Madchester icons feature in new photo book

Photographs capturing the "mayhem and energy" of Manchester between 1989 and 1991 are the focus of a new book.

The collection includes images of Madchester era-defining musicians, actors and comedians.

Madchester saw an explosion of a musical and cultural scene in the city which photographer Richard Davis said he was "very lucky" to witness and record for posterity.

"There such a buzz around the city at the time, it was electric," he said.

"It was a case of me being in the right place at the right time, at the right age, I was so lucky looking back," said Mr Davis, who was 22 at the time.

The now 56-year-old said he rediscovered his pictures while looking for old images of part of the city.

"There were boxes that I'd forgotten about, it was great to rediscover them," he said.

Amongst them were images of musician Peter Hook with his daughter, The Stone Roses on the steps of the Wolverhampton Crown Court, and Clint Boon from the Inspiral Carpets posing behind The Boardwalk nightclub.

"I moved to Manchester from Birmingham and enrolled on a photography course at Manchester Polytechnic," Mr Davis remembered.

"I had no idea that I was about to walk into the global phenomenon that the media called Madchester."

Mr Davis described taking portraits of up-and-coming artists of the time including comedians Steve Coogan and Caroline Aherne.

Madchester happened in the days before mobile phones and digital photography - meaning that comparatively few images were taken let alone survive.

This makes those pictures even more special, he said.

"It's different now, we all took so many less pictures back then. Thirty years ago everything was shot on film."

"You couldn't see if they had come out - you didn't know what you had for days. With 36 exposures on a roll - they were so precious, you didn't want to waste them."

When collating the book, The Madchester Years 1989-91, Mr Davis said he didn't struggle to find a cover star.

"If you were going to say what was Madchester, Bez would probably be the character that would come to mind.

"The classic maracas and his eyes, I was lucky that I caught that in an Elland Road picture in 1991."

Mr Davis also said he wanted to feature record label and nightclub manager Anthony Wilson, who died in 2007, as he was "such an important character for Manchester".

"He made Manchester international. It's only when someone is gone you realise what an impact they had," he said.

"I had to include him, we owe so much to him".

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