Betwixt industrial Manchester post-punk sprawl, and p-funk New York disco balls, materialised trailblazers A Certain Ratio. Fervently conceived in 1978 and armed with a funked-up battery of anarchy, teutonic blare, trumpets and amphetamines, ACR were the first signings to Tony Wilson's then-nascent, now-infamous Factory empire; alongside Joy Division.
By 1980, ACR's juddering percussion, volatile soul and livid resistance to musical vogues transported them from the North of England to New York, where their punk-struck riffs and shuddering grooves saw them tour with the likes of New Order and ESG. They also had a little-known support act back then: Madonna.
ACR's swerving, unnerving aesthetic was, and remains, both original and critical - as recently evinced on their recent (and excellent) Soul Jazz retrospective, Early: their swaggering convulsions - of northern abasement, post-punk alarm, Funkadelic retreat and dance-floor glee - sound as affecting, and audacious, as ever.
Founder member Martin Moscrop serenades us with his all-time Top 10 records, in no particular order. "We share favourites, so this will reflect what the rest of the band like as well," he nods. "Listen to this to understand the meaning of funk!"
Atmosfear - 'Dancing In Outer Space'
"Who said the British were no good at Jazz Funk? This is the perfect post-punk tune mixing up so many styles - disco, jazz, funk, reggae and dub - in one. It sold 100,000 copies!"
Frank De Jojo - 'Turn Off The Lights'
"The bass on this is awesome and this tune never leaves my box. When I played in New York recently I had so many people come and ask me who it was by because they had only heard the [Larry Young] original."
Shack Up - 'Banbarra'
"I don't care what anyone says: this record wouldn't have been so popular if ACR hadn't covered it. Whatever happened to these guys? The reason we covered it was because when we heard it the first time we said, 'we could play that' - even with our limited musical knowledge at the time - because it is so simple. Our version cost £50 to record."
P-Funk All Stars - 'Hydraulic Pump'
"This record never dates and never fails to get people dancing. We used to listen to it on acid and hear loads of voices in it???"
Seelenluft - 'Manila' (Headman remix)
"What a base line. It has punk-funk written all over it. I really like the way Hedman mixes live stuff with computer driven tunes. The guy rapping on it is only 14."
The Junkyard Band - 'Sardines'
"We saw them in Washington in the early 80s and the drummer was so young you couldn't see him over his drum kit. They had the place jumping."
The Beat Club - 'Security'
"I loved this tune and one day the late RobGretton, (Rob's Records / New Order), asked me if I wanted to do a remix of, 'Dreams Were Made To Be Broken', by The Beat Club. I bit his hand off."
The Bar Kays - 'Holy Ghost'
"Listen to this to understand the meaning of Funk. ACR have ripped this tune off to death."
ESG - 'Dance'
"I picked this one by ESG because it's the one I play at the moment, because of the Toyota advert, but I could play any track of the Soul Jazz compilation because every one is a killer."
Rodger & Zapp - 'More Bounce To The Ounce'
"P-Funked up to fuck! Any song about girls tits is a winner for me."