Everyone has heard of The Haçienda, but not many people know about Legend, which could well be described as Manchester’s other club of the ’80s – Greg Wilson was fortunate enough to be associated with both.
It’s thirty years this month since he took over the Wednesday night there – this would prove to be the defining moment in his DJ career.
The debut night was August 12th 1981, and Greg would play every Wednesday up until the end of 1983, when he retired as a DJ. This was with the exception of one night in May ’83 when he was in London for the Blues & Soul awards where he was was named North’s Top DJ, and, to complete a clean sweep, Wigan Pier & Legend, his weekly residencies, placed 1st and 2nd in the club category – Greg brought in a young DJ called Chad Jackson to cover that night. Chad would later go on to be crowned DMC World Mixing Champion in 1987, and score a big hit single with ‘Hear The Drummer Get Wicked’ in 1990.
There were only about 80 people there that first night, almost all of whom were black kids seriously into their music and dancing. The night, originally launched when the club opened almost a year earlier, had previously been successful with Nicky Flavell and then John Grant at the helm.
Legend (or ‘Legends’ as the black crowd always called it) was a phenomenal club – there’s nothing comparable nowadays, they just don’t make them like that anymore. A quite spectacular environment with its space age metallic décor (15,000 steel cans were spot welded together at different levels to form its unique silver ceiling), especially when the laser was bouncing about off all the reflective surfaces. The sound system was unparalleled in the city at that time, the sub-bass (another unique feature back then) would practically punch you in the chest! The lighting was even more impressive than Wigan Pier, which was an achievement in itself. Legend’s own brochure boasted; “A circular dance area raised above the general floor level peppered with 2000 Tivoli lights forms the focal point of this new futuristic disco club, enhanced by the most up-to-date light show tailor-made to the overall design, it includes numerous par 36 lamps, scanner spots, jumbo and scatter strobes, mirror balls, half a mile of neon and a five colour computer controlled laser…The catalogue of lighting effects and laser technology with a full array of 12 channel American control boards gives the light jock plenty of scope to practice his art. The various effects include ‘tumbling’ neon rings on the shiny steel pillars which dominate the standing area, a pin spot light curtain, diversity arms spreading from the centre of the dance area ceiling and principally the 4 watt argon iron laser with an additional dye laser”. Talk about blinded with science!
Like the Pier, it was one of the precious few clubs in the UK to place the emphasis firmly on its sound and lighting, and as such the DJ and light jock were regarded as the companies most valued employees. This was at a time when most clubs’ idea of a lightshow was a few coloured bulbs hooked up to a single sound-to-light unit, so they flashed along in time with the beats. If you were lucky there’d maybe be a handful of pin-spots, some ropelights, a splash of neon, a solitary strobe or a UV strip.
It’s highly likely that Legend would have turned to Mike Shaft in an attempt to revitalize the Wednesday night, but he was also tied into his Tuesday night session The Main Event at Placemate 7 (the site of the old Twisted Wheek) so that was a non-starter. Instead they asked Greg, and he knew he had his work cut out if it wasn’t to be a short lived experience. Although there were so few people in the club, he was instantly aware that those who had turned out were serious music heads. They weren’t really interested in the microphone patter, which was the DJ norm back then in the UK, it was all about the music, and with this in mind he made what would turn out to be a pivotal decision. Greg resolved to change his approach more towards mixing the records that he played, taking advantage of the fact that Legend had three Technics SL1200s (the first he’d ever seen in this country). This was a bold move, but one Greg felt would completely suit the type of audience he hoped to attract. A state-of-the-art venue like Legend demanded a radical new approach to musical presentation and, if they were to turn the tide, it was vital that they not only promoted the club as the superior venue that it undoubtedly was, but that Greg also set himself apart from all the other DJs on the Jazz-Funk scene. It was following this that he became known as ‘a mixing DJ’ – this was at a time when no other DJs on the scene in the North were placing the emphasis on mixing, and only Froggy, who’d invested in a pair of 1200s for his Roadshow, was doing so down South.
The first few months at Legend were mainly about damage limitation, and they managed to stabilise the numbers around the 100 mark. Greg worked alongside resident DJs Paul Rae and Ralph Randell during this period, taking the night over completely when they moved across to the Pier on a Wednesday to launch a new Alternative / Futurist night, (their Thursday Dancematic night at Legend was a major success, and a whole story within itself – many of the original Haçienda crowd would have regularly attended this night). With Paul and Ralph gone, Greg now worked alongside Pier light controller, Paul Vallance, playing every week from 9pm – 2am, and loving every single minute of every week.
The night would eventually take off in a major way, and by May ’82 right up to the time Greg stopped at the end of ’83 it remained packed to its 500 capacity. There were queue’s right up Princess Street every week, with people travelling in from all over the North and Midlands, and even as far as London – if you didn’t get there early you might not get in at all.
Greg’s status as a DJ was elevated from up-and-coming to central, and his controversial championing of the evolving Electro-Funk movement would turn the black music scene on its head, helping create a crossroads from which the old (Soul, Funk, Jazz-Funk) would branch off into the new (Hip Hop, House, Techno). Greg’s mixes for Mike Shaft’s Piccadilly Radio show would spread his name, and the music he played, to a much wider audience – things quickly snowballed for him. It was undoubtedly a hybrid era, and Legend was its key venue – Gerald Simpson (aka A Guy Called Gerald) would state that having now played around the globe he’d not experienced a club to rival it, adding that “the atmosphere was something I’ve never ever seen repeated”.
The Haçienda, as we all know, would put Manchester on the map with a worldwide dance audience, but its success owes much to Legend, and other city centre venues associated with the black scene during the ’80s, including The Gallery, The Playpen and Berlin. Haçienda director and New Order bassist, Peter Hook, would say “Wednesday nights (at Legend) were presided over by DJ Greg Wilson, who later would also play a major part in shaping the Haçienda’s musical direction, educating audiences in a new streetwise sound”, whilst Mike Pickering, the club’s booker during the early ’80s, and later half of the hallowed Pickering & Park DJ partnership from the clubs golden era, remembered; “At the time Legend was the closest thing to New York”. It was Mike and New Order manager, Rob Gretton, who would approach Greg to DJ at The Haçienda’s first regular weekly specialist dance sessions, starting on Friday August 19th 1983, almost exactly two years since his Legend debut.
The tradition of black / dance music at Legend would continue throughout the ’80s, with DJs like Stu Allan, Colin Curtis, Mike Shaft and Chad Jackson having residencies at one point or another. The famous London Acid-House party Spectrum also held their Manchester events at Legend at the height of the Rave era, whilst the Happy Mondays recorded their videos to both ‘Wrote For Luck’ (1988) and ‘WFL’ (1989) in the club (and not The Haçienda, as many people assume).
Greg has stated that Legend is undoubtedly the greatest club he’s ever worked in - the place where he experienced his ultimate DJ highs.
Following on from ‘Return To New York’ with François K and ‘Return To Cosmic’ with Daniele Baldelli, the crew behind Manchester’s Electric Chair approached Greg about a ‘Return To Legend’ event. Greg invited Colin Curtis along to DJ at the event - a figure who played a crucial role in Manchester’s Jazz-Funk and early House music, having previously made his name alongside Ian Levine at one of Northern Soul’s most crucial venues, Blackpool Mecca, following his time at another, The Torch in Stoke-On-Trent. One of the key all-time British DJs, Colin is currently celebrating his 50th anniversary year. Greg wrote about him, comparing his longevity and the inspiration he’s had on so many other DJs to that of the late David Mancuso, who was seminal to the evolution of New York’s Disco / party culture: http://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/2017/05/50-years-colin-curtis-uk-mancuso/
There was huge interest in the event from the off, further enhanced by a video documentary made by Manchester’s Finest, which followed Greg and Colin around Manchester as they visited the sites of their former clubs, record shops and other essential elements of the dance scene.
The night saw a reunion of old Legend regulars, whilst also attracting a younger audience, interested to hear the sounds that used to fuel Manchester’s nightlife. The event began with a discussion between Greg Wilson and Colin Curtis, piecing together the lineage and placing Legend in its proper context. Colin started the party drawing from a variety of musical sources, as was always the way back then, but with a distinctive Jazz flavour that was then his stock in trade, Greg concentrated on the music he played at Legend during the early ‘80s Electro-Funk, both original tracks and more contemporary re-edits of old favourites.
Given the 'Return To Legend' event at Manchester's Refuge in January 2018 sold out well in advance - with a lot of people sleeping on getting tickets, consequently leaving it too late - it was decided another event celebrating Manchester’s dance music heritage will take place later in the year.
This page has been set up to make the first announcement about the upcoming event, so its recommended you either like or keep an eye on it for further news. In the meantime the page will be used to compile an archive of music, videos, photos and other memories from Manchester’s esteemed dance music past.
