Every Macclesfield musician to have made the Official Charts
By Alex Greensmith
20th Dec 2021 | Local News
There's a lot more to Macc's popular music scene than just New Order and Joy Division!
The Times newspaper once called Macclesfield 'the most uncultured town in Britain'. An unfair assessment, but it is a mission at Macclesfield Nub News to help highlight our town's mark on popular culture, no matter how big or small.
We regularly cover music artists big or small - but today we're honing in on some of Macclesfield's best known performers.
These are all the Macclesfield-formed bands or solo artist to have appeared on the Top 100 Official Singles Charts or the Official Album Charts, according to the Official Charts Company.
Cassia
The most recent band to chart on our list is indie pop outfit Cassia. The Macc triad consists of Lou Cotterill from the Moss Estate, Rob Ellis from Prestbury, and Jake Leff of Tytherington.
The tropical pop trio have over 30 million streams on Spotify. Their most streamed track is 100 Times Over, which was featured on their 2019 album Replica.
Speaking of, Cassia's debut album hit No. 79 on the Official Albums charts, and topped the UK Cassette Chart.
The summery-sounding trio also hit No. 11 on the UK Vinyl Chart and No. 8 on The Independent Chart.
Marion
Ryles Park High School, on Macclesfield's Ryles Park Road shut in 2004. However, the secondary school will always be famous for the formation of 1990s Britpop band Marion.
The band attracted attention for their tight Britpop singles, and work with The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.
The Macc-formed four-piece had six UK Top 75 and three Top 40 singles between 1995 and 1998. The picks of the bunch being Let's All Go Together at 37, Time at 29, and Sleep at 17.
Guitarist Phil Cunningham, who still lives in our town to this day, now performs with New Order. Macclesfield Nub News interviewed Phil earlier this year.
Mr. Scruff
Born in Macc in 1972, Andrew Carthy or Mr Scruff is world-renowned record producer and DJ.
His peak on the charts was his album Trouser Jazz at 29 in 2002.
Mr Scruff also had five top 100 songs in the Singles Charts between 1999 and 2003.
One of these, Get A Move On, is his best known song, and has been used in countless adverts and television shows.
John Mayall
Legendary blues rock guitarist John Mayall was born in Macclesfield. The 88-year-old, who grew up in Macc during World War II, was awarded an OBE in 2005. He has played with guitar legends such as Eric Clapton and members of Fleetwood Mac. John has had 14 albums to reach the UK Top 75, including five to hit the UK Top 10. 1968's album Bare Wires was just two slots away from being a UK No. 1 album. His last album and tour will occur in 2022. Despite still working to this day, the Maxonian has never scored a UK Top 100 single. His only Top 100 track was a US No. 81 in 1969, with his song Don't Waste My Time. The Macc LadsInfamous punk band The Macc Lads were kicked out of gigs in major UK towns, including their own, Macclesfield.
With crude references to our local area with songs like I Love Macc and No Sheep 'til Buxton, the band were never primed for major chart success.
However, their 1988 single Pie Taster hit No. 95 on the UK Singles Chart. Not quite enough to get them on Top of the Pops, what a scene that would've been!
Their fourth album From Beer to Eternity spent one week on the UK Albums Chart at No. 95 in 1989.
The proud Macclesfield band reformed in 2018 and are releasing new music as recently as this year, where they have also performed their final tour dates.
The Virginmarys
Rock duo The Virginmarys hit the Album Charts with their debut as a UK No. 93 in 2013.
But it is in North America where the band fared better chart-wise.
Their 2012 single Dead Man's Shoes was a Top 20 and Top 40 hit on US and Canada charts respectively.
Drummer Danny Dolan and singer Ally Dickaty are both from our town.
In 2017, raised thousands of pounds with a charity single to help Macc's homeless people. And they also recently played a charity gig for The Christie, at Christ Church.
Joy Division / New Order
Macclesfield's best known singer is Ian Curtis of Joy Division.
The King's School alumni penned both Top 40 hits of the post-punk four-piece - the first being Love Will Tear Us Apart.
The second Top 40 single was a posthumous No. 35 placing titled Atmosphere, as Curtis, a former Macclesfield local government employee, killed himself in his Barton Street home in 1980.
Joy Division's two albums hit the Top 6 following his death. And still perform well in the charts following re-releases to this day.
His bandmates, which included two Salford musicians and Macclesfield drummer Stephen Morris, would form a new band in 1980, called New Order.
The new band would peak with a UK No. 1 single in 1990 with World In Motion, with the England national football team.
New Order also featured the addition of keyboardist Gillian Morris (née Gilbert), who was raised in our town.
New added a third Macclesfield musician to their band in-time for their eighth album.
Marion's Macc-born guitar player Phil Cunningham has played with New Order since 2001, and first appeared on their LP Waiting For A Sirens Call.
New Order's three Macclesfield members have helped the band secure seven UK Top 10 Singles and two UK chart-topping albums.
In total, New Order have had seven tracks in the UK top 10, 27 in the UK Top 40, and 33 in the Top 75.
Their two No. 1 albums were Technique (1989) and Republic (1993).
Stephen and Gillian, who live in Rainow, had the singles Tasty Fish and Selfish hit just miss the Top 40 as their 1990s side band The Other Two.
Melanie Williams
Finally on the list, is an artist who appeared as an artist featured on a 1990s chart classic.
Handforth band Sub Sub invited Macclesfield vocalist Melanie Williams on their UK No. 3 track Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use).
Melanie's performance also helped propel the track to the No. 1 position in the UK Dance Charts.
Outside the Top 40, Melanie also bagged the No. 94 slot with her band Temper Tempter in 1991 with Talk Much.
You can listen and watch Melanie in the video for 1993's Ain't No Live (Ain't No Use) here.
Melanie still lives in Macc to this day, and is a keen supporter of Mash Guru of 5 Back Wallgate.
Sub Sub, who invited Melanie to perform on their track, later became the local indie band Doves.
And that was every Macclesfield musician to have had a charting hit single or album... so far.
We hope this list will inspire Macclesfield's next generation of musicians.
Which was your favourite band on the list?
Have you discovered an artist you didn't know was from our town?
A full playlist of the artists and their best songs featured in this list can be found here.
See also: Macclesfield rock band Between Thorns streamed over half-a-million times this year.
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