That said, ORG 1 hardly qualifies as sonic architecture, for studio time was short, and the owners so contemptuous of Buzzcocks' raw punk noise that the multi-track was subsequently erased. Spiral Scratch was light years ahead of the competition, for which Hannett must claim some of the credit, since a longer demo recorded two months earlier (and later released on the official bootleg Time's Up) doesn't quite measure up. The highlight is surely Boredom, two minutes and fifty-two seconds of nihilistic ennui expressed through Devoto's arch lyrics, coupled with a three-note idiot savant guitar solo courtesy of Pete Shelley. Musically, too, the EP stands a landmark in its own right, all four songs sounding raw and energetic, yet far more artsy and sophisticated than most of their London counterparts. Better still, it went to sell a miraculous 16,000 copies before being reissued through a major. As well as being only the third British punk record to reach the buying public, it represents the first independent, do-it-yourself, we-are-the-means-of-production release. The reason behind his recruitment was simple enough, as singer Howard Devoto recalls: "Martin was the only person we knew in Manchester that was known as, or called themselves, a producer."īuzzcocks recorded their seminal Spiral Scratch EP as part of a rushed eight hour package session at Indigo Sound Studio on 28 December 1976, released with impressive speed on their own New Hormones imprint (ORG 1) in January 1977. #Westlake audio studio manager in 1980 professional#He and Tosh at Music Force were in the right place at the right time, and being of an age group closer to the emerging punk musicians Martin was able to establish closer relations with them."Īs Martin Zero, Hannett's first professional production gig came at the invitation of a far better Manchester punk band, Buzzcocks, for whom he had already booked a couple of live shows through Music Force. Lee and John Scott later observed that: "Martin was a power freak, and opposed to dealing with uppity musos like Sad Café, punk bands presented him with raw materials that he could manoeuvre and mould. At the beginning of 1977 Hannett, Ryan and Lawrence Beadle further expanded their burgeoning empire by setting up Rabid Records as a vehicle to promote Slaughter and the Dogs, a glam/punk hybrid from darkest Wythenshawe, who had already contributed a couple of tracks to the famous Live at the Roxy compilation.Ĭ.P. Hannett also produced material for Greasy Bear, a project featuring C.P. One of his first commissions was incidental music for an agit-prop theatre group called Belt and Braces Roadshow in 1975, followed by the soundtrack for an animated science-fiction short, All Sorts of Heroes, composed by future Invisible Girl Steve Hopkins. With the proceeds, Hannett and Ryan were able to purchase premises at 20 Cotton Lane, Withington, where Zero was able to realise his ambition of setting up a recording studio. A musicians' co-operative, Music Force booked gigs (favoured venues included the Band on the Wall and Rafters), arranged PA hire, and also operated a lucrative fly-posting business. Eventually he would quit his day job to run Music Force with Tosh Ryan and others. Always a music head ( "he was forever rebuilding his hi-fi"), Hannett also found time to learn bass guitar, mix live sound, and work as a roadie. As an audience member he saw the Beatles and the Stones, and a hundred more besides, and would himself book bands as a member of the UMIST social committee. Raised in Miles Platting, he completed a chemistry degree at Manchester Polytechnic (aka UMIST), and after graduating in 1970 took a job in a science lab. Martin 'Zero' Hannett was born into a Catholic family in north Manchester in June 1948. The following text is an amended version of a sleevenote for Zero: A Martin Hannett Story, a compilation CD released by Ace Records (CDWIKD 270) in 2006.
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