AUTHOR

Mike Pickering

Tap the gear icon above to manage new release emails.
Mike Pickering began his career at Factory Records in the early 1980’s as an A&R man, where he signed Happy Mondays and James. Simultaneously, Mike formed his own band Quando Quango, who enjoyed an underground dance hit in the US with the track “Love Tempo”, championed by legendary DJ’s Larry Levan at Paradise Garage and Mark Kamins in the New York club scene. Mike managed bookings and DJ’d at the iconic Hacienda club, from it’s opening in 1982-93. He pioneered UK house music through his Wednesday HOT night and Friday NUDE night, which came to establish the venue as the epicentre of Britain's acid house movement. In 1987, he formed the band TCOY, releasing the underground hit "Carino" - one of Britain's first house records. That same year, he co-founded one of the UK’s first ever mainstream dance labels, Deconstruction Records, with his managers. In the 1990s, Deconstruction dominated the charts with chart-topping hits by; Black Box, Guru Josh, K Klass, Felix, and Kylie Minogue. Many of these groundbreaking tracks were first tested in the hallowed Hacienda DJ booth by Mike, before conquering the nation. During his time at Deconstruction, Mike formed his own group, M People, as a songwriter and saxophonist. M People also achieved mainstream success and went on to sell 14 million albums, tour the globe, win two Brits and the Mercury Prize for their album “Elegant Slumming”. Mike went on to join Columbia Records, where he signed and helped the careers of; Calvin Harris, Kasabian, Gossip, The Ting Tings amongst others. Mike was also involved in the Hacienda Classical concerts, which included a performance on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury to open the festival, in 2017. In 2023 Mike was honoured with the IMS Legends award. Mike still DJ’s today at venues such as the acclaimed Warehouse Project in Manchester. Mike is also writing a book, due for release in 2026.
Read more Read less

Try Audible membership today. Start enjoying the benefits.

Try Audible for free with an audiobook of your choice.
Try Standard free
Auto-renews at AUD $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Most Popular

Product list
  • Manchester Must Dance cover art
    Preview

    $27.52 or free with 30-day trial

    Try Standard free