Dave Haslam

Who is Dave Haslam?

Dave Haslam is a writer, broadcaster and DJ who DJ'd over 450 times at the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester and has since DJ'd worldwide. He has written for the New Musical Express, The Guardian, The London Review of Books, and The Times, and has published three books.

Originally from Moseley, Birmingham, and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, Haslam moved to Manchester in 1980, and then graduated from the University of Manchester after which he worked as a concert promoter, hosting live performances by Sonic Youth, Big Black, Primal Scream, the Stone Roses, and others, and began DJing at clubs including the Man Alive and the Venue. From May 1986 he was a DJ at the Haçienda nightclub, including a residency at Thursday's Temperance club night until October 1990. In the 1990s he also hosted the weekly night Yellow at the Boardwalk nightclub in Manchester.

In the mid-1980s he founded the fanzine Debris and wrote for the New Musical Express. He also ran a music label called Play Hard Records signing bands such as King of the Slums, The Bodines and The Train Set. In 1999 he published a book about the Manchester music scene, and, subsequently, books about superstar DJs called Adventures on the Wheels of Steel, and the music and politics of the 1970s called Not Abba; the Real Story of the 1970s.