(Credits: Far Out / Out On Blue Six / Record Sleeve)
Sat 28 March 2026 10:30, UK
If you are from Manchester, have ever been to Manchester, or have ever spoken to anybody from Manchester for over five minutes, you will be all too aware of the city’s rich history as a stronghold for indie and alternative music.
From the subversive sounds of Joy Division and Factory Records to the Britpop heroism of Oasis, Manchester has been responsible for countless colossal changes in the musical landscape of the United Kingdom. Yet, with so many legendary groups to its name, there are bound to be many more Mancunian outfits that have unjustly flown under the radar. Post-punk hidden gem Out On Blue Six certainly fits that billing.Â
Details on Out On Blue Six are pretty scarce these days, and that is perhaps no shock considering the group only ever released one single during their short-lived tenure, entitled ‘Party Mood’. Featuring a darkly danceable post-punk, industrial sound and a Siouxsie Sioux-esque vocal performance courtesy of Kate Sekules, the single was exactly the kind of track that could easily have become one of Manchester’s cult favourites, but it never quite panned out like that.
Despite the clear quality and subversive innovation clearly present within the band’s output, they never quite summited the same heights as their fellow Mancunians. They did, however, end up recording two sessions for the legendary DJ and champion of Manchester’s post-punk offerings, John Peel, in 1980 and 1981.
Peel’s seal of approval was enough for countless other groups to make it into the big-time, or at least earn the adoration of the DJ’s ever-expanding audience of punks, indie kids, and musical outcasts. The Fall, for instance, owed a core part of their audience to being played endlessly on John Peel’s radio show, while The Undertones might never have made it out of their local scene in Derry if Peel hadn’t taken ‘Teenage Kicks’ to heart.
That being said, not every group that recorded a Peel session achieved the same dizzying heights as Mark E Smith and the gang. Out On Blue Six, although they delivered two incredible, heinously underrated Peel sessions, were never really elevated beyond that point.
‘Party Mood’ could have afforded them a much wider audience, blending the experimental sounds and punk aggression of The Slits with a more new wave-esque dance sound, but given that it was the first release on the incredibly short-lived independent label Hungry Rooms, it couldn’t afford the distribution to take it far beyond the M60.
Exactly how many copies of the single were ever even pressed is as unknown as the band themselves, although those vinyl copies have since become rather coveted by collectors of obscure post-punk records. Instead of those white-gloved collectors, though, the single should be coveted by DJs, as ‘Party Mood’ with all its snarl and dance aggression is a far better floor-filler than any of your typical post-punk tracks that get wheeled out at indie discos and club nights.
Exactly when Out On Blue Six decided to throw in the towel as a band is similarly unknown, but guitarist Carl Marsh splintered off to form Shriekback with XTC’s Barry Andrews and Gang of Four’s Dave Allen in 1981 – completing the line-up of a rather unlikely post-punk supergroup. Aside from that, though, the musical legacy of Out On Blue Six begins and ends with that lone single.
Currently, they remain one of the most underrated and overlooked outfits of Manchester’s golden age of post-punk, and their enduring appeal is still seemingly waiting to be rediscovered.
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