Manchester, U.K. and Chicago, IL
I was reading online about one of my favorite bands, New Order, when I noticed a picture I thought was awesome. The band lead singer, Bernard Sumner, was holding an Illinois license plate that said “New Ordr 3″ while smiling. The band rarely takes pictures with fans and only has one album cover with their photos on it–the album Low-Life from 1985.
New Order is from Manchester, U.K., the first industrialized city in the world. The city is the fourth largest in Europe and known as the Second City in the U.K. next to London. I was looking at pictures and it almost reminds of a British version of Chicago, if that is possible, although much smaller. Chicago is a dark place, the city at least, especially for poor people that live there. If you need proof, drive around the South of West side at night. Manchester seems similar to this-dark and industrialized.
I mentioned the photo to my friend and he bought it online direct from the U.K. for me for Christmas ; the photo was from a 1993 issue of NME magazine, a British rock magazine. The article read that someone came up to them after a show in Chicago and showed them their license plate, Bernard liked it so much he took a photo with it.
When I abruptly moved out of my parents house to a shady apartment with somewhat sketchy 3 other roommates from Craiglist in a 2 bedroom, I found they all had affinity for New Order and pretty dark lives. One I figured out was a call girl, another was a artist from the Southside and another did some improv around town. I was only there for less than a month last March, but I realized they weren’t bad people.
I don’t really regret leaving home abruptly and living with “shady” people–they were remarkably like me– although I would never go their route in life–I can’t even find anyone who knows what New Order is here. The music people listen to here is, at best, empty and meant to sell albums as quickly as possible. Not that New Order didn’t sell out, but their early albums were so original and unique because their Manchester based label, Factory Records, let them do whatever the hell they wanted to. Record labels require the band to make a whole album at once, Factory let New Order make singles whenever they wanted to. As a result, they have over 17 singles, many of which are their best work. At least in their early days, they were going for creativity instead of selling out to Hollywood–Manchester, U.K. is a far way from there– culturally and physically. I would really like to go there and learn more about it. If you are from Manchester, U.K., I would love to learn more about it–just leave a comment.
New Order “Temptation” 1982 (Original 12′ version)
“Temptation” is one of the most creative and unique songs I have heard. There are a few versions of the song; this one can only be found on vinyl album. If you can find this version on CD, let me know. People have said about this song “This is the best song ever written, and if anyone disagrees. I’ll fight them,” read this article to see why: Lead Us to Temptation
I took a picture here of the apt–my next one was better.
Filed under: Other Cities, Uncategorized | Tagged: Chicago, Factory Records, Manchester, Manchester U.K., New Order, New Order Temptation 1982
I’ve never heard of New Order. But that’s due to my age more than anything. I’m still stuck on music from the ’70’s.
Yes, Chicago is a dark city. I’ve flown over it at night (a few years ago) and was kind of surprised at the pockets of blackness. I thought the whole thing would have been lit up like a party.
And um, glad to hear the next apt. was better!
“The music people listen to here is, at best, empty and meant to sell albums as quickly as possible. ”
This quote from your post in spot on about the music here, and also about the people in general.
This couple I knew you came here from Europe (and is also thinking of leaving because of the emptiness of the people here), went to a concert for popular British punk band.
I saw her the day following day, and she said the lead singer was so pissed that no one did anything at the concert. All the Chicagoans were just standing there basically maybe moving their arms around trying to be cool, when they are actually not cool by any means. I had used the word plastic and fake in an older post. (I am “r” BTW, I registered for this board under “realr”).
She said two years before; she saw them in Europe, and the show was much better and the people at the concert were way more into the concert.
This, along with the racism and pettines,s is why she is trying to get her husband to leave, as she doesn’t like it anymore.
I thought the concert analogy was just great, the way she described how the lead singer was telling the concert goers to not just stand there, and tried to get the “into” the concert, but these morons just basically stood there being bland and unoriginal, that is more than an apt description of Chicago.
Yeah realr, I think ur talking about all white people when they don’t dance or move at concerts– here is a post you should look at http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/17/68-standing-still-at-concerts/
I don’t know, I don’t think music tastes improve anywhere else, do they? Chicago is definitely the bottom of the bucket for crap music if they do, nothing comes out of there and the good music that does, is usually really depressing– bands like Wilco, Smashing Pumpkins, i can’t even think of any– they are all just lacking something (i guess Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins favorite band is New Order)…Its really amazing for the size Chicago is, nothing all that great music wise comes out of there… I guess the House scene came out of there in the 80s, but that is completely dead now in Chicago. I like a lot of British music because it is in English and because the UK is dark, industrialized and congested like Chicago is.
The radio is just crap Gangsta music and Spanish channels…there is like one country station and i’d take that over anything and i don’t really even like country. At least the Hispanics have some sort of rhythm you can dance to in their music.
The internet is the only hope for any knowledge and culture to reach Chicago. As the post office runs slower than the pony express and loses shit too!
I think I’m hitting on broader problems of modern society and culture. Go to any bar and you will see a thousand TV screens, why? To watch the game?– you don’t need a thousand TVs to do that. It really because people have become so bored with each other that they need to dilute their minds with other distractions… in europe they sit down and talk and enjoy each others company– i do that with my family when i go home–probably one thing i’m really starting to appreciate.
Oh don’t get me started on the Post Office!
Funny thing is my friends from Europe are white, and my best friend knew of this underground club (roving, it never stays in the same place for more than a night), we took her and her husband, and they knew how to dance and really passionately get into the music, as did my best friend and girlfriend (now wife), he isn’t white but Latino.
As usual the Chicagoans got drunk (shocking, all they basically know to do around here), and pass out. I saw one girl just being dragged over the shoulder of a male friend to the car they came in, so they could go home.
This girl I knew (the one that wants to leave) just looked at me and smiled when she saw this.
I remember riding the “L” home one day with her and her husband, and she wanted to say something to me privately (not so her husband couldn’t hear, but others around us on the train). She started speaking to me in French (she is not French BTW, but it is my common language with her, my other language outside English).
She was no where near loud, actually when she spoke, she was very quiet and soft spoken. Anyway, this one obnoxious loser (in Chicago, say it isn’t so) starts trying to butt into our conversation. This moron is literally leaning into us so he can hear us, and the following is a true story and if you know Chicago, you know this isn’t stretching it by any means. He then does the Chicago low-IQ trademark of putting his hand over his mouth mocking giggling like an eight year old child and says “wow, check out the Euro-faggot”.
I turn and say to him (basically my tone was soft, stern and talking down to him like he was an idiot), “Well, they are from Europe direct (while pointing to my friends), I am of European origin two generations ago. She speaks four languages, her husband speaks three, and I speak two, and from the sound of it and they way you speak, I guess you can barely speak one.
He had this shocked looked on his face, and just went back with his friends just mumbling under his breath. This girls’ husband just burst out laughing. This idiot must’ve just pissed his pants, he was just owned big time.
He did nothing BTW not a bloody thng, I am not scared of anyone here, my contempt for these assholes is so large, I basically don’t give a shit what these low brow rednecks say to me, they are so low in everything they do ,they aren’t worth more than two minutes of my time.
No other place on Earth is like this nowhere at all, only here in Chicago do people act this classless and trashy, no where else.
Wow realr thanks for sharing; I know its bad in terms of people saying things when they should not. I don’t see too many French people hanging around Chicago–I’m sure there is a reason for that and I’m damn sure I know why.
Maybe the hecklers should do their homework and realize how Polish and European Chicago already is– second largest city for poles in the world next to Warsaw from what I understand. Most people are too dumb to even realize that they originate from Europe.
I thought I would strike a cord somewhere with this blog, no one can defend the place. Like on “darcsfalcon” blog too, no one really argues for Chicago, because they can’t win. The people that are smart enough to realize that there is something really wrong with the place are few and far between, but the ones that do like us, feel deeply passionate about it.
At least it isn’t China(with that earthquake), I’m glad I’m not from there, but for all the resources Chicago has, it breaks my heart to see it all go to waste–not all– but I feel like it should be a top 10 city in the world and it isn’t and I won’t trick myself into believing it is.
Chicago is like the biggest small town in America and carries with it some really good people and people so ignorant, you don’t even realize they exist until you cross paths with them. A.J. Liebling said it was a “never ending series of factory town main streets” in his book, the Second City from the 50s, i think that is accurate, maybe a little pretentious but accurate.
Even someone as critical as I am can not realize the scope of the problem because I’m from there. I was saying in another post I didn’t even think Chicago was Midwestern–its own universe city-state. Can you imagine someone coming from another country like Austrailia or Sweden or even England, then living in Chicago? I’m completely like WTF is wrong with Chicago and I’m from there. How would they feel? I can understand Poles coming over because they are dirt poor in Poland, but if anyone is slightly above the poverty line why would they want to be there. 10 percent sales tax—Even the poor don’t want to live in Cook anymore!
What other places have you lived realr? if you don’t mind me asking I haven’t lived anywhere but the Midwest–don’t judge the Mid-west by Chicago–Chicago is its own dimension like I said.
very true, new order started a down slope around brotherhood…they got taken far too much into the whole rave/hacienda scene. Movement and P,C, & L would have to be my favorite. nothing gets me moving like temptation, the version you posted is fantastic and the video is pretty cool as well.
i know what you mean about college, boredom, work, and everything in between. i went to school for 2 years, dropped out and moved to florida, moved back to go back to school for another year and finally came to a conclusion that i don’t think school is right for me, haha.
I lived in various areas of the US, as an example I lived around the Bay Area of quite a while. San Francisco directly, than outlying. I lived in Texas (San Antonio area) for about six months. Although I wasn’t there that long, the people there were more than courteous and polite.
I have also lived in other areas of the Midwest and you are right, just because you say Chicago, Chicago does not represent the whole Midwest, Chicago is in it’s own little world, the whole Midwest is not like this. I also lived out East (not NY), for a short time.
RealR - I grew up in the SF Bay Area, CoCoCo area. I also lived in the East for a time, NY, but not NYC, out on the Island. Seems we have a couple of things in common.