An eagerly anticipated mural celebrating the life and legacy of Pete Shelley will be unveiled on Sunday 10th July at midday.
The mural will hold prominence in the heart of Pete’s hometown, neighbouring the new state-of-the-art archive facilities at Leigh Town Hall and the historic Turnpike CentrPete Shelley is one of the most important and influential musicians the UK has ever produced, best known for his work with punk iconoclasts Buzzcocks, Pete wrote a stream of classics in the late 1970s, including their biggest hit “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)”, which reached number 12 in the UK chart in 1978. Pete also pursued a successful solo career in the 1980s. His song “Homosapien” charted in the US in 1981.
The mural has been accomplished by over 3 years of fundraising coordinated by The Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign.
The mural has been created by a collaboration between graphic art pioneer (and Pete’s close friend) Malcolm Garrett MBE, and the highly acclaimed street artist Akse P19.
The unveiling celebrations will start at 12 noon on Sunday 10th July. with speeches led by Malcolm Garrett and special guests in front of the mural. Then from 1pm a FREE post-unveiling show will take place upstairs in The Turnpike Centre led by the superb Buzzcocks tribute band BUZZKOCKS, and Leigh punk luminaries STATIC LINE.
You can learn more about the story of Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/peteshelleymemorial/
Pete Shelley’s estate have donated numerous items from Pete’s own archive of pictures, music and all sorts of random stuff – these are being auctioned here on eBay… I kid you not!
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A video from the event plus an hour long tribute from 30+ musicians, family and friends of Pete will be shown at 1800GMT on 4th December. Details will be here and the video will be shown live on Facebook.
RELEASED FRIDAY 4th DECEMBER 2020
New Album of Pete Shelley songs covered by Artists in Tribute to his Genius!
With all funds going to the Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign
Links:
GET THE ALBUM: BUY IT HERE
Website: www.yesterdaysnothere.co.uk
Press Release: Yesterday’s Not Here
Sunday 24th May 2020 – this was the A Different Kind of Tension live online fundraiser for the Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign.
You can still donate money to the campaign here
or you can buy merchandise here
The Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign has raised nearly £15,000 towards the creation of a permanent memorial to Pete Shelley in his hometown of Leigh.
Pretty good eh?
Part of our ongoing push to celebrate Pete and his creativity has resulted in a blue plaque that will be going on the outside wall of the house he used to live in.
I pick up countless magazines and read article after article about bands who site Pete as their inspiration, the reason they put pen to paper or tried making different types of music. His band sits at the heart of any decent Manchester bands map. He brought punk out of London and created a wave that bands still ride on today.
In life he was celebrated by his crazy crowds, still packing out venues after all those years and was awarded his honorary doctorate from Bolton University…. but in death, what is he/we left with?
After Pete’s death Twitter exploded with an outpouring of heartfelt messages for a man who had inspired people as a songwriter, musician, LGBTQ+ ambassador, human rights activist and all round lovely person. He was the top trend for days, bands from all over the world shared memories and sadness at his loss.
But almost a year since he’s been gone and what do we have? What of his roots, his hometown? Where can he be found?….. nowhere. We have nothing other than the rumble of our campaign pushing to keep his memory alive. As a family, there is no place to remember Pete as such, nothing physical to pay respects, no grave, no bench. Nothing. He’s a ghost in the machine.
It’s truly heartbreaking, a man who did so much to put the north west on the map; over the years how much revenue has he generated for the area? Be that from his packed gigs bringing people out, to people who invested in their own careers/ music courses/ local music businesses etc because of him. A man who was part of arguably the biggest music revolution in British music history- nothing.
It’s sad to think that without the efforts of our small but mighty campaign, Pete would be confined to the history books, his roots left to fade away. Is this how Leigh treats its sons?
What about the next generation who need to remember that there is always room for someone willing to buck the trend? Youngsters who need to see that with a bit of determination and hard work you can go out there and change the entire landscape of your generation; be that in music, art, politics or just society in general. Why aren’t you biting our hands off to share this message with the town through this iconic symbol who called this place home for so many years?
Do we just leave him lost in the pages of Google? Confined to YouTube? Forgotten by the very place where it all began?
What does Pete get? Let’s hope it’s not “Nothing at all at all at all…”
Rebecca Hamilton – cousin of Pete Shelley
JOIN US !
We are organising events and fundraising with the aim of creating a lasting memorial to the truly great homosapien…
Pete Shelley
How can YOU help?
You can sign the petition:
Get involved:
Find out more:
“Pete Shelley’s songwriting has proven to play a major influence on the music of the last quarter of the twentieth century and beyond. He was a unique and humble human, and I am proud to have worked beside him. It is a no-brainer that his hometown of Leigh would work quickly and diligently to construct an appropriate memorial to him.”
Steve Garvey (The Buzzcocks)
“And if I start a commotion, I’ll only end up losing you, And that’s worse…”
