Northern House

The sound of Northern House, played in the late 1980s through to the late 1990s. Heavily influenced by Italian House. Sasha and Stu Allan might be considered the pioneers of this Northern sound, an upbeat yet eclectic feel for music which could surprise clubbers and listeners with a truly international and multi-genre mix of tracks. While southern raves turned from breakbeat into jungle and later drum and bass, the Northern sound continued to lean heavily on House from both sides of the Atlantic, while keeping breaks, upbeat hip hop, remixed pop tracks and indie crossovers. Producers such as Clivilles and Cole and Todd Terry’s remixes turned chart hits into club favourites on the northern circuit.
Clubs where Northern House predominated, attracting a party oriented, male and female crowd, included Hacienda (Manchester), Quadrant Park (Liverpool), Shelley’s (Stoke on Trent), Eclipse (Coventry), Angels (Burnley), Maximes and the Pier (Wigan), Palace (Blackpool), Warehouse and Gallery (Leeds) and Capricorn (Bradford). The largest venue was arguably Bowlers in Trafford Park Manchester which rivaled the size of southern rave venues such as Milton Keyenes’s Sanctuary. The most southerly outpost of the Northern sound is recognized to be Coventry’s Eclipse, to the south of Birmingham which was largely bypassed by the sound. The relatively smaller and more local/regular venues in the North arguably contributed to a more friendly and communal scene than the larger events in the south such as Dreamscape, Dance Planet and Helter Skelter. Soujthern raves also evolved into multi room events catering for the post-93 split from breakbeat hardcore into a black-oriented jungle and a white-oriented happy hardcore dystopian schism. The Northern sound eventually evolved around 1996-97 into so-called Progressive House and Trance, retaining an inclusive mixed race, gender and sexuality ethos unrivalled anywhere else.
The nostalgic revival of Northern House is best characterized by the Old Skool Nation Internet radio station produced by Stu Allan. This list is based mainly on requests and regular floorfillers played by Stu on his popular Friday night shows. The music has a self-regulating cut off of 1997, however the music can go back into the early 1980s digging deep into the post-disco, soul and electro of Stu’s Manchester radio and club playlists. Sasha tracklists are also influential up until his collaborations with John Digweed and the rise of the Renaissance and Cream “superclub” scene.
Northern House combined the very best of Italian, Belgian, British, and American/Canadian tracks, with the anthems hailed by fans as "stompers", "bangers", "belters" and as Stu Allan wryly puts it, "pianos and screaming women".