a great sounding track which makes clever use of a sample from ‘Adamski’s’ chart hit ‘Killer’. And it also samples a vocoder effect from the electro classic ‘Hashim - Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)’.
This 1991 rave classic is atypical of the harder sound which became popular around that year. As I’ve mentioned before, between the years of 1987-1994, the sound of dance music in the UK changed and mutated so much. By 1991 you had much tougher, heavier, and harder sounding music coming out, especially some of the tracks being produced in Europe.
10. Last Rhythm – Last Rhythm
Hmmm, where do you start with this record. It’s one of the biggest and best dance tracks of all time and a rave/Haçienda anthem.
I love pretty much all the versions and remixes of this track. I think they’re all great in their own way. But many other house DJ’s, ravers and dance music fans have their own opinion of which remix of this track is best.
I do think the original version of the track is the best. But I like the 1991 vocal version of this record too – it’s a playful, soulful and a very happy remix.
But the later remixes are worth a mention too. Although they live outside of the scope of this article, the Way-Out-West remix is probably one of the best (and one of their best remixes). And the Jimmy Gomez is an epic house stormer.
The End
So I hope you have enjoyed my little list of Haçienda anthems. Obviously, this isn’t meant to be a definitive list as probably millions of tracks got played at that nightclub during its years.
But if you like The Haçienda classics album, and you’re looking for similar tunes, then hopefully this listicle will provide you with some more listening pleasure.
Lastly, be sure to check out my free DJ mixes and podcast, as they have loads of tracks which were played at the Hacienda and other nights clubs and raves around that era.
My mixes also have some dope scratch skills too, so they’re a little different to most house mixes that available on the internet. I also include FLAC versions of my mixes as well.
So why not check them out while you’re here. After all my mixes are free and they cost nothing to download. Fancy a go? Then click here to view them all.
Keep on scratching
James DJ Kippax
Image used in the featured picture at the top of this article comes courtesy of Ben Kelly design.