5. World in Motion

1990 does not begin quietly. London burns during the Poll Tax
riots. Strangeways prison erupts in Manchester. Margaret Thatcher
stands outside Downing Street for the last time. Britain is
shifting politically, socially and culturally. At the very same
moment, Madchester explodes into the mainstream. The Happy
Mondays release Step On as smoke rises over the city. Ecstasy
fuels a new chemical confidence. Indie and rave collide. What
began in dark rooms is now national news.


Then comes an unlikely coronation. The Football Association asks
New Order to write England’s 1990 World Cup anthem. World in
Motion goes to number one and Manchester owns the summer. At
Glastonbury, The Happy Mondays arrive with a thousand mates and a
bootleg pass printer. In the charts, The Inspiral Carpets and The
Charlatans surge forward. And in Widnes, on a former chemical
works surrounded by factories and wind, tens of thousands gather
for Spike Island. The Stone Roses take the stage as fireworks
burst overhead. The sound system falters. The crew threaten to
strike. The wind shifts…. but it barely matters.


This is the peak. The moment Madchester becomes too big to
contain.


Episode 5 of The Rise and Fall of Madchester tells the story of
the year politics, football, rave and pop culture collided.


A BBC Audio Production.