4CD - Come Together: Adventures On The Indie Dancefloor 1989-1992

As the Berlin Wall came down and a new decade beckoned, indie and dance collided and bands like The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and The Charlatans spearheaded a new music movement dubbed ‘baggy’ or ‘Madchester’. While the focus was on Manchester, it was an explosion that stretched from the Glasgow area with The Soup Dragons and Primal Scream to Liverpool with The Farm, Leeds with the Bridewell Taxis and Flowered Up in London.

The ‘Madchester’ sound incorporated elements of 60s psychedelia, 80s indie, 70s funk and contemporary house and hip hop; 808 State were an electronic dance act, The Stone Roses, a guitar band with a funky rhythm section, Inspiral Carpets used a Farfisa organ associated with 1960s garage punk and Happy Mondays played a truly unique blend of indie funk.

The Hacienda nightclub in Manchester co-owned by New Order was a catalyst and cultural centre for this music explosion, having played US house music from 1987. Another influence was the increasing availability of MDMA in the city.

Remixes were an important part of the indie dance crossover scene and 12” remixes here include Paul Oakenfold ’s pioneering ‘Think About The Future Mix’ of Happy Mondays’ ‘W.F.L.’, Terry Farley’s mixes of Primal Scream’s ‘Come Together’ and The Soup Dragons’ ‘I’m Free’ and Andy Weatherall’s reconstruction of James’ ‘Come Home’.

Also included are other indie bands who embraced dance music after discovering sampling and the new music technology including Aberdeen’s The Shamen who’d started out as a psychedelic guitar band before evolving into a dance act and Stourbridge’s self-styled grebos, Pop Will Eat Itself whose music metamorphosised from pop-punk into a hybrid of rock, hip hop and dance.

Hits include The Stone Roses ‘Fool’s Gold’ (UK #9) and Happy Mondays ‘Step On’ (UK #5) plus there’s dancefloor favourites such as The Charlatans’ debut Hammond groove ‘Indian Rope’ and rarities including the excellent but forgotten ‘Perfect Person’ by Sinister Groove.

Track Listing

DISC ONE

1 Happy Mondays – W.F.L. ‘Think About The Future’ Mix (The Paul Oakenfold Mix)
2 Inspiral Carpets – Joe
3 808 State – Pacific State – Origin (12” Version)
4 James – Come Home (Weatherall Remix a.k.a. Skunk Weed Skank Mix)
5 The Farm – Stepping Stone (12” Ghost Dance Mix)
6 Hypnotone – Dream Beam (Ben Chapman Remix)
7 New Fast Automatic Daffodils – Big (Baka)
8 Paris Angels – All On You (Perfume) (12” Version)
9 The Bridewell Taxis – Spirit (LFO Decision Remix)
10 Electronic – Get The Message (DNA Groove Mix)
Future Sound Of London – Papua New Guinea (12” Original Mix AKA Dali Mix)
11 The Beloved – The Sun Rising (Danny’s Love Is… Remix)
12 The Times – Manchester (Single Version)
13 Candy Flip – Strawberry Fields Forever (Raspberry Ripple Remix)

DISC TWO

1 The Stone Roses – Fools Gold 9.53
2 The Charlatans – Indian Rope
3 Moonflowers – Get Higher (Rather Large In The Bristol Area Mix)
4 Northside – Shall We Take A Trip (12” Version)
5 The Mock Turtles – Can You Dig It?
6 Spin – Scratches (In The Sand)
7 World of Twist – She’s A Rainbow (12” Version)
8 Sinister Groove – Perfect Person
9 Spirea X – Re: Action
10 The Candy Skins – For What It’s Worth
11 Honey Smugglers – You Are The Sun
12 Airhead – Counting Sheep
13 The Telescopes – Celeste
14 The Hollow Men – Thrilled
15 Spacemen 3 – Big City (Everybody I Know Can Be Found Here) (12” Version)

DISC THREE

1 Primal Scream – Come Together (Terry Farley Extended 12” Mix)
2 Flowered Up – It’s On
3 Saint Etienne – Kiss And Make Up (Midsummer Madness Mix)
4 Inspiral Carpets – Commercial Reign
5 The Shamen – Pro>Gen (Land Of Oz Mix)
6 Intastella – Century (12” Version)
7 Happy Mondays – Step On (Twisting My Melon Mix)
8 The Primitives – You Are The Way (Re-Ravishing Mix)
9 The Wendys – The Sun’s Going To Shine For Me Soon
10 Chapterhouse – Pearl (12” Version)
11 Raintree County – Mad Dog
12 King Of The Slums – Bear Wiv Me (Flourescent Mix)
13 A Certain Ratio – Twenty Seven Forever (12” Version)

DISC FOUR

1 The Soup Dragons – I’m Free (Terry Farley Boys Own Remix)
2 Stereo MC’s – Connected
3 Ruthless Rap Assassins – And It Wasn’t A Dream (Dare To Be Aware Mix)
4 MC Tunes Versus 808 State – Tunes Splits The Atom (Original Rap)
5 That Petrol Emotion – Tingle (Hard Boppin’ Mix)
6 Julian Cope – Love L.U.V. (Beautiful Love Remix)
7 Jesus Jones – Real Real Real (Rhythm 3 – Ben Chapman “Spaced” 12” Mix)
8 The Charlatans – Opportunity Three
9 The Dylans – Lemon Afternoon
10 Pop Will Eat Itself – X,Y and Zee (Electric Sunshine Style)
11 Stan – My Delight (Extended Mix)
12 Cud – Magic (Extended Farsley Mix)
13 Blow-Up – World (Long Version)
14 The Popguns – Crazy
15 Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine – After the Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way)