gallery

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  Happy Mondays

  Happy Mondays have announced that they're reforming with their original line-up for the first time in 19 years. They'll be touring with Inspiral Carpets prompting Xfm to wonder… is 2012 going to be the second summer of Madchester?

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  Happy Mondays

  The original line-up of Happy Mondays last played together in 1993, but the band - featuring Shaun and Paul Ryder, Gary Whelan, Mark Day, Paul Davies, Rowetta and the legendary Bez - are set to play a series of dates in May of this year.

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  Happy Mondays

  The Mondays were one of the bands signed to influential indie label Factory in the late 1980s, with hits including Step On, WFL (Wrote For Luck), Hallelujah and Kinky Afro. 

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  Inspiral Carpets

  Inspiral Carpets are joining the Mondays on the tour, having reformed themselves at the tail end of 2011 with original singer Stephen Holt.

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  Inspiral Carpets

  The Inspirals featured Xfm presenter Clint Boon on the distinctive Farfisa organ and hit number 14 in 1990 with the classic This Is How It Feels.  Photo: Carl Sukonik

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  New Order

  Another classic Manchester band that's announced further UK dates this week is New Order. The band are now missing bassist Peter Hook, but have re-enlisted keyboard player Gillian Gilbert for the shows.

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  New Order

  Hook and the rest of the band fell out a couple of years back, with the bass player claiming the band was over. The rest of the group begged to differ and played dates in Belgium and Paris last year.

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  Peter Hook

  New Order, of course, were born from the ashes of Joy Division, whose career was cut short in 1980 when singer Ian Curtis committed suicide.

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  Peter Hook

  Over the last year, Peter Hook has been touring with his new band The Light, performing the classic Joy Division albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer in full. 

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  The Stone Roses

  The big Mancunian reunion news of last year was the reformation of The Stone Roses. The original line-up of Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani and Reni will play two shows at Manchester's Heaton Park in June/July this year, plus a number of festival dates, including Benicassim in Spain.

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  The Stone Roses

  The last time the original line-up of The Stone Roses played together was on June 9, 1990 in a huge tent at Glasgow Green. This was two weeks after the legendary Spike Island show and would be their last show for five years. Photo: PA

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  The Charlatans

  How about The Charlatans - not strictly from Manchester, but from Northwich in Cheshire, but were caught up in the slipstream of the Mondays and Roses' success.

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  The Charlatans

  The band have successfully shaken off their early "baggy" influences and released their eleventh album Who We Touch in 2010.

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  James

  A Madchester-era band who have never been away are James, fronted by the enigmatic Tim Booth. They were originally signed to Factory Records, before becoming favourites of Morrissey.

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  James

  The band have continued to release albums throughout their thirty year career and completed a UK tour last autumn, stopping off to play a session at Xfm's Manchester studios.

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  808 State

  And if we're bringing Madchester back, it's worth remembering 808 State are still playing live and dropping the odd DJ set.

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  808 State

  808 State are named after the hugely popular Roland TR-808 drum machine and their biggest hit was Pacific State, which was released at the end of 1989.