Manchester must dance: A life of music, madness and moving on up

by Mike Pickering, Paul Morley (Primary Contributor)

From Manchester’s backstreets to global dancefloors – the untold story of a musical pioneer.

Beginning on the night in November 1963 when his mum took him to see the Beatles live at Manchester’s ABC Cinema, Mike Pickering takes the reader through sixty years of clubs, clothes, gigs, record labels, football matches and politics.

Pickering has lived through decades of rapid change in popular music. As an influential DJ he introduced house music into the legendary Haçienda. He signed Happy Mondays and James to Factory Records before working with Kasabian, Gossip and Calvin Harris at Sony. His Mercury Prize-winning, multi-million-selling group M People transformed the music industry's attitude to dance music. As he tells his remarkable story he introduces an array of friends and collaborators, many of whom would become important – and sometimes notorious – figures in music history.

Genres: Music

416 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication July 7, 2026

Reviews

[_abookforeverysituation_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful insight into the beginning of the hacienda, including it’s transition from rock to dance, factory records, and being a Sony A&R before the tik tok of it all. All followed with the strong voice that is Mike Pickering.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an Arc!