Local music legends add re-release in bid to save Seven Sisters
ALEGENDARY rock band formed in Rochdale have joined the campaign to save the Seven Sisters tower blocks with a special album re-release.
Both the drummer and manager of Tractor lived in the College Bank flats in the 1970s and wanted to play their part in the bid.
Bosses at housing association Rochdale Boroughwide Housing want to knock down four of the seven tower blocks, which have dominated the town’s skyline for decades.
RBH say that as the towers are so old they would need too much investment - around £10m each - to remain safe and decent homes, particularly in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The eponymous Tractor album, which was originally released on John Peel’s Dandelion record label, has been ‘revamped’ and re-released as ‘Shubunkin Over Rochdale College Bank.’
Band manager Chris Hewitt said: “It was a creative place and I think it should not be a victim of social cleansing.
“To actually knock down towers that contain flats with hundreds of homes is ridiculous.
“If you go anywhere with a high vantage point, the first thing you see is the College Bank flats - they are the most prominent landmark.
“I will do my little bit. Whether it does anything or not we’ll see - we just hope to achieve some more attention for it and help in some way to the campaign.”
Chris, 65, was born in Middleton but lived in Rochdale for over 20 years, including four years in College Bank in the mid-1970s.
The flats were then also home to Tractor drummer and songwriter Steve Clayton, who spent 10 years living at College Bank and helped create a lot of the band’s songs there before they were recorded with guitarist Jim Milne.
Steve and Chris lived in College Bank alongside a lot of other creative residents who worked in the music and TV industries.
But on a recent return to his old home, Chris noted how the flats had fallen into disrepair, saying drains had been blocked, the grass had not been weeded and broken windows in the stairwell had been replaced with wooden boards.
He said: “When I lived there I had to go through a certain amount of references before you could even get a flat. It was quite hard to get a flat but when I went back I thought they had really let it go.
“When they opened in the 60s they were groundbreaking flats.”
An RBH spokesperson said their understanding of what was needed in College Bank was shaped by discussions with the community, along with technical surveys.
They added: “High-rise homes that are five decades old, in Rochdale and across the country, need significant investment to ensure that they remain safe and decent. Housing needs over the past 50 years have also changed dramatically, and in central Rochdale there is an acute need for welldesigned, affordable family houses.
“Post-Grenfell, we know that the works to ensure that these blocks provide good quality homes will involve investment of at least £10m for each block, and we do not have any prospect of accessing this level of investment for all seven tower blocks.
“For that reason, we have had to make some very difficult decisions about what is best for the long-term future of the area. This involves demolition of four blocks and seeking to put together a package of investment to comprehensively refurbish the remaining three blocks.
“We have made a clear promise that we will support all residents who need to move with their rehousing to a like-for-like home, and all residents who need to move and wish to stay within the town centre area will be able to do so – this includes moving into new homes we have built and homes we will build in future. At the end of the process, there will be more homes in the Rochdale town centre area, as well as a better quality, mix, and choice of homes.”
Tractor were formed in Rochdale in 1971 from the remains of three-piece band The Way We Live (originally formed in 1966 at Balderstone School).
With iconic Radio 1 DJ John Peel a fan, their second album was frequently heard on the airwaves and broke the Virgin Top 30 in 1972.
The ‘new’ record features the former B side Shubunkin as the lead track and a poem from College Bank resident Robin Parker on the sleeve. New cover art has also been added, with the iconic College Bank towers set in a fish bowl alongside seven Shubunkin goldfish.
Recorded as an instrumental, Shubunkin has recently been sampled and given a new lease of life by American indie rock band Broken Bells.
Tractor separated for around 20 years before reuniting to perform at Glastonbury in 2002 and were still releasing albums as recently as 2006. Chris said there was still some ‘unfinished’ business that might yet see them back in the studio.
Today Chris, who now lives in Shaw, sells a lot of their back catalogue through his label OzitMorpheus Records all over the world. The Rochdale band maintain fans in a ‘niche market’ to this day from as far afield as Japan, Canada and Germany.
On his return to Rochdale, Chris was also disappointed by the decline in the town’s music scene.
“Having been involved in music and culture in Rochdale, I have just seen the place really decimated by the (government) plans that always seem to cuts,” he said.
“It’s such a shame because it did have a thriving culture for music. It doesn’t even have a decent music venue and they have involve just ripped the heart out of the town.
“In the 70s and 80s, Rochdale was very much on the musical horizon. Now it doesn’t even revel in its former glories.”