Brand-new NA series about those doing the reverse 9-to-5.

Curated by Whitney Weiss

Total Runtime: 0:03:25

NIGHT SHIFT is a brand-new Network Awesome original series. From underground club nights to warehouse parties, it's a look at the sound of the underground (and the words of its kinda-nocturnal personalities).

For the pilot, meet Luciano Lasca. He's a multi-tasking musician, DJ, and party-thrower based in Buenos Aires. He plays bass in Julieta & Los Espiritus, Aldo Benetiz, and OLGA, and DJs as one-half of Listen Listen Listen.

Collection - Tony Wilson

Before Factory Records, before The Hacienda, Tony Wilson was a...journalist.

Curated by Markus Fiedler

Total Runtime: 0:41:15

Anthony Howard Wilson, known as Tony Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007), was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host,nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC.

Wilson was the music mogul behind some of Manchester's most successful bands. He was the founder and manager of The Haçienda nightclub, and was one of the five co-founders of Factory Records (Joy Division's label). Wilson was also known as Mr Manchester,^[1]^[2] dubbed as such for his work in promoting the culture of Manchester throughout his career. He was portrayed by actor Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, and by Craig Parkinson inAnton Corbijn's 2007 film Control.

After his graduation in 1971, Wilson began as a trainee news reporter for ITN, before moving to Manchester in 1973, where he secured a post at Granada Television. He went on to present Granada's culture, music and events programme, So It Goes. Through the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the main anchors on Granada Reports, a regional evening news programme, where he worked with Richard and Judy among others. He continued in this line of work even at the height of his success in the music industry.

In 1989, Wilson hosted The Other Side of Midnight, another Granada weekly regional culture slot, covering music, literature and the arts in general. Its Sunday night slot made it one of the UK's first experiments in late night weekend TV. He reported for ITV's celebrated current affairs series, World in Action in the early 1980s and also hosted Channel 4's After Dark, the UK's first open-ended, late night chat show, in which he chaired loose discussions in a darkened studio between intellectuals and celebrities of various descriptions, often in various stages of inebriation. Wilson co-anchored the BBC's coverage of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in 1992. He hosted the short-lived TV quiz shows Topranko! and MTV Europe's Remote Control in the 1990s, as well as the Manchester United themed quiz, Masterfan, for MUTV.

Wilson's involvement in popular music stemmed from hosting Granada's culture and music programme "So It Goes". Wilson, who intensely disliked the music scene of the mid 1970s, saw the Sex Pistols at theManchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, in June 1976, an experience which he described as "nothing short of an epiphany".^[6] He booked them for the last episode of the first series, probably the first television showing of the then-revolutionary British strand of punk rock.

He was the manager of many bands, including A Certain Ratio and The Durutti Column, and was part owner and manager of Factory Records, home of the Happy Mondays, Joy Division, and New Order - the band managed by friend and business partner Rob Gretton. He also founded and managed The Haçienda nightclub and Dry Bar, together forming a central part of the music and cultural scene of Manchester. The scene was termed "Madchester".

He made little money from Factory Records or the Haçienda, despite the enormous popularity and cultural significance of both endeavours.^[7] Both Factory Records and the Haçienda came to an abrupt end in the late 1990s.

A semi-fictionalised version of his life and of the surrounding era was made into the 2002 film, 24 Hour Party People, which stars the comedian Steve Coogan as Wilson. After the film was produced, Wilson wrote a novelization based on the screenplay. He played a minor role (playing himself) in the 2005 film, A Cock and Bull Story, in which his character interviews Steve Coogan. Wilson also co-produced the 2007Ian Curtis biopic, Control (his character this time being played by Craig Parkinson). He died a few months before its release.

Wilson was a partner in the annual "In The City" music festival and industry conference, and also F4 Records, the fourth version of Factory Records, which was set up to be an online distributor for Wilson's long term protégé Vini Reilly, of The Durutti Column. F4 also released music by Manchester based bands RaW-T and The Young Offenders Institute.

Doc - Madchester: The Sound of the North

Granada TV-produced documentary from 1990 catches the Manchester music scene in its heyday!

Curated by Whitney Weiss

Total Runtime: 0:46:39

Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rockand dance music. Artists associated with the scene included New Order, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Northside, 808 State, James, The Charlatans, The Fall, A Guy Called Gerald, and other bands. At that time, the Haçienda nightclub was a major catalyst for the distinctive musical ethos in the city that was called the Second Summer of Love.

The music scene in Manchester immediately before the Madchester era had been dominated by bands such as The Smiths, New Order, The Fall and James. These bands were to become a significant influence on the Madchester scene.

The opening of the Haçienda nightclub, an initiative of Factory Records, in May 1982 was also influential in the development of popular culture in Manchester. For the first few years of its life, the club played predominantly club oriented pop music and hosted gigs from artists including New Order, Culture Club, The Thompson Twins, and the Smiths. It had DJs such as Hewan Clarke and Greg Wilson and switched focus from being a live venue to being a dance club by 1986.^[1] In 1987 The Hacienda started playing House music with DJs Mike Pickering, Graeme Park: thisisgraemepark.com and "Little" Martin Prendergast hosting the Nude night on Fridays.^[2]

The Festival of the Tenth Summer in July 1986, organised by Factory Records, helped to consolidate Manchester's standing as a centre for alternative pop-culture. The festival included film-screenings, a music seminar, art shows and gigs by the city's most prominent bands, including an all-day gig at Manchester G-Mex featuring A Certain Ratio, The Smiths, New Order and The Fall. According to Dave Haslam, the festival demonstrated that "the city had become synonymous with ... larger-than-life characters playing cutting edge music ... Individuals were inspired and the city was energised; of it's [sic] own accord, uncontrolled" although Manchester was already fully energised.^[3]

The Haçienda went from making a consistent loss to consistently selling out by early 1987.^[4] During 1987, it hosted performances by American house artists including Frankie Knuckles and Adonis.^[5] Other clubs in the Manchester area started to catch on to House music including Devilles, Isadora's, Konspiracy, House, Soundgardens and Man Alive in the city centre, Bugsy's in Ashton-under-Lyne and the Osbourne Club in Miles Platting.

Another key factor in the build-up to Madchester was the sudden availability of the drug ecstasy in the city, beginning in 1987 and growing the following year.^[6] According to Dave Haslam: "Ecstasy use changed clubs forever; a night at the Haçienda went from being a great night out, to an intense, life changing experience".^[7]

By the late 1980s, the British music was symbolised by a robust sound such as a Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet and the pop music of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. The Guardian stated that 'The 80s looked destined to end in musical ignominy.'^[8] The Madchester movement burgeoned, its sound was new and refreshing and its popularity soon grew.^[9] Music by artists such as the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays began to chart highly in 1989 with New Order releasing the house-influenced Technique, which topped the UK album charts.

Network Awesome - Mon, Jan 8 From The Hacienda to Limelight, PARTIES! Plus, the debut of NIGHT SHIFT, a Network Awesome original series.

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January

What's On Today?

From The Hacienda to Limelight, PARTIES! Plus, the debut of NIGHT SHIFT, a Network Awesome original series.

Today curated by:
Whitney Weiss

Night Shift - Pilot

0:03:25

Collection - Disco on the Silver Screen

0:28:29

Collection - Tony Wilson

0:41:15

Doc - Madchester: The Sound of the North

0:46:39

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Sun, Jan 7

The Films of Walther Ruttmann

Captain Star - Day of the Zooties

Doc - The Creative Person: Richard Williams

Art - The Little Island (Richard Williams, 1958)

Collection - Give-A-Show & More!

Movie - The Big Bang (1987)

Sat, Jan 6

120 Megabytes - Episode 45

Collection - Turn On, Boot Up, Jack In Vol. 3

Art - Melodrama Sacramentral (Jodorowsky et al, 1965)

Collection - Anton Perich

Talk Show - Alexyss K. Tylor

Movie - Amuck (1971)

Fri, Jan 5

Live Music Show - Anatolian Rock

Doc - Pehlivanlar (Turkish Oil Wrestling, 1964)

Art - Hakimiyet (2007)

Doc - Turkish Pop Cinema

Trailer Trash - Turkish Remakes

Movie - Süpermen Dönüyor (aka Turkish Superman, 1979)

Thu, Jan 4

Collection - Bob Ross paints Winter landscapes

Collection - ALTERNATIVE Yule Log

Short - Treevenge (Xmas)

Doc - On The Inside: Figure Skating

Doc - Under the Antarctica

Movie - The Last Winter (2006)

Wed, Jan 3

Collection - Outlaw Country

Password with Nancy Sinatra and Woody Allen

Doc - Nancy & Lee in Las Vegas (1973)

Lee Hazlewood - Cowboy in Sweden TV Special 1970

Movin' With Nancy (1967)

How To Start Your Own Country (2005)

Tue, Jan 2

Live Music Show - White Zombie

Art - Chainsaw Maid

Play Dead (Andres Meza-Valdes, 2011)

Collection - Resident Evil Cutscenes

Doc - Investigating the Haitian Zombie

Movie - White Zombie (Victor Halperin,1932)

Night Shift - Pilot

Brand-new NA series about those doing the reverse 9-to-5.

Collection - Disco on the Silver Screen

From mainstream cheese to independent cheese, a look at disco in the movies!

Collection - Tony Wilson

Before Factory Records, before The Hacienda, Tony Wilson was a...journalist.

Doc - Madchester: The Sound of the North

Granada TV-produced documentary from 1990 catches the Manchester music scene in its heyday!

Network Awesome - Mon, Jan 8 From The Hacienda to Limelight, PARTIES! Plus, the debut of NIGHT SHIFT, a Network Awesome original series.