TQ is today publishing Freaky Dancing, an anthology of the Acid House fanzine distributed outside the Haçienda that has gone on to reach legendary status.
With an introduction by A Guy Called Gerald, Freaky Dancing: The Complete Collection compiles the publication’s 11 issues, published between July 1989 and August 1990.
The first eight copies of Freaky Dancing were handed out for free to those queuing for the club on a Friday night, while the rest were sold around Manchester with a peak readership of 750.
The book will be launched with a celebration in Manchester on Saturday 2 March, which features a Q+A with the Freaky Dancing editors, a show from Classical Uproar, and a Suddi Raval DJ set. For more info and tickets, click here.
Famous fans of the publication included Peter Hook of New Order, DJ Mike Pickering and the great Tony Wilson, who described it as “the most important piece of journalism I’ve read in the last twenty years.”
During the fanzine’s lifespan the Haçienda became the most famous – and infamous – nightclub on earth. It was a year of incredible highs and dark lows. Ultimately the scene imploded in paranoia, shootings and way too many drugs. Freaky Dancing documented this journey from blissful optimism to inevitable self-destruction.
The anthology was put together by the brains behind the Freaky Dancing operation, Paul ‘Fish Kid’ Gill and Ste Pickford, who wrote and drew the ‘zine during the week, with help from Haçienda regulars before publishing via photocopier.
Freaky Dancing: The Complete Collection is out now.
