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artist · acr
release · soundstation volume 2
year · 1997
genre · beat
label · robs records
catalogue · 12rob52
website · n/a
date · 01-oct-2004
quality · 217kbps/44,1khz
source · vinyl
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a1 samba 123 (fila brazillia rmx) 7:06
a2 yeah boy (sons of samarkand rmx) 5:17
b1 yeah boy (dj die remix) 7:05
playtime · 00h 19m 28s
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somewhere between the graveyard and the ballroom, in a place
defined by late seventies industrial manchester and early eighties
new york sunsets, at a point between the old and the new, they
found their feet. formed during the ampthetamine-crazed soundwave
that was punk uk 1978, taking in influences from teutonic
technotronicers kraftwerk, powered by wire and holding court in
george clinton's funkadelic house of parliament, a certain ratio
took to the stage.
intense and diverse, and originally drummerless, they released
their debut single in 1979 - "all night party/the thin boys"
through factory records, a label set up by rob gretton, alan
erasmus, and anthony (h) wilson. a highly prophetic choice of
title, as this was indeed the beginning of one long all-nighter
for both parties. donald johnson joined as drummer after its
release, completing the original line up with simon topping, jez
kerr, pete terrell and martin moscrop. the band returned to the
studio and completed a series of gigs around the country with
labelmates joy division during late '79 and early 1980. factory
released the debut album "the graveyard and the ballroom", a
limited edition cassette-only release that contained both studio
demos and live tracks.
the shorts and the army gear, the sally's army place on hulme
street never had it so good, it added to the darkness of it all,
the edge. it all worked so perfectly - the machine-gun scratch
guitar funk battled on stage with the combat clothes, a war-zone.
in late 1980, the story switches from post-punk manchester to the
hustle-bustle of the big apple, new york city. romantic mancunians
love to ponder the similarities between the two cities, the
skyline over hulme, the great canals running through the cities
(born from their mutual industrial heritage), the fantastic
nightlife. realistic mancs know the score - manchester is fuck-all
like new york, but it looks good in print. the band played gigs
with local funk-machine esg, along with a fledgling new order and
a little known support act by the name of madonna. they filmed the
'tribeca' film with michael shamberg, a film featuring a fantastic
gig at hurrah's, interspersed with footage of the band concocting
a percussive beatdown in their loft dwellings. in the middle of
this flurry of activity, the band checked into ears studio, new
jersey, with legendary producer martin hannett at the controls.
the fruits of these sessions formed acr's debut studio album, "to
each...", an album on which the impact was single-handedly
destroyed by "that idiot hippie" - an in-house engineer at the
studio who decided to zero all of hannett's mix settings before
he'd had chance to get the album to tape. the album was eventually
remixed and released in january 1981, proceeded by the single,
flight.
immediately after the release of "to each...", the band headed
back into the studio to record its follow-up, "sextet". this time
the choice of studio was less geographically glamorous -
revolution studios, in cheadle hulme. the album was self-produced,
and featured vocals from martha tilson, as simon topping retreated
to the background in the band. by the time of its release in
january 1982, "sextet" was receiving ecstatic reviews from the
press. again, the album was preceded by a single, "waterline",
with the rather dubious catalogue number - fac 52. fac 51 was the
catalogue number assigned to factory's world famous superclub, the
hacienda - constructed in a former yacht showroom!
if "sextet" pointed to more vocal, almost pop tendencies within
the acr artillery, their subsequent album release "i'd like to see
you again" saw the band march into much deeper territory, based
upon stripped down funk and influenced by a more electronic brand
of dance music. the emerging club influence is apparent throughout
the album, even on the cover where the band are photographed in
the gay traitor basement bar of the aforementioned haτ. martha
tilson had left the band prior to the album's recording, and this
led the band into a more experimental and instrumental approach.
the album received mixed reviews, but it fairs well on more recent
airings, this adds to the argument that the band often were ahead
of themselves - maybe they were just 'too early'! pete terrell,
apparently disillusioned by the music industry, left shortly after
the albums release. enter andy connell, a mean rhodes player,
whose funky clavi sound would once again lead a change in the
sound of the band. a second us tour beckoned during december 1982,
on the band's return they received another bombshell - simon
'dream' topping departed, and this was the beginning a dark period
for the band.
the band set about writing new material as a quartet, and
eventually recruited sax player tony quigley as a full-time member
(tony had previously roadied for the band). in june 1985, they
returned with their first single in this more permanent line-up,
"wild party", signalling a brilliant return to form. they set off
to tour the states again, with new order, and the tapes of these
gigs provided the mesmerising "acr live in america" album.
after their return from america, the band toured the uk
extensively. meanwhile, factory released "the old and the new" to
capitalise on this new found success. they disappeared into the
studio to record their fourth and final factory studio lp -
"force". the album was undeniably their finest recording yet, all
the elements had combined perfectly - the ferociously funky rhythm
section was tighter and bolder than ever, the effected guitars
soared ever higher, tony's sax cut like a knife through butter,
and the vocals had developed into a real treat - pop melodies
backed by additional vocals from corrine drewery. acr had come
full-circle, they were a great pop group in the making, and there
wasn't much factory could do to help them anymore.
in 1987, the band signed to a major label - a&m records, and
headed into the studio to record their 'pop' album, "good
together". the album is great, it's full of 'hit' records, but the
whole thing ended up just far too polished. julian mendelson was
at the desk for the majority of the recordings, and the edge is
lost by over-production. spending a whole week in the studio just
trying to get the 'perfect drum sound', seemed a far cry from
recording the whole of 'shack-up' for fifty quid back in 1980.
however the songs still shine through, and there was an impressive
selection culled from the album, notably "the big e (i won't stop
loving you)". fantastic design work also helped, courtesy of
johnson panas - it created a stunning visual focus for the album
and the subsequent single releases. the band played an amazing gig
at manchester's g-mex in december 1988, along with new order and
happy mondays - a gig that many see as the forerunner to the
'madchester' period.
in the year that followed acr built their own studio, the
soundstation, using the money from the advance paid to them by
a&m. a wise move, it gave them the opportunity to record as and
when they required. whilst many bands squander their advance
payment on the usual trappings of fame, or use it to pay for
studio time (at great cost), acr built their own recording
facility and this would benefit them for long after they split
from the label. it was during that time that the band also started
to work with programmer michael "moist" eastwood on all their
albums, singles and live performances. the single "i won't stop
loving you" was given the remix treatment by both bernard sumner
and norman cook, it looked like the tune would finally provide the
elusive hit and was played heavily by radio 1. unfortunately, it
only skimmed the top forty. it was followed by the distinctly
un-commercial, but ultimately fantastic, "acr:mcr" album. the
album was mainly instrumental, crossing from electro to dub to
latin and taking in a large disco biscuit on the way, and half the
album had been previously released on the "four for the floor" ep.
one of the main highlights from the album was the track "good
together", a post acid haze of a tune featuring the vocal talents
(?!) of one shaun william ryder and the omnipresent bernard
sumner. the track was previously much sought-after when it was
released on a pink-label 12" promo, and it was given a revamp
(featuring denise johnson) for its inclusion on the ep and album.
relations with a&m were beginning to wear thin, the label was
disappointed with the bands lack of commercial success, and the
band were disappointed with the way the label were trying to shape
their sound. the band had one last card up their sleeve. they
re-recorded their cover of the banbarras hit, "shack-up", and
backed it up with a plethora of remixes, again from norman cook.
the promo of the single was rushed out to radio stations across
the country, then - nothing. acr and a&m were no longer an item.
early 90's, manchester. the late and much missed rob gretton, new
order manager and mercurial man-about-town, had set up his own
label after hearing a promo by a south american dance outfit by
the name of 'the beat club'. anthony wilson, uninterested in
releasing dance music through factory, had passed over the chance
of releasing their debut - "security". rob saw potential in the
track, and set up rob's records with the intention of breaking the
tune in the uk. it enjoyed only minor chart success, but its
release on the label created a platform for rob to release more
dance-based music, and this was a fantastic opportunity for him.
rob offered to release future acr material through the label, and
as a result, 1991 saw the release of the double a-side "the
planet/loosen up your mind". they played at the cities in the park
festival during august, in a bill that also featured electronic,
happy mondays, and de la soul amongst many others.
in 1992, the band released their first 'robs' album - "up in
downsville", a soundclash in similar vain to "acr:mcr", with the
band serving up p-funk, latinesque instrumentals, and electronic
fused pop. the visuals were again provided by the now familiar
johnson panas team, this time backed up with additional images
from simon calderbank (a familiar face around manchester at the
time who was later to get involved in club promotions with a
series of popular nights across various venues in the city.) the
album spurned several singles - "27 forvever","turn me on"
(featuring denise johnson), and the m-people produced "mello".
during 1994, the band signed a deal with creation records who
subsequently re-issued the entire acr factory back catalogue along
with a remix album, "looking for a certain ratio". the remix album
featured brand new mixes from the likes of subsub and other two,
plus another re-recording of "shack-up".
the most recent album release was 1996's "change the station",
released through rob's records. this thirteen-tracker has quite
heavy jazz leanings, evident on tracks such as "sister brother"
and "desire". it also takes in the usual house and pop influences,
but the album is an altogether mellower offering than most of its
predecessors. after a triumphant gig at sankey's soap, the band
began to lie low and maintain radio silence.
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