Hacienda fan club is still strong
whelmed” by the venue. However, he said he was fascinated by music culture and went to the auction and came away with a dance floor plank which cost him £5.
A few months later he was having a pub debate with a friend about the poor quality of films.
“I’m very opinionated about films,” said Chris. “My mate said, ‘Why don’t you do better?’ and I said, ‘OK.’
When he wondered about a subject, his pal said: “What about that piece of dance floor you bought. Why not find the rest of it?”
The idea grew and developed from there to finding as many people who bought auction lots as possible, and finding out why.
Hook, former club DJs Graeme Park, Mike Pickering and Dave Haslam and Inspiral Carpets’ Clint Boon came forward to be interviewed about their Hacienda mementoes, which included a guitar made from the dance floor. Liam Gallagher is also interviewed. After a social media appeal for help in making the film, everyone who contributed to the 90-minute documentary did so for nothing and it turned into a big charity project.
All of the profits from the film are going to Cancer Research UK (CRUK), chosen because of the help Wilson received after he was diagnosed with renal cancer. He died in 2007.
“The club’s story has been well told and all the people who have helped me out wouldn’t have done so if this wasn’t for charity,” said Chris.
“But, you know, people get very misty-eyed when I ask what made the Hacienda so special. It’s like I’m taking them back to the best night of their lives.”
Do You Own The Dancefloor? is at the Tyneside Cinema at 8.30pm on August 17, and includes a Q&A with the film-maker and after-party event. Tickets cost £12 (£10 concessions).
A SPECIAL charity event at the Tyneside Cinema with a unique take on a moment of British music history takes place next week.
A documentary will be screened called Do You Own The Dancefloor? about the legendary Hacienda nightclub in Manchester, and its demise.
The inspiration behind it are the people who bought parts of the club when they were auctioned off in November 2000.
In an extraordinary sale, literally everything was up for grabs – from bricks and dance floor planks to balcony balustrades, the cash register and the distinctive ‘garden shed’ DJ booth. Even a stainless steel urinal went under the hammer, so to speak.
Among the buyers was entrepreneur Aaron Mellor, boss of Tokyo Industries, whose property portfolio includes Digital Newcastle and the old Stereo nightclub.
Digital is home to the Hacienda’s old Technics 1210 turntables and its sound system, which Aaron managed to buy just prior to the auction, while a piece of the Hacienda dance floor was built into Stereo.
He also snapped up a black and white bollard signed by Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder and New Order bassist Peter Hook, and a picture of manager and Factory label boss Anthony H Wilson.
“I honestly can’t remember how much I paid,” Aaron admitted. But whatever it was, he said it was well worth it as he recalled the influence that the Hacienda had on him.
Aaron, who comes from Oldham, said when he first went to the Hacienda in 1988 it was like walking into another world.
“I’d never seen anything like it before. It was amazing, it just blew me away,” he said.
It had a profound effect on him – he moved to Manchester and became a DJ at the club - and, also in time, on the music scene of Newcastle.
Aaron explained: “In 1992 I moved from Manchester to Newcastle to study architecture at Northumbria University when Manchester – or Madchester – was the music capital of the world.” He said when he arrived, the Newcastle club scene felt old-fashioned in comparison.
To put this right, with a number of others he started first the Bulletproof dance night in the city and when Foundation opened in Newcastle, moved their Stonelove night up from the Hacienda to Foundation.
Aaron said: “In 2000 we opened Stereo, the city’s first ‘style bar.’ I hate that phrase now but at the time it was revolutionary for Newcastle and for me heavily inspired by DRY201 (the Hacienda’s pre-bar). Digital then followed in 2005 – itself named after Joy Division’s first material.
“In 2009 Hooky came to Newcastle to do a book launch at HMV Newcastle of How Not To Run A Nightclub, a book documenting the Hacienda, the worst thing ever and how he’d never do it again.
“In true Factory irony – at that book launch we (Aaron and Hooky) decided we’d buy FAC251, the Factory Offices, and make that into a nightclub.”
He added: “Wilson’s approach to Factory, the Hacienda, the design influence of Ben Kelly and Peter Saville and the music of New Order and Joy Division have left a life-long effect on me – and in turn upon Newcastle as a direct result upon Foundation, Stonelove, Stereo and Digital.”
The Hacienda opened in 1982 and managed to survive until 1997 despite massive financial problems due to the Factory Record sales of New Order – formed from Joy Division after their singer, Ian Curtis, died.
The documentary has been made by first-time film-maker Chris Hughes. He said he went to the Hacienda a couple of times but admitted he was “under
MIKE KELLY ON A FILM THAT CELEBRATES A LEGENDARY MANCHESTER NIGHTSPOT