Music Therapy column: The film that defined a new generation

Two films making 'Music Therapy' headlines on the show this weekend will be 24 Hour Party People and Creation Stories. Michael Taylor tells us more...

This week, in 2002, the film that defined how a generation views Manchester’s music scene was released in cinemas. 

There’s a lot to love about 24 Hour Party People. The music featured in it is obviously from two golden ages of music. The post-punk 70s and the dance scene that exploded in 1988. 

Basically, I love the warmth of the film, the chippy northerners taking on the world. Others didn’t; I remember Steve Morris, New Order’s drummer, describing it as ‘Carry On Factory Records’.

Steve Coogan played a version of Tony Wilson that had more in common with Alan Partridge than the Cambridge-educated intellectual who I knew, but then Tony was a very complex man. 

The script written by Frank Cottrell Boyce took on the most compelling characteristic of Tony – his forward motion.

I remember at the time Tony writing in City Life magazine scoffing at those who were grumpy at the omission of key characters from the Manchester scene at the time. 

I can’t quote him accurately, which is something of a habit in Manchester, but the general gist was ‘make your own film, this is mine’.

Incidentally, I’ve written a blog elsewhere called ‘Trust me, Tony Wilson never said: “This is Manchester, we do things differently here.”’ Google it if you’re interested. It’s from the film, not real life.

What was true to life was the stunning recreation of the Hacienda nightclub. People I knew who were extras on those scenes said it was spooky how good it was.

Last week I watched Creation Stories, which I think tries to do something similar with the tale of Alan McGee and Creation records in the 1990s. 

There’s plenty of music in it, plenty of liberties with facts, and some of the slightly trippy scenes are very well presented by Ewen Bremner as McGee. 

The scenes at King Tut’s club in Glasgow where he stumbles across a bunch of belligerent Mancunians have an understated comic genius about them, but overall it’s a bit of a mess.

There’s a couple of people in the film who I know quite well and it doesn’t come close to presenting them either fairly, accurately, or even taking the rise out of them in an effective way. 

On the show this weekend we’ll have a chat about this, and play a couple of songs from both films. 

As well as being better written, designed and acted, I think on balance 24 Hour Party People also has the benefit of far better source material.

Happy Monday get wrecked on Barbados, fail to deliver an album and Factory goes bust, Wilson goes back to being Granada TV’s Alan Partridge. 

My Bloody Valentine take ages to record an album, Creation sells out to Sony, McGee discovers Oasis (the belligerent Mancunians, do keep up) and buys a share in Chelsea FC. 

24 Hour Party People also has a far better soundtrack too, but then that’s just the view of this chippy northerner.

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