The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club

TheacclaimedandwildlyoutlandishinsideaccountofEngland’smostnotoriousmusicclub,TheHacienda,fromPeterHook,theNewYorkTimesbestsellingauthorofUnknownPleasuresandco-founderofJoyDivisionandNewOrder—astoryofmusic,gangsters,drugs,andviolence,availableforthefirsttimeintheUnitedStates.Duringthe1980s,TheHaciendawouldbecomeoneofthemostfamousvenuesinthehistoryofclubbing—acelebratedculturalwatershedalongsideStudio54,CBGBS,andTheWhiskey—untilitstragicdemise.FoundedbyNewOrderandFactoryRecords,TheHaciendahostedgigsbysuchlegendaryactsastheStoneRoses,theSmiths,Bauhaus,GrandmasterFlash,RunDMC,KurtisBlow,andHappyMondays;gavebirthtothe“Madchester”scene;becamethecathedralforacidhouse;andlaidthetracksforravecultureandtoday’selectronicdancemusic.Butoverthecourseofitsfifteen-yearrun,“Madchester”descendedinto“Gunchester”asgangs,drugs,greed,andahostilepoliceforcedecimatedthedream.ToldinHook’suproariousanduncompromisingvoice,TheHaciendaisafunny,horrifying,andoutlandishstoryofsuccess,idealism,naïveté,andgreed—ofanincredibletimeandplacethatwouldchangethefaceandsoundofmodernmusic.