Happy Daze, Volume 1

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I was clearing out an old box of the collected debris of my youth a few years ago. 
Amongst the poor school reports, Star Wars bubble gum cards, and pogs, was this wonderful compilation tape, Happy Daze, Volume 1.
In 2019 it was sadly beyond all repair, the tape mangled, and wound around its plastic cassette carcass. Not even a pencil could help rewind and repair that carnage (youngsters, ask your parents).
As I looked at the tape I remembered the sadness I had felt as I had retrieved the tape carefully from the stereo of my first car, a blue Ford Escort Mark 2, back in 1992. I carefully retrieved its guts from the inside of the car stereo, but to no avail, it had played for its last time.
Before its demise, the tape had been played every day since the summer of 1990. Other than "World in Motion" by New Order, the Happy Daze cassette had been my summer soundtrack. The first camping trip with my friends, the journeys to and from gigs, and unmedicated nights out, had all been conducted to this collection of songs.

Called Happy Daze, it was a compilation of Manchester songs that dominated my brain that year, I'd liked bands before, and enjoyed some acid house tracks the year before, but this was the first 'scene' that I'd understood, and felt like it understood me right back. 
Baggy, Shoegaze, Alternative it was all there on the tape, and I had loved it all. The compilation was released in 1990, so for me it served as an appetiser for the explosion of British music that was to follow a few years later, which would become my favourite era of music.

The copy of the tape pictured is not mine, it's in far too good a condition. My copy was battered, used and loved. 

The notes inside, written by its compiler, Gary Crowley say:

This album was compiled to reflect the events/music of 1990. Fifteen tracks in all but it could surely have been a double album, who knows, maybe next time. Without waxing lyrical we tried to pick and mix the grooviest music. Most reached the nation's ears, some didn't, but it's not about chart success/sales figures, it's about good music. No other long player contains all these bands together on one record. We feel it sums up the year Indie Guitar Pop finally the bedroom, hooked up with that some student dance grooves and had one- hell of a bender/night out. It's a unique album for the discerning eardrum, I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed compiling it.

Gary Crowley.

The track listing was as follows;

Side 1
1. "Loaded"-Primal Scream
2. "Real, Real, Real" - Jesus Jones
3. "Come Home"- James
4. "Hippychick" (Original SG Mix)- Soho 5. "Big"- New FADs
6. "Velouria"- Pixies
7. "Taste"- Ride 
8. "She Comes in the Fall"- Inspiral Carpets 

Side 2
9. "Groovy Train" - The Farm 
10. "The Only One I Know"- The Charlatans 
11."Circle Square"- The Wonder Stuff 
12. "Sheriff Fatman" - Carter USM 
13. "ProGen"-The Shamen 
14. "Wrote For Luck" - Happy Mondays 
15. "I'm Free"- Soup Dragons

I've now recreated this album as a playlist. (Linked on my linktree on my bio), So now I can enjoy it all over again risk-free, and so can you. 😁






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