Suburb that ain’t half a hotspot for producing stars
Nostalgia looks back on the wealth of creative talent to come out of Crumpsall down the years
WHAT do Lisa Stansfield, Don Estelle, Freddie Garrity, Mike Harding and Mani of the Stone Roses all have in common? The answer is – they were all born in Crumpsall.
The Manchester suburb has been a breeding ground for musical talent down the years, ranging from Freddie and the Dreamers in the 1960s to Jason Orange and Take That in the 1990s and beyond.
In addition, actors David Threlfall of Shameless and Jeff Hordley, famous for playing Cain Dingle in Emmerdale, both come from Crumpsall.
So too does distinguished writer Howard Jacobson as well as actor and rapper Bugzy Malone, the first artist from the grime genre to find commercial success in the UK.
Actor Don Estelle, who became a household name for playing Lofty in the TV sitcom It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, was born in Crumpsall in May 1933 and sang in the choir at St Mary’s Church.
He appeared in the Backyard Kids show at Hulme Hippodrome before working the Northern club circuit with comedy actor Windsor Davies – his future co-star in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.
Estelle and Davies were a double act for years before landing the roles of Gunner ‘Lofty’ Sugden and Battery Sergeant Major ‘Shut Up’ Williams in the long-running BBC TV show in 1974.
Lofty’s ironic nickname came from Estelle’s height – he was only 4ft 9ins.
Written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum told the story of a Royal Artillery concert party in India and Burma at the end of the Second World War. It ran for eight series until 1981.
Estelle and Davies even went to Number One in the UK singles charts with Whispering Grass in 1975 and had a Top Ten album with Sing Lofty in 1976.
Slightly taller than Estelle at 5ft 4ins was Freddie Garrity, lead singer of Manchester group Freddie and the Dreamers from 1959 until his retirement in 2001.
Born in Crumpsall in November 1936, Garrity was renowned for his energetic dance moves. He’d bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying as the rest of the band tried to follow suit.
Garrity worked as a milkman before joining local skiffle group the Kingfishers which in turn became Freddie and the Dreamers. By 1963, the band notched up a string of Top Ten hits including I’m Telling You Now and You Were Made for Me.
Folk musician Mike Harding, born in Crumpsall in October 1944, played with several Manchester groups in the 1960s. He found success when he broadened his act by telling jokes between songs.
His first album, A Lancashire Lad, was released in 1972 but it was his single The Rochdale Cowboy which brought him national fame. It climbed to No. 22 in the UK charts in 1975.
Since then, Harding has made numerous TV and radio programmes and has become a recognised poet, broadcaster, photographer, film-maker and playwright.
Crumpsall-born singersongwriter Lisa Stansfield attended Siddal Moor School in Heywood before winning the Search For a Star competition at the Talk of the Town Nightclub in 1981.
Her breakthrough came in 1989 with her first solo album Affection and the chart-topping single All Around the World. Affection remains her best-selling album to date.
Our photo shows Stansfield performing the Queen song These Are the Days of Our Lives with George Michael at the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in 1992.
Pictured on stage in August 2012 is Mani, the Crumpsall-born bassist of Madchester music-scene pioneers the Stone Roses.
Formed in 1983, the group achieved critical acclaim for their debut album The Stone Roses released in 1989. It is now widely regarded as one of the greatest British albums ever recorded.
Singer and actor Jason Orange joined hugely successful boy band Take That in September 1989 and was a key member for seven years until 1996 when the group decided to take a break.
Stage and screen actor and director David Threlfall is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in the Channel 4 series Shameless.
He also portrayed Tommy Cooper in the 2014 TV film Tommy Cooper: Not Like This.
Crumpsall actor Jeff Hordley studied Theatre Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre before appearing in longrunning Granada soap Coronation Street. He played the intense character Cain Dingle in the ITV drama Emmerdale from 2000 to 2006, and then returned in 2009. Hordley has been nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Actor on three occasions.
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