A record label to rival Motown and Chess. A music city to rank alongside Memphis and Chicago. And a business empire that could only be compared to the South Sea Bubble company.

Forget Memphis and Merseybeat, Manchester is Music City, a Factory of superior song-making and stirring soundscapes courtesy of The Smiths, Joy Division, The Fall, Buzzcocks, John Cooper Clarke, Oasis, New Order, Happy Mondays and Elbow spinning around the legend of the Hacienda, the world’s hippest nightclub, chicer than the Copacabana, sexier than Studio 54, cooler than the Cavern or Cream.