7. Regret

About this episode

Episode 7 explores the decline of the Madchester movement and its cultural impact on Manchester.

In 1995, after five years of court cases, silence and mounting expectation, The Stone Roses are finally back. The Second Coming has been released, and a Glastonbury headline slot awaits. Then on a rare day off in America, guitarist John Squire falls from his bike and breaks his collarbone. The momentum snaps. Meanwhile, Britpop storms the charts. Blur and Suede set the tone and Oasis inherit Manchester’s swagger and carry it into a different decade. Then, on 15 June 1996, a bomb detonates in Manchester city centre. The physical damage is vast. The city rebuilds quickly, shinier and safer, the rough edges that once nurtured experimentation begin to disappear. By the time The Stone Roses limp onto the stage at Reading Festival in August 1996, expectation outweighs belief and the performance falters. Within months, the band are finished. The Happy Mondays have already collapsed under the weight of addiction and excess. Factory Records is gone. The Hacienda is fading. The party is over. Episode 7 of The Rise and Fall of Madchester charts the slow unravelling of a movement that once felt unstoppable. This is the story of how Madchester dissolved and how the city it transformed, moved…

Topics covered

• Madchester
• Britpop
• The Stone Roses
• music history
• cultural transformation
• band dynamics

Keywords

• Madchester
• The Stone Roses
• Britpop
• Glastonbury
• Manchester
• music history
• cultural decline

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Stone Roses, Blur, Suede, Oasis, Factory Records

Places: Manchester, The Hacienda

More episodes of The Rise and Fall of ...

• 8. What the World is Waiting For · March 16, 2026 · 22 min
• 6. Shoot You Down · March 16, 2026 · 24 min
• 5. World in Motion · March 16, 2026 · 19 min
• 4. Loose Fit · March 16, 2026 · 25 min
• 3. Twenty Four Hour Party People · March 16, 2026 · 20 min
• 2. Movement · March 16, 2026 · 22 min