Mancunian auteur Mike Pickering has released his autobiography.
If you really don’t know who Mike Picketing is then the next time the cameras pan to an away end populated by Man City fans and specifically to Noel Gallagher look at the bloke next to him. That’s usually Mike Pickering.
I read this book coming from a desire to know a different perspective on a well told story of Factory Records, the Hacienda, Joy Division / New Order and the people around it. There’s plenty of that.
But there’s a lot more. Pickering talks us through his early life in Manchester, his developing love for music, refusal to settle into the hum-drum of shit, soul emptying factory jobs and a social life hemmed in by the suburban sensibilities of his upbringing.
Pickering, born in 1958 has early memories of The Beatles, moving through to a love of Northern Soul, developing his skills on the business side of music in Rotterdam before returning to Manchester and connecting with his great friend and fellow Man City fan, Rob Gretton, the New Order manager.
Describing his occupation as Rob Gretton’s mate, Pickering makes a number of key points. The first for me is the courage of working class lads to follow their passion for music. The second that those in the background of this story didn’t often make much money from their association with Factory and the Hacienda.
The red thread through the book is Pickering’s lifelong support for Man City which in turn connects him to friendships over the decades. This is the kind of stuff most of us would recognise.
Pickering has a zealot’s love for music and although much of it went over my head, I enjoyed passages discussing the technical intricacies of making music. I didn’t really understand it so a few more reads or listens will be required to get it into my grey matter.
The money for Pickering came after he’d established himself as the Hacienda’s number one DJ. That came when he unearthed a talent for song writing only touched upon with Factory band, Quando Quango but far more lucratively with M People. After a decade of M People going supernova, Pickering became his own unique kind of A&R man with Sony, responsible for bringing the world Kasabian, Calvin Harris and Gossip.
I thoroughly enjoyed what was a detailed walkthrough of Manchester’s incredible contribution to popular British culture with nods to the city’s social history. On top of that Pickering shares details from his life, relationships, resentments and the sadness of loss - notably the early death of his great pal, Rob Gretton.
I took the audiobook version of this which I listened to doing exercise over five or six days. The spoken version worked well and I thought it especially good to have sections spoken by Johnny Marr, Noel Gallagher and Calvin Harris.
If you have an interest in the scene and the music it produced, you’ll enjoy this book.
You might enjoy the interview below as well. If you fancy buying the book click on the image above. if you want the audiobook see above via Spotify - other platforms are available.
Michael Martin - @TFMick1892.bsky.social