Overview

Many myths surround the explosion of punk in Manchester given its repercussions. The central fable being of how a city was re-born by the seminal act of one gig and one band attended by many of the people who would go on to play a central part in the transformation of the city from post-industrial wasteland into multi-cultural hub. Martin Ryan caught the punk bug in 1976 just like everybody else, it's just that his memory is not clouded by apocrypha. He was there, or not there, and can recall dates, times, gigs and the growth of the nascent Manchester scene. He and Mick Middles even put a lot of it down in print in Ghast Up!, one of a rash of fanzines to emerge in punk's wake which gave space for future NME contributors Kevin Cummins and Paul Morley among others. Concentrating on the years 1976, 1977 and 1978 'Friends of Mine' is a blow-by-blow account of how punk really happened in Manchester.

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9781909360600

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Martin Ryan was born in 1955 in Stockport where he still lives with his wife Kate. They have 3 grown up children. In 1976 as a 20 year old rock music fan he regularly checked out local bands on the Manchester pub rock circuit. 1977 would prove a defining year as he began the short-lived Manchester punk fanzine Ghast Up alongside fellow punk convert Mick Middles thus beginning an involvement with the fabled Manchester scene that revolved around several bands and local luminaries such as Paul Morley and Kevin Cummins who frequented the mythical Sunday nights at the Electric Circus. Martin has written for the NME as well as contributing to several Mancunian publications, including the legendary City Fun fanzine that ran from 1978 through to the mid-eighties. He has been called on to provide his knowledge of the Manchester music scene to authors, film researchers and university students. Mick Middles is the author of 24 books, most of which have concentrated on Manchester music artists from punk to present. His work has appeared in Sounds,The Face, Daily Telegraph, Classic Rock, Classic Pop and many more. Mick lives with his wife, Vicky, in Flixton, Manchester.

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