Inside, the music at Middleton Hippodrome was a match for anything the UK's rave scene had to offer. Outside, however, it was a different matter.
Carl Cox, The Prodigy, Kevin Saunderson, The Orb, 808 State, Grooverider, Richie Hawtin and Laurent Garnier all did a stint behind the decks, as, for a brief, heady period in the early 90s, Middleton became a dance music mecca. For a few hours every weekend, 2,000 ravers from across the country packed into the converted picture house as acid house and ecstasy took over this small town in north Manchester.
But, if you were unlucky enough not to get in, as hundreds regularly were, your night had a very different soundtrack. Speakers rigged up outside Hippos, as it was known, piped easy listening hits from crooners such as Des O'Connor and Max Bygraves into the night air.
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It was part of an ingenious plan, inspired by the Castella cigar advert starring Russ Abbot, to stop disappointed punters hanging around and getting the club into trouble with the notoriously fussy licensing authorities. Standing roughly where Middleton Arena is today, the Hippodrome began life as the Empire Cinema.
It launched as a nightclub in May 1988, with Corrie star Liz Dawn, who played Vera Duckworth, and Foo Foo Lamarr the star guests on the opening night. But it wasn't until Hippos embraced house, techno and rave that it really took off.
Jay Wearden had been the resident DJ at the notorious Thunderdome on Oldham Road in Miles Platting until he teamed up with Colin Boulter to form promotion company Clash. Having borrowed £100 from Colin's step-dad to print some flyers off, they put on their first couple of nights together at Barclay's, off Market Street in Manchester city centre, with Jay and Moggy - a 16-year-old DJ from Harpurhey - behind the decks.
It was packed out, and Jay and Colin made a killing, but before they could organise another night the club burnt down. Looking for a new venue Colin, a 'council estate wide-boy' from Harpurhey, approached Hippodrome owner Ken Leary.
"Ken was part of the older generation of club owners. Disco was his market and he didn't really know or understand the acid house scene," Colin said. "I went for a meeting with him and because I was just a young lad I thought I had to get dressed up, so I put my old school trousers on. We expected him to give us a Tuesday night or something, but he gave us Friday. In the end he practically gave the keys to the place over to us."
"I wasn't convinced to start with," said Jay, originally from Openshaw. "Hippos was a bit old fashioned. I'd played there before and it was a chrome and mirrors, dancing round your handbag type-place. But when we went in, I don't why, I felt like it could work."
The first Clash night at Hippos was on Friday, April 26, 1991. Jay and Colin had spent about £1,000 - an enormous sum for a new club night - on huge 6ft high colour posters which they plastered on railway arches, motorway bridges and old mills across the north west.
After paying a pal to break into the old Coronation Street set at Granada Studios, one poster even went up the side of Mike Baldwin's factory, where, unnoticed, it appeared in the background of several episodes.
With Jay and Moggy DJing, about 30-40 curious ravers turned up on the opening night. But word soon got out and within weeks the club was rammed, with Clash eventually taking over both Fridays and Saturdays.
"The queues outside were five deep, It went right down under the subway." said Colin. "There were people turning up from Blackburn, Bolton, Birmingham, London. It was bit overwhelming at first."
"It was incredible," said Jay. "It was just pure emotion. You'd look down on the dancefloor from the balcony and just see this mass of bodies.
"It was such a big place you'd have all these little sections, almost like cliques, but everybody was kindred spirits, all there for the same reason."
Hippos regular Carl Barlow agrees. "The first time I set foot in Hippos was probably early 1991, and from the word go it just felt totally different, the music had a real edge to it, the atmosphere was completely amazing, there was no other place quite like it or anywhere near," he said.
"Under the surface though, there could sometimes be an underlying tension in there, a bit dark and gritty, almost sinister, but that was the whole attraction. There was too many clubs doing the same 'nicey' rave thing, Hippos was definitely different. Having said that, I can honestly say I never saw one fight or any hint of trouble whatsoever in Hippos."
With Colin providing the entrepreneurial nous and Jay the musical smarts, soon Hippos' Saturday night line-up was a who's who of the biggest names in house, techno and rave. In April 1992 a young Oasis also played at the Thursday indie night, supporting Peter Hook's band Revenge.
Colin even set up a 'ravers database', charging punters 50p to become Hippos members in exchange for being the first to know about the latest nights. At its height about 6,000 people were on the list with members from as far afield as Ireland and Paris.
But, as is too often the case, the Clash nights didn't last for long. Within a year Jay and Colin had gone their separate ways and a new promotion company took over.
And, with raves at Bowlers in Trafford Park growing in popularity, Hippos started to see its numbers dwindling. Then, in November 1992, the club abruptly closed.
A year later, two South Yorkshire-based businessmen bought the club and announced it would re-open the following February after a £250,000 facelift. That venture also failed and in 1997 Hippos closed for good. It lay derelict for years until the building was finally demolished to make way for Middleton Arena.
But, while the Hippos may be long gone, the memories still remain. "It was just absolute love and happiness," said Colin.
"Everybody was dancing, everybody was bouncing off the same energy - it was incredible. It was just a beautiful thing to have been a part of."
Jay is still DJing and promoting. In May he's planning a Hippos night at Victoria Baths in Victoria Park, south Manchester with MC Shine and Melanie Williams. But he still looks back on the original nights with fondness.
"It was like being in a ball of energy," he said. "It was almost surreal. Just pure pleasure. I was 21, Colin was a year or two older. We were just children really, but we were putting on these massive nights. I feel blessed to have been there."
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