45 years after A Certain Ratio’s first performance in the US(at Hurrah, NYC in September 1980) the band share details of the premiere of a film of the performance. ACR:NYC1980 by Merrill Aldighieri. The film will be exclusively screened at Walthamstow Trades Hall on 1 December and at Manchester’s Cultplex on 3 December 2025.
The screenings will be followed by a discussion with the band moderated by Dave Haslam. Expect a discussion that will take in the NYC shows; recording To Each in New Jersey with Martin Hannett; staying in a loft in Tribeca with Tony Wilson; the MCR:NYC connection, and some of thepeople they met on the way.
The Hurrah performance took place on 12 Sept, just before the band took to the studio to record their 1981 album, To Each, so the live set included tracks that would later appear on the album. The film exudes some of the energy that the band must have felt being out in NYC at that time, and the excitement of the people they met on the way. ACR will be expanding on stories and memories from that time. Look out for more about ESG, who were the support that night. ACRloved the band so much that they gifted them the last two years of their album studio time, which they used to record their classic EP, A Bronx Story (later released by Factory). That same night Matt Dike (1961-2018) came back stage. A budding young bass player, he hung out with the band for the rest of their stay, badgering Jez to teach him all the ACR basslines. Later he went on to produce Beastie Boys, Tone Loc, Young MC etc. and played the famous bassline on the track ‘Know How’ by Young MC (released on Dike’s label Delicious Vinyl), who knows whether he would have developed into the talent he did without a little help from ACR?
19.00 - Doors
19.45 - Tribeca, a film by Michael Shamburg
20.00 - ACR Live at Hurrah, Sept 1980, a film by Merrill Aldighieri
20.45 - Discussion and Q&A with Dave Haslam
Please note this is a seated event.
Presented by Rock 'n' Roll Book Club in partnership with Stow Film Lounge
