Leave The Capital
Paul Hanley's history of Manchester music in 13 recordings, and how two recording studios facilitated a musical revolution that would be defined by its rejection of the capital.
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Dub Sex & Other Stories
Dive into the pulsating heart of Manchester music with this spellbinding memoir. Swerve provides intimate, eye-witness access to all the haunts and people associated with its golden era, both the icons and the ones less celebrated, from the early days of punk to the frenzy of Madchester. Mark Hoyle is in the middle of it all.
Plunged into the UK care system following the death of his mother, Mark escaped aged sixteen to find a surrogate family in the wider musical community that was exploding on his doorstep. Whether as a dedicated member of the Manchester Musicians’ Collective, working at the Haçienda, or living amongst the creative chaos of Hulme’s notorious crescents, we witness an artist developing in the raw. Against this backdrop, Mark’s band Dub Sex emerge, into which everything flows.
Open, gripping and powerfully optimistic, Swerve is a portrait of the artist as a young man, Manchester style, where music isn’t just a soundtrack but a lifeline.
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International Times
Captures 1980s Manchester’s underbelly, or perhaps heart would be a better term, in all its decadent, grimy glory. Zines, record stores, unknown bands and stray individuals are all here in a highly readable mix of remembering and storytelling. It’s good stuff.
Jon Ronson
Mark Hoyle was there for everything. He’s mysterious and fascinating, with great stories and an extraordinary history.
Steve Hanley
Mark Hoyle moved in the orbit of Manchester music at such a crucial time. His ability to write about it in vivid and personal detail is exceptional and constantly surprising.
Mark Burgess
Mark has my total respect as an artist and fellow survivor. This insight will be valuable to anyone that shares a passion for the Manchester music scene and its genesis.
Louder Than War
[Dub Sex] could only have come from the crescents of Hulme, such is the rawness and intensity. If the music of Dub Sex provides a soundtrack to Hulme, then, through Swerve, Hoyle provides the narration, from the centre of the cauldron, capturing the essence of what still bonds many today. Whilst the odds were against the author to begin with, his story of one of inquisitiveness, determination and drive underpinned by friendships which have endured in some cases for 50 years. Swerve is an incredibly honest book which will have the reader hooked. It’s so loaded with detail, of people, places and events, that it’s hard to articulate just how rich this is.
Beth Taylor
Written with heartbreaking honesty about his childhood, it then becomes a total time machine back to 70s/80s Manchester. A beautiful book.
Paul Hanley
I can't recommend this book highly enough. Come for the insight into Manchester in the 1980s, and stay for the insights into the human condition.
Mark Hoyle
Mark Hoyle was born in Manchester in 1962. His first band Vibrant Thigh released their debut recording when he was just sixteen years old. He subsequently had success with his bands Dub Sex and Dumb, releasing four albums and recording five sessions for Radio 1’s John Peel show, and contributed to albums by Finley Quaye and Heath Common.
He is the father of two grown-up children. He continues to perform music and spoken word, both on his own and as a member of Manchester-based duo, SPIRIT:level.
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