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A Certain Ratio

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Manchester, United Kingdom (1978 – present)

A Certain Ratio (aka Acr or A.C.R.) are a post-punk/funk band from manchester, UK. Formed in the late 1970s, they were one of the bands (along with Gang of Four and The Pop Group) who forged the new musical hybrid which became known as punk-funk, a style which fused the energy and aggression of new-wave with the rhythms and musicianship of funk and soul. The band’s members were originally Simon Topping, Jeremy Kerr, Martin Moscrop, Donald Johnson and Pete Terrell. In live performance, the band often had a flexible line-up, with various members swapping instruments, and also performing ensemble latin percussion music.

In 1979, ACR released their debut single “

All Night Party”/”The Thin Boys” on the late tony wilson’s and the late rob gretton’s factory records, Manchester’s legendary DIY collective/record label.
ACR’s early sound consisted of repetitious, effects-heavy guitar lines over a funky rhythm section with Latin percussion and ethereal electronics, over which lay Simon Topping’s dark, moody vocals. Examples of this can be heard on tracks such as ‘

Do the Du’, ‘

The Fox’ and ‘

Winter Hill’.

The band were initially criticised as being ‘style over substance’, as much attention was paid to the band’s stage clothing and album artwork, all carefully orchestrated by Factory boss Tony Wilson. But ACR nevertheless gained a large following. They completed visits to the US, where their music was popular particularly in the clubs of New York.
Early albums include “To Each…” and the studio/live album “The Graveyard and the Ballroom”.

Tagged as:

post-punk, new wave, manchester, post punk, 80s
See more…

1	Shack Up	296
2	Do the Du	270
3	Flight full track	196
4	The Fox	166
5	Choir	137
6	Gum	104
7	Knife Slits Water	86
8	All Night Party full track	83
9	Faceless full track	81
10	Skipscada	71
11	Touch	59
12	Waterline	58
12	Crippled Child full track	58
14	Blown Away	53
14	Life's a Scream	53

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PostPunk-Mag wrote:
last month

Show Case.....

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godlikePaul wrote:
last month

Some of the coolest-sounding music out there.

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lukejonesyes wrote:
October 2008

I completely forgot about this band.

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WilmaThePink wrote:
October 2008

great...!

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Taell wrote:
October 2008

To Each...is amazing..:o

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pancho_p wrote:
October 2008

A Certain Ratio to play LA!!! http://buzzbands.la/2008/10/15/manchester-post-punks-a-certain-ratio-to-play-la/

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withgod wrote:
October 2008

http://www.lastfm.com.tr/group/music+born+was+Manchester

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greendevotchka wrote:
October 2008

♥

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phr[o]zen wrote:
September 2008

i fail

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StefanoPiacenti wrote:
August 2008

il funk-punk bianco più nero che c'è...

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Cliff1963 wrote:
June 2008

Got hooked to ACR in 1981/1982 with To Each... and Sextet. The pumping bass and their rhythm section did it for me. I still love to hear their music and still reminds me of the great times I had in the Rotterdam nightlife in the early eighties.

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bLASTfmY wrote:
June 2008

a WoWie.

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dsprat wrote:
June 2008

Insignificant... just snobbery

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Bilgey wrote:
April 2008

ACR released 4 for the Floor a cracking four track issue of brilliant songs. But I can't understand why none of the tracks appear here...??? They are 1. Good Together. 2. Spirit Dance [my favourite]. 3. Be What You Wannabe. 4. Tribeca. They also appear on the ACR:MCR album. Big Recommendation.

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buttgammon wrote:
March 2008

Wow, what a brilliant band! I've been into Factory stuff for a long time now but I hadn't heard any ACR until just now.

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dementio13 wrote:
February 2008

Underrated, undersold....massively influential, revered in Manchester and New York. Everyone should know about this band....especially their music between 1979 and 1984. Awesome....I love 'em!

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satellit wrote:
January 2008

One of the best.

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Rauding wrote:
December 2007

How brilliant! what a hidden gem!

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New_Jack_City wrote:
December 2007

wawaweewa

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beaer wrote:
August 2007

hello, do you know where to find lyrics of a certain ratio?

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12 Next

Events

Dec 27 Fac 51 Haçienda Tour The Print Factory, Glasgow, United Kingdom
4 shouts | 5 attendees

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News

EXCLUSIVE RELEASE NEWS // URBANITE.CO.UK CATALOGUE ON ITUNES

3 Dec 2008 | from www.urbanite.co.uk

Friday 25th November, Freezing Cold Manchester Yo ho ho, Merry Christmas all (Happy Holiday to our state-side friends!). Urbanite's very own Santa has been a busy boy of late…

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ACR New Album
19 Aug 2006 | from blog.myspace.com/acertainratio
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NEW TRIBECA WEBSITE
11 Jul 2006 | from www.urbanite.co.uk
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Listeners

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Recent Activity

bethinho, kissmeforcure, inksucker and 2 other people added A Certain Ratio to their libraries. 4 hours ago
luandflagg tagged A Certain Ratio with ‘manchester’. Monday morning
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nihil23 tagged A Certain Ratio with ‘post-punk’. Sunday afternoon
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ShadowOfLove tagged A Certain Ratio with new wave, 80s, manchester and 2 other tags. Thursday morning
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