SHAUN RYDER
SHAUN was at the forefront of the Madchester scene and a regular at
“The Haci” with his indie band Happy Mondays, who had big hits with singles including Step On and Kinky Afro.
The singer, now 59, said: “Forty years is a long time but it has gone so quickly, it feels like yesterday – like five minutes ago. Time goes very quickly.
“Most of the time the Haci before 1987 was cold and empty, unless there was a band on, like James or New Order, or The Smiths.
“By 1987, when the DJS arrived, it was always full – by 9pm there would be queues around the building every night from Wednesday to Saturday.
“I remember seeing James when they were really big in the indie music scene and Morrissey playing with The Smiths with daffodils in his back pocket. I was in there any time there was a live band on.
“Obviously so many of them, including some of the acts we still play with now, like Primal Scream and Peter Hook, went massive. But they were huge for us at the time too and you’d always see the likes of James in NME.
“I was there on that night in 1984 when Madonna played as well. She wasn’t that well known outside New York but the Haci was styled on that New York scene, so it made sense for her to play there – it was like playing a gig in a warehouse in New York, and that was the idea.
“It was great. We had it good for a few years but nothing lasts forever.
“We still perform as Happy Mondays and it’s better than ever now. I am still so proud to have been associated with Factory Records – we were approached by different London labels but they were the only ones we wanted to sign with.
“And the legacy is still shown in Manchester today – people are still just as keen to see Hacienda music now as they were back in the day.”