There will be a short delay in the delivery of pre-release copies of the new Kooky Records 2CD re-release of Vini Reilly by The Durutti Column.

Read the full announcement at kookydisc.co.uk.

Labels: Kooky_Records, The_Durutti_Column, Vini_Reilly

Commissioned by Tony Wilson, designed by Andy Woodcock and Ed Jackson and broken by Happy Mondays, the FAC 331 Temporary Contemporary Table created for the FAC 251 HQ boardroom almost perfectly sums up the excesses of Factory Records' latter days with its thirty grand price tag. Well, it would do if that was true. The actual cost was two thousand pounds and it was all put together in two weeks.

Designer Andy Woodcock tells all to Cerysmatic Factory:

FAC 331 The Temporary Contemporary Table - full story and pics.

Labels: Andy_Woodcock, design, FAC251_The_Factory, Happy_Mondays

Latest news from our good friend Stuart Argabright in NYC on Ike Yard and related projects:

Ike Yard are into the process of unearthing unreleased tracks from '81-82. Outpost 13 look set to return to London in April for a gig at Vortex Club on the 14th and a JG Ballard event on the 22nd. Finally, Stuart's first group in DC, Rudements (early '78) will be on Kris Needs' Dirty Waters 2 Birth of Punk.

Labels: events, gigs, Ike_Yard

Tony Wilson presented many television programmes but many of them were not about music. Flying Start was an Eighties Granada programme in which teams from businesses in the North West of England would compete against each other to win a cash prize. As David Nolan suggests in You're Entitled To An Opinion, it was the forerunner of such modern day hit business-themed shows as Dragons' Den and The Apprentice.

In typical AHW fashion he was unable to separate his day job (Journalist) from his passion, running Factory Records. And so it transpired that the Factory Catalogue number FAC 318 was assigned to an exhibition of Factory artwork at a Flying Start exhibition in May 1991. Information on that particular exhibition is scant-to-non-existent (if anyone knows otherwise, please get in touch).

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FAC 318 Flying Start Exhibition Stand

Labels: flying_start, television, Tony_Wilson

FAC 338 Want A Virgin (aka Cool Idea) was a single which Northside recorded and which was intended for their second album. However, neither the single nor the album were released.

Dermo explains to Cerysmatic Factory what the single was about:

"The lyrics I wrote to the song are about a young man who decides to do a bank robbery on his own, (thinking that way he'd have less chance of being caught) in the hope of living a better lifestyle. He has no intentions of hurting anybody else, it's just that he's hurting so much himself. The lyrics were influenced by the song Bank Robber by The Clash and while I was growing up in Manchester, the attitudes of certain people that I knew. Want A Virgin is a refrain that I used (lifted off another Yellowman track of the same name) at the beginning of the song to emphasise it being somebody's first attempt, let's say his debut as a bank robber. Cool Idea being how his mind was working, in other words, it would be a cool idea to do a robbery, hurt no one, get away with it and lead a better life.

"The music is typical Northside but a bit heavier sounding in the guitars. Rex Sergeant (RIP) was working with us, producing this at Suite 16. I have a DAT copy of the song but it was never officially released on tape etc for Factory."

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Full details on FAC 338 Want A Virgin [includes full lyrics]

Labels: Northside, undone

A reminder that Jez Kerr's first ever solo performance will be at Gullivers in Manchester on Saturday 19 February 2011. Everyone who attends will receive a remix of the new single Play Sumthing Fast as a free download.

Special guests for the evening are confirmed as The Orch whose album Small Times is out on Skinny Dog Records and available for download.

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Saturday 19th Feb
Gullivers
Oldham St Manchester

8pm £6 on the door upstairs

Labels: events, gigs, Jez_Kerr, The_Orch

News in from thedurutticolumn.com and Kooky Records:

Kooky Records will be re-releasing the seminal Durutti Column album Vini Reilly in Spring 2011.

It will consist of two discs: the original album re-mastered by Keir Stewart and a nine-track bonus disc of unheard studio out-takes from a session TDK tape which has been in the possession of Vini and not played for many years!

The album will, however, be available on a strictly limited pre-sale basis direct from Kooky via thedurutticolumn.com and kookydisc.co.uk for only £13.00 (Paypal only) including postage and packing to anywhere in the world.

Please note there will only be a limited amount sold via this method and it is being sold on a strictly first come first served basis. We can therefore not reserve any copies.

Tracklisting

Kookydisc 30/1

1. Love no more
2. Pol in G
3. Opera I
4. People's Pleasure Park
5. Red Square
6. Finding The Sea
7. Otis
8. William B
9. They Work Every Day
10. Opera II
11. Homage to Catalonea
12. Requiem Again

Kookydisc 30/2

1. Opera Two Demo
2. Finding The Sea - One
3. PPP Demo
4. Juan Montero Sketch One
5. Sample Tune
6. Finding The Sea - Two
7. Juan Montero Sketch Two
8. William B Demo
9. Sketches on Stratocaster

Visit thedurutticolumn.com Shop for more details.

Labels: Kooky_Records, The_Durutti_Column, Vini_Reilly

In the eternal battle between capitalism and popular culture, every little helps.

The list of sites of historical musical interest in Manchester that have been humiliated at the hands of developers determined to wipe out our musical heritage makes for sad reading:

The Squat (Warsaw, New Order): now a car park; The Russell Club (FAC1, FAC3, FAC4 etc): a housing development; The Rialto (Joy Division, ACR): a golden arched drive-thru; Manhattan Sound (The Smiths): an office block; International 2 (Stone Roses): a Turkish deli; The Hacienda (everybody else): a block of flats for twats.

Now, the final insult. The frontage of Fagins and Rafters - where Joy Division once Battled with the Bands - recently reopened as

T*sco.

Labels: Factory_Records, Joy_Division, Manchester, New_Order

Paul Ryder (ex-Happy Mondays) will be the special guest on the Part Time Punks radio show
this Thursday 13 January from 3-6pm P.S.T. on KXLU 88.9 FM in the Los Angeles area and on kxlu.com everywhere else in this the latest instalment in an ongoing series of Factory Records-themed specials of course. This is in preparation for Paul's Guest DJ gig this Sunday for Factory Records Nite at Part Time Punks (@ 1822 Sunset).

Labels: Happy_Mondays, Part_Time_Punks

The Arthur Baker remix of the Freebass track You Don't Know This About Me is being used in the trailer for the new US chat show Piers Morgan Tonight which replaces the long-running and much admired Larry King Live on CNN from next Monday 17 January.

Labels: Arthur_Baker, Freebass, television

Jez Kerr's new band play a session on Marc Riley's BBC 6music show this coming Thursday evening (6 Jan 2011) at 7pm. This is to promote the new single Play Sumthing Fast and the forthcoming gig at Gullivers, Oldham Street, Manchester on Saturday 19 Feb 2011.

More info on Facebook | iTunes | YouTube

Labels: events, gigs, Jez_Kerr

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