Shopping for food, trying to work out what's going on, playing my favourite music in clubs to excited people who haven't given up on life, writing.
Music
The National, the Go-Betweens, Arcade Fire, Ursula Rucker, Joy Division & New Order, Edward Artemiev ('Stalker' soundtrack etc), the Fall, Sonic Youth, Italo piano house 1989-92, the Stone Roses, Public Enemy, Metronomy, Ladytron, Jazzanova, most things feat. the voice of Tracey Thorn, most things feat. the voice of Robert Owens, most Royksopp, Soma stuff (especially Black Dog), Magazine's 'Real Life' album, Talking Heads, 'Ain't Nobody', the Gang of Four, the Stooges, Doves 'Black & White Town', Massive Attack, the Sonar Kollectiv label, 'Headache in My Heart' by the Debonairs, 'This is Love' PJ Harvey, and 'Pretty in Pink' by the Psychedelic Furs.
Movies
Buffalo 66, Somersault, The Alcohol Years, Do the Right Thing, Quatre Cents Coups, Mirror, Casino, Mean Streets, the Ice Storm, Stranger Than Paradise.
Television
The Peep Show, Soccer Saturday, Channel 4 News, Fonejacker.
Books
I love to read, and if I get a chance to read it's mostly American novels/short stories; Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Douglas Coupland, Paul Auster, John Updike. My fave dead writers include; James Joyce, Thomas Hardy, Katherine Mansfield, George Orwell, and Sylvia Plath. There are also writers whose work has definitely influenced my own books; Jon Savage, Andrew O'Hagan, Don McRae, Craig Werner, Lemn Sissay, Eric Hobsbawm.
I have written three books, the first one was published in 1999...
'Manchester, England' which I hope you've read. Written more than 9 years ago, but still selling 55 copies a month on average, probably mostly to bewildered students doing dissertations on rave culture. I think also people who are mentioned in the book keep buying it to pass on to their grandchildren. Fopp in Manchester sell more than the rest of the world put together; bless them (tho I saw it at the front of Waterstone's in Terminal One at Manchester Aiport the other day with a 'Staff Recommendation' sticker on it, which was very exciting).
'Adventures on the Wheels of Steel' (2001) about the history of club culture, with chapters on Guy Stevens who played at the Scene back in the pre-mod days, Fatboy Slim, Sasha, Lottie, DMC DJ mixing championship; history stuff but lots of fly-on-the-wall, gonzo-style interview material too. Staying up late with Lottie, trying to make sense of a Paul van Dyk set (and his crowd too; blimey).
'Not Abba' which came out in 2005 (reviews below); England in the 1970s; a long way from all those I Love the Seventies programmes. The real deal; drugs, Led Zeppelin, racism, Life on Mars, Barbarellas in Birmingham, Erics in Liverpool, rock pubs in Stockton-on-Tees...
'NOT ABBA; the Real Story of the 1970s' ...
"A blistering attack on the nostalgic sanitisation of a troubled decade." (Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times)
"A brilliantly contextualized study of a decade of cultural and political upheaval, seismic shifts in fashion and youth trends, and the ever-changing musical landscape. The results are worthy of shelf space next to Jon Savage's England's Dreaming or Greil Marcus's Lipstick Traces." (Terry Staunton, Record Collector)
"Breathless and compelling. Haslam plays more than few aces, cutting his subject into free-flowing chapters that move at speed between politics, music, and personally rendered social history." (John Harris, The New Statesman)
"Haslam is determined to set the record straight and offers an exhaustive survey of a Seventies the revival merchants want to avoid." (The Guardian)
"Coming so soon after Simon Reynolds equally essential history of post-punk, Not Abba is a gloriously messy lurch through a time long passed....The eyewitness accounts illuminate the book with touching candour." (The Glasgow Herald)
"It's a fast moving, accessible book, using extensive research and first hand accounts from musicians, writers and artists and everyday people to give a well rounded account of the times. If it was Haslam's intention to remind us the decade was far more interesting (darker, more exciting, dangerous and creative) than the popular I Love the Seventies, he more than succeeds." (Clash Magazine)
"The 'Abbafication' of the 1970s, fuelled by nostalgia television and bland compilation LPs has created a sort of cultural amnesia, and Dave Haslam sets out to restore what careless editors have gradually stripped away. It's an appealing idea and Haslam tells the story with an enthusiastic and discriminating eye." (Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Telegraph)
"An amazing portrait of the decade" (Phill Jupitus, Radio 6)
About me: Busy, sometimes no time to keep in touch with anyone. I've made a career (and sometimes a living) as a writer/journalist and a DJ (the Hacienda, 'Yellow' at the Boardwalk, Smiths at G-Mex, the Stone Roses at Spike Island, a Gorillaz aftershow, and gigs in Paris, Zurich, Chicago, Detroit, Berlin, Reykjavik...). There are a couple of club nights I host in Manchester; 'Another Planet' and 'Sweet Sensation'.
I've written for NME, the Face, the London Review of Books, the Guardian, and Les Inrocks. I do stuff on radio and TV - BBC2, Radio 4, Channel 4, Granada, Canal Plus (France). I was on Xfm's Manchester radio station until it went tits-up.
I've had three books published - see 'Books' section for info about them all.
There's a website;
www.davehaslam.com
all about my DJing (past gigs, future gigs) - still getting away with it after 25 odd years (very 'odd' years) - and my writing (books, freelancing) and other stuff (lists, pics, more info than you could ever need). During the Autumn months I do some guest lecturing at the University of Salford (Journalism) and the Manchester Metropolitan University (School of History of Art & Design).
Who I'd like to meet: Sonic Youth, Naomi Watts, Trinny Woodall, Joyce Carol Oates, David Bowie, and someone who knows where the TV remote is hiding.
you've just reminded me of our old telly circa 1966. The vertical hold was that dodgy. Morticia Addams or Napoleon Solo or Emma Peel would flick by just like that. Sometimes I'd think we were geting a glimpse of the next scene before the rest of the nation saw it. A microsecond of the future was all we had.
You posted some really good comments about my tunes a while back.. (I said I was the nephew of Marcel King??) Anyhows, Ive put some new stuff up now, if you have the time - give it a whirl..
Mr Haslam thanks for the add, I read your excellent book Manchester a while ago and found it a very good read and illuminating. I spent most of my first 10yrs thinking I lived in Manchester when it was really Cheadle Hulme and Heald Green.
Dave, I'm thrilled to have rediscovered Promises by the Buzzcocks. It's probably the best tune ever written. I just wanted to share this with someone and you're it.
You're responsible for this Mr H; you and your 'isn't rock and roll great' lecture. If this goes t*ts up then I'm sending the boys round. In the meantime I'm having ball, thanks.
Dave. We hear you're the man for all things music related. We saw you praising Airship the other day. Massively deserved. We love them and share a practice studios with them.
We're a brand brand new Manchester band. We had our first gig last night and received a glowing review from BBC Manchester! We're happy.
Would appreciate it if you lent your ears and words to our tracks? Your opinion is valued :)
