Formby to The Verve via the magical Casino

three Number One hits with his only Top 10 chart entries. Following Yeh Yeh were Get Away in 1966 and The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde in 1967.

Fame, born Clive Powell, also worked extensively with his friend Alan Price of the Animals during the 1970s. The pair had a hit with Rosetta in 1971.

Singer Limahl, whose stage name is an anagram of his real name Christopher Hamill, found nationwide fame when Kajagoogoo’s debut single Too Shy went straight to number one in

January 1983. Two more hits followed. The single Ooh to Be Ah reached number seven in the UK charts and Hang on Now climbed to number 11. Their album White Feathers peaked at number five.

The Verve were formed in Wigan in 1990 by Richard Ashcroft (vocals), Nick McCabe (guitar), Simon Jones (bass) and Peter Salisbury (drums). They met at Winstanley Sixth Form College.

The band’s breakthrough came in 1997 with their LP Urban Hymns, still one of the best-selling UK albums of all time. It features the iconic single Bitter Sweet Symphony as well as the hits The Drugs Don’t Work and Lucky Man.

Finally, as well as producing some of Britain’s best musical stars, Wigan has welcomed a few too. The Beatles played a memorable concert at the town’s ABC cinema in October 13, 1964.

It was part of the Beatles’ UK tour which took in 26 venues in less than two months! Straight after playing Wigan, the Fab Four moved on to the ABC cinema in Manchester.

Readers can revel in the past 150 years with a brilliant anniversary book from the M.E.N. and local publishers iNostalgia. The Changing Face of Manchester: Second Edition is packed with past images of Manchester contrasted with modern photos of how the same scenes look now.

The book retails at £14.99, but M.E.N. readers can order it for the reduced price of £9.99 plus postage and packing. Just go to inostalgia.co. uk to place your order or telephone the order hotline on 01928 503777.