SEVEN MONTHS IN 79 ROCKS INTO ECCLES

This is a collection of black and white photographs of shall we say, "New Wave Bands" all taken by David Hunter back in those heady days of 1979 when punk was all but dead in the water and new acts were taking the limelight.

Amongst those artists on display are Ian Curtis, Kevin Rowlands, Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton, Terry Hall, Ian Drury, Simon Miner, Pauline Murray, Joe Jackson, Barrie Masters, Steve Diggle, Phil Oakey and Pete Perrett.

The photographs were taken in clubs in Manchester and Liverpool including the Apollo and legendary Russell Club in Hulme and are truly fascinating, atmospheric shots which have remained unseen for almost 40 years.

I spoke to the ace lensman, who told me how the exhibition came about and its a very interesting story, not least because it's his very first exhibition in a gallery.

Quote

 

"I have been a keen photographer since 1973 which I learnt at school including developing and printing there and eventually got my own darkroom at home.

"I kept it as a hobby off and on for several years but restarted in 2003, since then I have won several competitions and had photographs published widely.

"For some reason, I took my camera along to an Eddie and the Hot Rods gig and to my surprise they were great photographs, so I carried a camera to the gigs that I went to that year, a Pentax Spotmatic, which I still have and use.

"The album of negatives has stayed with me through several house moves and were stored in a box underneath the bed, on top of the wardrobe, in cupboards etc.

"One day whilst looking for some Jam photos that I thought that I had lost, I came across them and quite a few more, several hundred, in fact, I scanned a few and posted them on social media and I was surprised by the response that I got as people seemed to like them.

"The idea for an exhibition came from that and I managed to coax a bit of life from some thin, blurry negatives into what is hung on the gallery walls in front of you"

 

David tells me that he has quite a few more photos stored on his laptop including some bands which to be honest I am no big fan of, including Iron Maiden (pre-Bruce Dickinson days), Rush, Motorhead, Sammy Hagar and many, many more including some in colour.

Also, prints are on sale at the gallery all reasonably priced and here is the best thing, all the profits from the sale of them will be donated to a locally based charity in the city where the photographs were taken, how good is that?

David will be at the Gallery this Saturday from 12pm - 2pm and will be more than happy to talk to you about his exhibition and I can guarantee that you will enjoy it, tell him that I sent you!

The Seven Months In 1979 exhibition will run until Saturday 2nd June 2018.

Further images can be seen on https://www.facebook.com/2021389388110931/photos/a.2021441431439060.1073741828.2021389388110931/2021584541424749/?type=3&theater