North By North West: Liverpool & Manchester from Punk to Post-Punk & Beyond 1976-1984/Compiled By Paul Morley

Paul Morley is a hugely knowledgeable, perceptive if rather self-satisfied former musician, record label boss and now (again) critic. The idea of a compilation covering the simultaneous music scenes of two cities, so near but so far, at one of the most exciting and influential times in British music is a good one. However, the compilation is flawed for several reasons. Most significant is Morley's thinly disguised contempt for Liverpool and the musicians. I lost count how many times in the informative only for the informed liner notes Morley was quick to say that Liverpool was all mouth and no substance. There is a serious point to be developed about the sheer weight of expectation generated by the Beatles' legacy at which Morley only hints. There is a very interesting story about the differences between both cities (which will doubtless feature in Morley's forthcoming book on what is means to be northern) but the musical interaction, similarities and differences between both cities is much more complex than Morley states.

The next problem is the actual track listing. Each of the Manchester and Liverpool discs is broadly chronological from 1976-1984 and tends to focus on any one group's early output. Thus we get Buzzcocks' "Boredom", New Order's "Ceremony" and Echo & The Bunnymen's first two singles "Pictures on the Wall" and "Rescue". However, there is no absolute rule whereby each group's first single is played. This reaches absurd levels whereby the Smiths are represented by their seventh single, the admittedly great "How Soon is Now". I have to say that the natural cut off point of the compilation is 1980-81. The only reason for extending the scope to include 1984 seems to be to include the Smiths, as if no Manchester compilation could possibly exist without them (Morrissey might well have been at many of the important gigs of the late 1970s and close to the action but he had little if any actual contribution to the musical output through the formative years).

Other groups are poorly represented, eg the Fall's "Repetition". There are some criminal omissions, most noticeably Wild Swans' "Revoluntionary Spirit" which should have been on the bonus disc at least and calls into question why Echo & The Bunnymen are represented twice in addition to a solo track from Will Sergeant, even if he is arguably the greatest British guitarist of the post-punk era. Perhaps Morley thinks the Bunnymen escape the censure of being Liverpudlian because they were in awe of Mark E Smith and, as Morley himself admits in his recent Observer article, shared a musical affinity with Joy Division.

Devotees of the better known groups here will be hard pushed to find anything rare. Most rewarding for me were the songs by groups such as A Certain Ratio, Care and the Pale Fountains, whose guiding spirits have continued to make music but never quite received the acclaim which they deserved at the time.

The final annoyance is the afore-mentioned liner notes. Morley's piece in the Observer suffers from the same Mancunian bias but at least gives some context and chronology to musical developments. However, the notes ask an awful lot of someone not familiar with the period. Certainly the Liverpool scene is well documented in Tony Fletcher's Bunnymen biography "Never Stop", Julian Cope's autobiography "Head On" and an old BBC Rock's Family Trees on Eric's Club. Indeed a family tree for each city and a cross-over one for "Liverchest" (or should that be "Manpool"?) would have been very useful.

In summary, this is a missed opportunity to document an important time in British music. Perhaps Bill Drummond or Tony Wilson could be invited to have a second stab?

Having grown up in Manchester as a teenager, and living breathing the post-punk, factory records, music scene, it was with great interest i stumbled upon this album. It was exciting to hear some of the tunes i had long since forgoten about.

Playing it had me reminiscing about hanging round record stalls in the underound market and Butter lane antiques Market wearing long rain coats, and queing up outside HMV, to buy 'Blue Monday' on its first day of release.

I agree with the previous reviewer whole heartedly regarding choice of tracks. Some were too obvious. Durutti Column 'sketch for summer' in particular, i'm sure they've done other tracks but every compilation of this kind has that track on it. Some were an unlikely choices, why put Will Sergent on it and 2 Bunnymen tracks? Some were missed, 'Revolutionary Spirit' by Wild Swans in particular. Also, not sure why John Cooper Clarke appears on, Manchester and Liverchest?

I would have also liked a more informative booklet than the one written by Morley. His pretentious ramblings were not up my street im afraid. I was hoping he was going to capture the mood of the time.