8. What the World is Waiting For

8. What the World is Waiting For

From The Rise and Fall of ... by BBC Radio 6 Music

March 16, 2026 · 22 min · Season 5 · Episode 8

About this episode

The episode explores the impact and legacy of the Madchester music movement.

As Tony Wilson once told Newsweek Magazine in 1990 - "If there is any idea at all, it is about community and collective strength. There is power in people being lovely to each other." It might be more than 30 years ago but today, Madchester both made its mark and left its mark. Madchester did more than just transform the music of its own city – it rewrote the rule book on how a movement could emerge, free of music industry controls, and produce the sort of bands, DJs and records that labels could never create. It brought dance culture to the masses and laid the foundation for Britpop. In this final episode of the The Rise and Fall of Madchester, presenters Steve Lamacq and Alison Bell share their take on what it stood for, who it influenced, the changes it brought about and the legacy that still lives on, featuring archive interviews with Tony Wilson, Mani, Shaun Ryder and Noel Gallagher. “The Rise & Fall of Madchester’ is a BBC Audio Production for BBC Sounds. It was presented by Steve Lamacq and Alison Bell. It was produced in Salford by Catherine Earlam. The Editor for BBC Audio was Helen Hobday. It written by Philip Smith, Catherine Earlam and Steve Lamacq. Technical…

People in this episode

Hosts: Steve Lamacq, Alison Bell

Topics covered

  • Madchester
  • music history
  • community
  • Britpop
  • dance culture
  • music industry

Keywords

  • Madchester
  • Tony Wilson
  • Britpop
  • dance culture
  • music industry
  • Steve Lamacq
  • Alison Bell

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Audio, BBC Sounds, BBC

Books & works: The Rise and Fall of Madchester

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