808 State

There’s certain bands from the Madchester scene who never quite burnt out in the way that some of the more prominent acts did; Happy Mondays, of course, collapsed in comical fashion under the weight of eye-watering levels of drug use and, if you’re to believe the historically-dubious Tony Wilson biopic 24 Hour Party People, threats to the Factory boss at gunpoint, whilst the wheels also came off in pretty spectacular fashion for The Stone Roses in the mid-nineties after the half-baked Second Coming flopped. 808 State, though, always had enough cult appeal to remain a going concern; they were formed out of the dance-oriented Manchester record store Eastern Bloc (which still exists today, albeit on different premises) and soon set about bringing house and electro sounds to the clubbers of Manchester, particularly at the Hacienda. They’ve had an impressive legacy in the years since, too, with Aphex Twin just one of a host of contemporary acts to credit 808 State with having influenced their career. They haven’t released an album since Outpost Transmission in 2003 - which featured Guy Garvey of Elbow - but still play live sets across the country to crowds made up partly of nostalgists and partly of house and dance aficionados, confirming their place in British dance music history.