76 track celebration of all things Manchester from 1977 to 1981.

A comprehensive look at the city’s sounds featuring Buzzcocks, Joy Division, New Order, The Fall, John Cooper Clark, Durutti Column, A Certain Ratio, The Freshies, Slaughter & The Dogs, Magazine and many more.

Includes tracks featuring many future stars of the Manchester music scene, such as Mick Hucknall (Simply Red), Martin Coogan (The Mock Turtles), Graham Massey (808 State), Mike Joyce (The Smiths) and Chris Sievey (Frank Sidebottom).

Back in 2017, Cherry Red unveiled a mammoth 7-CD compendium entitled ‘Manchester North Of England’, which attempted to document the city’s vibrant music scene from punk to Britpop. Six years on, ‘Keeping Control’ is the sequel, a modest triple-disc retrospective concentrating on
music from the punk and post-punk years.

‘Keeping Control’ boasts the “name” bands out of Greater Manchester from that period, however, the underlying musical story of this box set lies with the lesser-known Manchester Musicians Collective. A catalyst for many musicians at the time, the MMC organised gigs, other activities and encouragement to the many and varied talents emerging in the region during punk and its aftershocks.

Louise Alderman, co-founder of the Manchester Musicians Collective, has written a foreword for the box set, which is named after the MMC’s short-lived fanzine. Via Louise’s band mate in Manchester Mekon, Frank Ewart, we also have a few previously unissued tracks by acts closely
affiliated with the organization. At the time, the Collective was celebrated across two albums, ‘A Manchester Collection’ and ‘Unzipping The Abstract’ (both 1980) – and most of the artists from these releases are represented.

Beyond the MMC, Manchester enjoyed a thriving independent scene from 1977 onwards, inspired by Buzzcocks’ debut EP on New Hormones, Rabid, TJM, Object Music, Absurd, Bent and last but certainly not least Factory … each of them carved a different furrow. Outside of the gravitational pull of London, which exerted such a strong pull across the South of England, Manchester evolved its own unique identity, often mixing sharp humour with seemingly bleak, desolate-sounding music (reflecting the city’s hardship during that time).

1 BUZZCOCKS Orgasm Addict
2 SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS The Bitch
3 THE NOSEBLEEDS Fascist Pigs
4 THE DRONES City Drones
5 THE PANIK Murder
6 V2 Nothing To Do
7 JILTED JOHN Jilted John
8 GYRO Central Detention Centre
9 SALFORD JETS Lookin' At The Squares
10 JOHN THE POSTMAN'S PUERILE Kawalski Of The Seaview Has Got The Best Hairstyle I've Ever Seen
11 ALBERTO Y LOST TRIOS PARANOIAS Fuck You
12 JOHN COOPER CLARKE I Don't Want To Be Nice
13 THE TEARDROPS Pompous
14 PASSAGE Slit Machine
15 SPHERICAL OBJECTS Sweet Tooth
16 STEVE MIRO Smiling in Reverse
17 JOY DIVISION Digital
18 THE SMIRKS American Patriots
19 NOTSENSIBLES Lying On The Sofa
20 48 CHAIRS Psycle Sluts
21 EDDIE FICTION UFO Part 2
22 MELLOTRON Warriors From Space
23 SPEED She’s All There
24 GENOCIDE Renegade
25 SISTER RAY Suicide
26 EDDIE MOONEY & THE GRAVE I Bought Three Eggs
27 GERRY AND THE HOLOGRAMS

1 THE FALL Flat Of Angles
2 STEROID KIDDIES Seaside Teaser
3 DIRECT HITS Back To The Sixties
4 FOREIGN PRESS Crossfire
5 CRISPY AMBULANCE Motorway Boys
6 I.Q. ZERO Insects
7 ACCIDENT ON THE EAST
LANCS. We Want It Legalized
8 THE OUT Who is Innocent?
9 GODS GIFT These Days
10 MUD HUTTERS Danger
11 PATHETIX Love in Decay
12 PRIVATE SECTOR Just Wanna Stay Free
13 THE FRANTIC ELEVATORS Hunchback Of Notre Dame
14 FAST CARS You're So Funny
15 MISS KATE Ebony Eyes
16 GROW-UP The Best Thing
17 PROPERTY OF... Dance Like You’re Dead *
18 THE DISTRACTIONS Doesn't Bother Me
19 THE DURUTTI COLUMN Sketch For Summer
20 BET LYNCH’S LEGS Riders In The Sky
21 THE HOAX Storm Trooper
22 MANICURED NOISE Metronome
23 MAGAZINE A Song From Under The Floorboards
24 VIBRANT THIGH Walking Away
25 ENIGMA Play With Fire
26 THE STILL 9.5
27 SPURTZ Boyfriends Or Your Money Back
28 THE CHARLIE PARKAS Space Invaders

1 IF ONLY Puppet Masters
2 THE CHEATERS (I Wanna Be A) Policeman
3 THE MEKON Must Have More Wheels
4 BATHROOM RENOVATIONS Apathetic Hell
5 THE LIGGERS Recorded Or Live *
6 SECTION 25 Knew Noise
7 THE DIAGRAM BROS. There Is No Shower
8 THE THINGS Pieces Of You
9 DISLOCATION DANCE Familiar View
10 MARTIN HANNETT The Music Room
11 BLUE ORCHIDS The Flood (Demo) *
12 KEVIN HEWICK Haystack
13 ELECTRA COMPLEX Magic *
14 HAMSTERS Animal
15 BITING TONGUES You Can Choke Like That
16 THE FRESHIES Wrap Up The Rockets
17 LUDUS Hugo Blanco
18 MOTHMEN Temptation
19 A CERTAIN RATIO Waterline
20 BEE VAMP Lucky Grills
21 NEW ORDER Everything's
Gone Green