In the matter of Factory Records / Minny Pops vs the Trade Mark Agent in 1981 let us present the first exhibit...

---

Please refer to: EKH/CN


Mr. A. Wilson
Factory Records Ltd.,
Flat 4,
86, Palatine Road,
Didsbury,
Manchester 20.


I refer to your telephone message and note the shield emblem was used in respect of a limited number of records and this has now been exhausted. Further you do not intend to utilise the trade mark again.

It would assist me if you will kindly drop me a line confirming the following:

1. the number of records sold bearing the trade mark
2. all the records has been disposed of
3. no reordering has been started
4. the Shield emblem trade mark will not be used again
5. you will not feature any Philips products on record sleeves in the future.

Your early reply will be greatly appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

R.W. WALSBY.

---

A reply to the letter has not yet been found but it is thought that only the initial pressing (in an unknown quantity) was ever made and it is definitely known that the logo was not reused. It is our understanding the matter never went any further.

Philips was based in Eindhoven, Netherlands and therefore a connection was presumably made by designer Martyn Atkins given the Dutch heritage of Minny Pops.

Labels: back_in_the_cellar, Factory_Records, graphic_design, history, Martyn_Atkins, Minny_Pops, Tony_Wilson

A one-page "mission statement" by Tony Wilson for Red Cellars¹ which, following a name change, became F4 Records:

---

"WHAT IS RED CELLAR?
red cellars???

1. THE NEW FACTORY RECORDS

"I try to open up the freedom within the artist himself, to help him discover what he believed his message to be.... to bring out that curiosity, to encourage that area of creative difference, to stifle not even the smallest element of exploration." Sam Philips

2. WE ARE AN INDEPENDENT RECORD COMPANY BASED IN MANCHESTER, ENGLAND

"I just put some records out with me mates" Rob Gretton

Factory after all is merely about people, about the way people work, the way Red Cellar works.

3. WE MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE OUT OF MANCHESTER

"The mode of production determines the mode of consciousness" Hegel

Sign - one major band per annum for the first two years and up to six "interesting bands" per year released through "Sticky Paw", Red Cellar underground imprint.

Business Plan

"A merchant is he who buys cheap and sells dear be he Gentile or Jew" James Joyce

Nothing is as cheap as great art when it's fresh, cause no-one wants it.

We sign bands for £80,000 not £180,000. Some we sign for £30,000. No bidding wars because no-one else will bid when it's that early. "I hear a hit single" - "No you fucking don't - they haven't written it yet." Cf 'Love will tear us apart",

We sign bands without hit singles, cause they haven't written them yet."

---

¹ - the provisional title of F4, "Red Cellars" was derived from the following famous extract from Ivan Chtcheglov's Formula For A New Urbanism (1953): "... And you, forgotten, your memories ravaged by all the consternations of two hemispheres, stranded in the Red Cellars of Pali-Kao, without music and without geography, no longer setting out for the hacienda where the roots think of the child and where the wine is finished off with fables from an old almanac. That's all over. You'll never see the hacienda. It doesn’t exist. The hacienda must be built."

See also: FAC 51 The Hacienda and FAC 511 And you forgotten

Labels: back_in_the_cellar, F4_Records, Red_Cellars, Rob_Gretton, Tony_Wilson

FAC 181 The Mad F*ckers was a "youth exploitation" movie, with a budget of $2,500,000. Production started July 1987 and was aborted in 1992. This would appear to be a test or draft for some aspect of a promotional campaign which would have surfaced before the eventual campaign.

The Bailey Brothers were Keith Jobling and Phil Shotton who also worked extensively with Happy Mondays.

Labels: back_in_the_cellar, Bailey_Brothers, film, undone

Here we have a transcript of the story of Peter Saville (with asides on Martyn Atkins and Stephen Horsfall) as written by Tony Wilson around 1981. Constructivism - check; Praxis - check; hip bourgeois hedonism - check. We'll assume the reference to a FAC 48 coffee table was a gentle jape.

---

SAVILLE: The Partner's Story

The first time I met Saville was February or March '78 . It was the Apollo Theatre, Manchester, a Patti Smith gig - after she'd gone off - artistically. He said he was at the Poly and was interested in doing graphics work that tied in to music. I took his phone number. Nice suit, nice girlifriend. Bit smooth - sharp eyes tho! The Factory club started in May '78. we needed a poster. His track record at that point; one smart brochure for AMEK¹ the Salford PA people, and a nice piece of Neon for the Smirks. AMEK had just brought out a new desk. He had failed to complete the second brochure. Perhaps it was because he was doing our poster (FAC 1; yellow and black industrial constructivist/mid-fifties Jan Tschichold). Perhaps not, perhaps it was the difficult birth. That comes later.



After the club: (there were two more posters FAC 3 and 4 (white seriffed type on black - same tune as John Foxx). For some strange reason these posters were always late and usually went up after the gig. Lateness/brute inefficiency became our house style. It's a process called praxis; do something and then find out why you did it. The inefficiency/dedication dialectic was like that and Peter played his part.



We then needed to put a record out, Autumn '78. No-one else would. Praxis. It was FAC 2, a company concept (hand made imitation of Thailand double plastic backed tissue paper for double 7" EP. Saville used silver and black definitive Hi-tech. (c.f. Record Mirror quote on video Chapter 7). Why the lovely sleeves - then and now. Well if you're putting out the best music, it seemed sort of obvious to put out the best sleeves - not just in Indieland. Anywhere. As one of those praxis things it's not clear whether it was for our fun or THEIR (that presence in record shops) value for money. It can in fact be seen, Saville artwork in particular, as a kind of hip bourgeois hedonism. Often is in the comics. Tough. The coffee table is black and red (FAC 48) and will be on mail order (approx £75.00 by Autumn).



For Factory Mr Saville then did his black on black OMITD sleeve (FAC 6). He offered his thermographic conceit to A Certain Ratio first in the coffee bar of the Royal Exchange, March 1979 but the brats turned him down settling for their dead Lenny Bruce and my four Anthony Perkins in a Saville-Warhol piss-take.



A rags to riches story; or rather a mid-Cheshire Bowie to an echt Anthony Price. There followed the odd hand-made sleeve (FAC 18 - five months for the right tracing paper) X-O-Dus (FAC 11) took Denis Bovell seven months to mix, and Peter Saville nine months to design. You have to feel a slight twinge of pity for the poor musicians in all this but they are now warned at the outset.



The Joy Division stuff was usually pretty prompt. Mostly because the one of Saville's partners who managed Joy Division had a bigger stick than the others. Though Transmission 12" - FAC 13 - took 14 months. By this time our hero has gone to Din Disc; apparently it's nearer to the Zanzibar than Factory. Now Factory and Dindins and even, in the extremest of bad taste (not the sleeve, the music) Roxy Music, and lots more late artwork. House style. There was the OMITD first album in the perforated metal outer, the only one we didn't like to see going to a nasty Major - or Minor Major. Incidentally, the first mono set was Barney's idea.



A small mention for Factory's other designers. Mr Atkins whose upcoming Tunnelvision single sleeve (FAC 39) is very fine but who now seems to have deserted to the Liverpool camp which is if anything even more depressing than E.G. retreads. And back in Manchester Steven Horsfall newly elected to the RCA and bitter at the way Saville neutralised his label for the ESG single (FAC 34). He's done FACT 14/Durutti Column/FAC 17 embossed & FACT 24 the Factory Quartet². Sadly this sleeve was lambasted in January's Peter Saville backlash in the comics. Peter ducks as well as he weaves. The sleeve for ACR's "To Each" was designed by the group with the help of T.G. Sleazy³; it was an anti-arti-Peter effort. "Typically arty farty Factory/Saville sleeve" said the comics. And he thought it was revolting (FACT 35).



And to close I won't indulge in aesthetic adulation of a friend. Sickly. Just like to say, I do think he's the best typographer in town, any town, Factory's company address will not be changing on the new notepaper as Palatine looks too good in the new 30's Italian typeface to change it - apparently. The birth... well when this show⁴ opened in Liverpool a month ago, I happened to be in Liverpool working for the people I work for so I went along; thought I might be able to find out if he'd done the rough for the Section 25 album. Great opening; cheap wine, expensive accents, and our lad's display. A blank wall. Dada; no just late - not there. No sleeves - no Peter. When the exhibition closed, on a blank Factory wall, and still no Peter, I noticed that Peter's mum, standing in the doorway ready to leave was taking it very stoically. Though it seemed that she like me had been here before. Waiting for Peter. I asked her if his peculiar habit ever troubled her or drove her to physical violence. She smiled and said no, and said she was just glad he was alive. This seemed a bit over the top but she explained that he had been a Caesarian and had his blood changed twice. I'm a caesarian too, but I didn't get any of that. If I had I would have written this next week. "Likely to do well - but often late for school", it should also be pointed out that Peter is a catholic. There is a mafia but it's not the one you think it is.

But is it art?

---

Notes:

¹ - More on AMEK at langley-design.com

² - there is no other known evidence of Stephen Horsfall having worked on FAC 17 or FACT 24 but I would be interested to know if this did indeed happen.

³ - cover painting by Ann Quigley

⁴ - the Cover Versions exhibition at the Bluecoat, Liverpool in 1981, see thebluecoat.org.uk

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, back_in_the_cellar, Factory_Records, graphic_design, history, Martyn_Atkins, OMD, Peter Saville, Section_25, Stephen_Horsfall, The_Durutti_Column, Tunnelvision, X-O-Dus

Here's a transcript of a full and frank letter from Alan Erasmus to his contact "Yuri" ahead of his trip to the USSR which was famously commemorated by the FAC 126 poster 'Alan Goes To Moscow'. It it is quite unusual in that its stated aim is to "... explain more fully Factory's philosophy, and methods to present our art and ideas into a morally corrupt market place."


"Sunday 9th September 1984

Greetings Yuri

My apologies for the slight delay, but here is the letter you asked me to send you, outlining (briefly) the areas for discussion on my visit to Moscow (23rd to 26th October).

1. To discuss the feasibility of the importing, and/or license, of Soviet cultural achievements in the areas of:-

a) Contemporary Music
b) Film
c) Classical Music
d) Video Recording

2/ To hold talks with regard to, (though not necessarily on a reciprocal basis) the licensing, and/or import, of Factory (F.C.L) productions to the U.S.S.R. in the areas of:

a) Contemporary Music
b) Film
c) Video Recording

During these discussions I will explain more fully Factory's philosophy, and methods to present our art and ideas into a morally corrupt market place. In the west we are treated with a grudging respect, (the Americans admire our honesty and commitment, but find it difficult to relate to, or deal with, what they call "A Marxist Communications Company") but they cannot understand how we continue to remain successful, (2 to 3 million pounds per annum, rising, and yet, do not advertise (no hard sell, or promotion), divide equally the profits (Factory's share is used to finance the making of more films and music, or to fund socialistically aware projects, and has no written agreement, or contracts with the workers it represents (for years we have trusted the people we work for and they have trusted us).

I sincerely hope it is possible to arrange the appropriate meetings during my visit to your country, and look forward with enthusiasm, to my stay in Moscow, and your reply.

Contra Mundi

Alan Erasmus"

Labels: Alan_Erasmus, back_in_the_cellar, Factory_Classical, Factory_Records, Ikon, USSR

The full catalogue of Factory Records FAC numbers is loved by everyone for its patterns and idiosyncrasies. In 1979, the nascent label was planning the first real wave of releases following on from the FAC 2 sampler and various events at The Factory. This flyer, entitled "Stepping Out" provides more detail and whilst some is familiar there's a few curveballs indicating what might've been.

Notably it seems that "instrumental album" by The Durutti Column was once scheduled to be FAC 12 and The Distractions' first single was slated as FAC 14. These would eventually swap and get different titles ("Pillow Talk" was actually "Pillow Fight", the eventual FAC 12 b-side).

FAC 13 was also going to be a badge before turning into "Transmission", the first single by Joy Division. I assume that this was the same badge that came out as FAC 21.

Finally, FAC 15 was originally going to be a single by Elti-Fits but turned into the Leigh Festival/Zoo Meet Factory Halfway event held in Leigh.

Transcription

FAC 5 A CERTAIN RATIO "All Night Party" 7" 45rpm Out now
FAC 6 ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES "Electricity" 7" 45rpm Out now
FAC 9 FACTORY FLICK "No City Fun" 8' 16mm July
FAC 10 JOY DIVISION "Unknown Pleasures" 12" 33 1/3 rpm July
FAC 11 X-O-DUS "English Black Boys" 7" 45rpm To be mixed
FAC 12 THE DURUTTI COLUMN Instrumental album 12" 33 1/3 rpm August
FAC 13 BADGE Fac thirteen with pin July
FAC 14 THE DISTRACTIONS "Pillow Talk" 7" 45rpm August
FAC 15 ELTI-FITS "Thirty Miles" 7" 45rpm August

NEW COMMODITIES
EXCLUSIVELY FACTIONED FOR YOU
THEY ARE ALL YOU NEED;
THEY ARE IN THE SHOPS

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, back_in_the_cellar, badges, Elti_Fits, Factory_Records, history, OMD, The_Distractions, The_Durutti_Column, X-O-Dus

Sunday 4 June
3pm - 11pm
@ The Deaf Institute, Manchester

Raising money for families affected by events on 22 May 2017.

Peter Hook + The Light
A Certain Ratio
Marshall Jefferson
Mr Scruff
Badly Drawn Boy
The G-O-D
Mary Ann Hobbs
Graeme Park
Dave Haslam
Jimi Goodwin
Steve Cobby
Denise Johnson
Alfie Sky
Aficionado
Unabombers
Krysko
Andrea Trout
Blood & Fire Soundsystem
Emotional Pop

[update: 30 May - this event is now sold out but the raffle ticket-only option priced 11.00 is still available]

Tickets priced 20.00 GBP each are now available to buy now.

T-shirts kindly donated by buytshirtsonline.co.uk will be for sale at the gig.

More info at the People Over Borders official website and Facebook page.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, charity, Dave_Haslam, Denise_Johnson, Manchester, Marshall_Jefferson, Peter_Hook, The_Light

Factory was highly noted for the quality of its graphic design which featured on everything from badges to posters to the records themselves. Once you got past the outer sleeve of a record it didn't stop there though as these 12" and LP labels prove. Central Station's loud and brash design for Happy Mondays is in complete contrast with the Factory Classical branding developed by Peter Saville, Brett Wickens and others.



Central Station showed another side to their talents with the bright and bold FAC 228 for Karl Denver.



Meanwhile, the FAC 257 Getting Away With It label by Peter Saville Associates for Electronic retains only the typography from the sleeve artwork in a minimalist approach.

Labels: Central_Station_Design, Electronic, Factory_Classical, graphic_design, Happy_Mondays, Karl_Denver, Peter Saville, Rolf_Hind

James play a selection of festival and one-off dates around the country starting in July in Manchester at the Castlefield Bowl as part of Sounds of the City.

July

Fri 7 - Sounds of the City, Manchester, Castlefield Bowl
Sat 15 - Kew the Music, Kew Gardens
Sat 22 - PennFest (with Sigma, The Coral, Maximo Park, Cast and many more), The Big Park, Penn House, Buckinghamshire
Sat 29 - Live From Times Square, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

August

Fri 4 - Newmarket Racecourse, Newmarket
Sat 5/6 - Hope & Glory Festival (with Hacienda Classical), St George's Quarter, Liverpool

Tickets are available to buy now via allgigs.co.uk.

Labels: gigs, Hacienda_Classical, James

These are the original handwritten lyrics to the famous undone Sunkist version of Blue Monday (and they're also transcribed below) together with a visual reminder of how much money the band turned down ($100,000). Both items are part of the Tony Wilson archive at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

How does it feel
When a new day has begun
When you're drinking in the sun
Sunkist is the one

When you need a taste for living
Sunkist is the one
How do you feel
Tell me now how do you feel

Labels: advertising, back_in_the_cellar, New_Order

Fac 233

SUBSTANTIAL MATTERS

1986-1988

between Joy Division, New Order
and Factory Communications Ltd









The Summer of Love :-)

Labels: back_in_the_cellar, Joy_Division, New_Order

Noblesse Oblige (FBN 125 / TWI 1234) is a free sampler CD from Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crépuscule featuring new and rare tracks from releases in 2016/17, together with several exclusives, and tracks from selected label friends. The line-up includes The Names, The Durutti Column, Paul Haig and Minny Pops.

It's available free when you order two or more CDs, records, t-shirts or card sets via FBN mailorder service (i.e. two or more items in total). It will not be available in the shops.

Tracklisting

1. Cathy Claret - Todo Se Va
2. Isabelle Antena - Over You
3. Marsheaux - Treasure
4. White Sea - Gangster No. 1
5. Fritz Catlin - Shooting the Hunter
6. Maxwell Sterling - The Death of Juno
7. Blaine L. Reininger - Demis
8. Jean-Marc Lederman - A Darker Snare
9. Ultramarine - Equatorial Calms
10. Dislocation Dance - Songs That I Like
11. ElutzC!a
12. The Names - Spectators of Life (2013)
13. Minny Pops - Island (Remix)
14. Paul Haig - Do We Have the Time?
15. The Durutti Column - Requiem For a Father (live 1980)

Labels: Blaine_L_Reininger, Cathy_Claret, Isabelle_Antena, Marsheaux, Minny_Pops, The_Durutti_Column, The_Names, Ultramarine

Labels: Madchester, Manchester, Trevor_Johnson, WeStandTogether

FAC 101 Tony Wilson's Lofts is a memorable undone Factory Records concept from the pioneering early days of the Eighties. He drew on his experience of New York City to try to convince the authorities in Manchester that they would be a viable proposition but they didn't buy it.

AHW explained thus: "We were visionary in that sense, that lofts would come one day. But we ran out of money - we were too busy with clubs and bars. We tried to explain lofts to people in Manchester and nobody understood it. We actually walked the Manchester Development corporation around a building in Sackville Street, which became lofts ten years later, and said 'These would make great lofts' and they went 'What are lofts?'"

It was thought that was nothing in writing in the public domain to document this FAC number. Well that was true until the discovery in amongst AHW's personal archive papers in the collection of the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) of a briefing paper from a chap called 'Ken' (more info needed on who this is) where he sets out "a few initial notes for FAC 101" and includes a generic schematic of a typical loft.



Ken sets out the basic principle of what lofts are and concludes: "The development of the loft conversion is obviously in its initial stages in this country and will require a good deal of commitment on the part of local government and developers if it is to become a reality."

Eventually the commitment would come to light and now loft-type apartments are everywhere and not just in Manchester.

The full transcript of the 101 notes is on our sister site factoryrecords.org.

Labels: back_in_the_cellar, concept, Manchester, MSI, Tony_Wilson

ESG play a selection of Spring / Summer dates in France, London and the USA starting this Thursday at the Nuits Sonores Festival in Lyon, France and followed the next day by the Electric Brixton.

25 May - Nuit Sonores, La Sucrière, Lyon, France
26 May - Electric Brixton, London - Buy Tickets
22 June - Plage Longe, Beach Cannes
7 July - West Fest Chicago 2017
20 July - Good Room, Brooklyn NY
12 August - Athens Popfest, Georgia Theatre

More info on ESG's Facebook page.

Labels: ESG, gigs

Happy Mondays get back out on the road this November and December for the extensive and impressively-titled 30th Anniversary Twenty Four Hour Party People Greatest Hits Tour. Support on most (but not all) dates is from DJ Jon Dasilva.

November

14 - Bristol, O2 Academy
15 - Brighton, The Dome Concert Hall
16 - London, Roundhouse
17 - Cardiff, The Great Hall, Cardiff University
18 - Portsmouth, Pyramids Centre
22 - Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall
23 - Norwich, UEA
24 - Southend-On-Sea, Cliffs Pavilion
25 - Cambridge, Corn Exchange
28 - Preston, The Grand Hall, Preston Guild Hall
29 - Scunthorpe, The Baths Hall
30 - Carlisle, The Sands Centre

December

1 - Liverpool, Olympia
2 - Leeds, O2 Academy
6 - Birmingham, O2 Institute
7 - Lincoln, Engine Shed
8 - Newcastle, O2 Academy
9 - Nottingham, Rock City
13 - Manchester, Manchester Academy
14 - Conwy, The Arena, Venue Cymru, Llandudno
15 - Dublin, Vicar Street [Buy Tickets]
20 - Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom
21 - Inverness, Ironworks
22 - Kilmarnock, Grand Hall
23 - Glasgow, O2 Academy

Tickets (except Dublin - see individual date) available now via alttickets.com.

More details at Happy Mondays Facebook.

Labels: gigs, Happy_Mondays, Jon_Dasilva

As well as joining the reconvened original line-up of The Wendys for dates later in the year, Ian White has got together with Hugh Duggie (Lowlife) to form the "pop-tinged noir" duo Sons of the Descent. The singles Look at the Sky / Flighty and Situation in Your Head have been followed by the excellent album Lazy Glamour with everything being released via their own Brawsome Productions.

Situation in Your Head also has a rather excellent video which makes highly innovative use of smartphones.



Lazy Glamour is available now via iTunes and Bandcamp

Keep up to date with the latest via Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud.

Labels: Sons_of_the_Descent, The_Wendys

On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the opening of FAC 51 The Haçienda it's an opportune time to revisit the 3rd and 5th birthday posters.

Labels: FAC51_The_Hacienda, poster

Between 1986 and 1992, 8vo did plenty of ground-breaking and, let's face it, simply stunning design for Factory Records (c.f. various Hacienda posters and covers for The Durutti Column). They also found time to do loads of other work and publish Octavo, International Journal of Typography. It's been long out of print but Hamish Muir and Mark Holt of 8vo (which itself disbanded in 2001) have reunited to make all 8 issues available once again in a very special 384pp book that is currently in the last week of seeking Kickstarter funding.

The book will be made using high-end production techniques to faithfully reproduce the original publications.

To quote the editors: "Octavo Redux is as close as you can get to the originals without holding them in your hands."

The Kickstarter is at 90% of its total with less than 7 days to go so there is still to contribute and make sure this important graphic design project sees the light of day.

Labels: 8vo, graphic_design, kickstarter, octavo, typography

A Certain Ratio make a welcome live return to London with a special show at 229 in Great Portland Street on Saturday 24 June.

Tickets available now via Ticketweb and Ticketabc.

If you're quick, tickets are still available for the Liverpool Sound City Festival (with The Human League) on Thursday 25 May. Also, later in the year, there's a hometown show at The Ritz (with special guests Gramme) in Manchester on 16 December (buy tickets).

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, gigs

Two big names from different generations of club culture are coming together to raise funds for mental health charities.

'Legacy' featuring DJs Seth Troxler & Dave Haslam is on for one night only on Thursday 13 July at South Nightclub, Manchester with all profits going to Mind and CALM.

You may recall that Dave sold his record collection to Seth in November 2015 and at the time the two DJs promised to find the right moment to one day play together in Manchester. The waiting is now over.

The event at South, which follows immediately after New Order play the Manchester International Festival the same evening, will include the club's Courtyard space and others featuring on the night include Micron DJs and TinTin (New Order's tour DJ). The complete line-up, with special guests, will be announced nearer the date.

Seth Troxler grew up in Detroit and over the last ten years has established himself as one of the biggest names on the international circuit. Dave Haslam DJ'd at the Haçienda almost five hundred times from 1986 to 1997.

Expect a proper party, past, present and future combining.

Advance tickets priced 12.50 GBP go on sale via Skiddle from 10:00 Friday 19 May 2017.

--

South Nightclub
Manchester
M2 6DQ

Labels: charity, club, Dave_Haslam, Manchester, Seth_Troxler

As you will know from Back in the Cellar (Part 1), since February 2016 involving repatriating a large collection of videotapes that used to belong to Tony Wilson that were stored in the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

I made some good initial progress returning tapes to various people but then run out of steam slightly. At this point there was still a large number of tapes, film reels and other audiovisual material inside my storage unit. Most of was clearly labelled and I knew who it should go to. I just hadn’t managed to make contact with anybody at that stage or I had but a delivery or pick-up was yet to be arranged.

However, there was also a pile where I was completely in the dark as to who to they belonged to - either through the description being vague or missing or just cryptic. In this category there was six film canisters labelled GREIF. I like a bit of a mystery so I left the canisters where they were and the project went on hiatus (again).



Time passed and then we cut forward to February/March 2017 when I restarted work on my other website factoryrecords.org. I was editing the page for Round and Round by New Order and I noticed that the video for that single had been directed by a Paula Greif.

It suddenly clicked that it must be the film reels for the video that were in storage. My hunch was correct. When I opened one of the canisters (I know - schoolboy error - should have done this first time round!) it contained shooting notes that confirmed the provenance.

At this point, I must digress slightly, and talk about the track itself. The video was done in black and white, featured a series of young female models looking at the camera but not really interacting. They sometimes laugh (whilst trying not to) and occasionally strike different poses. The song continues in the background and there are occasional short blips of graphic inserts. It caused a minor stir at the time as I recall due to its unusual nature.



Round and Round itself is a real stormer and is very much a highlight of the Technique album. Tony Wilson was very confident in it as a single - so much so that he made a bet with Rob Gretton that, if it didn't get into the Top Five of the UK Chart, he would resign as Chairman of Factory Records. It peaked at number 21. It is understood that AHW may have stood down notionally for a day or two but that it was seen as being more of a gentleman’s wager than a serious bet. FAC 253 Chairman Resigns was assigned in honour of the momentous occasion.



Anyway, back to the Greif reels...

The shooting notes state the date and other technical details relating to the shoot including the name of the model or models. This set includes Veronica (Webb), Kathie, Cynthia (Bailey), Patty (Sylvia), Marieke, Pam and Kim.



According to Wikipedia there is a second cut of the video that only features Patty [update: see Vimeo].

I understand that there are more reels numbered 10-17 that complete the set and that these are already in the safe hands of New Order. And that is where reels 1-9 are off too very shortly thanks to the always helpful Andy Robinson in their management team.

Labels: back_in_the_cellar, film, New_Order, Paula_Greif, video

Black Grape are back with a new album and tour for 2017. Pop Voodoo is in the shops and online from 7 July. It's the first album since 1997's Stupid Stupid Stupid. Ahead the album's release band support Richard Ashcroft at Brixton Academy and then in August it's the Moovin Festival in Stockport (alongside Pickering/Park, Greg Wilson and other factory alumni).

Sat 1 July - O2 Academy, Brixton (with Richard Ashcroft)
27 Aug Moovin Festival, Stockport [Facebook event]

See also: blackgrapeofficial.com

Labels: album, Black_Grape, gigs

Vinyl has resolutely refused to be killed off by compact discs, Napster and Spotify and is one of the fastest growing sectors of the music industry, seemingly only held back from getting even bigger by a lack of available pressing plant time. However, the poorer cousin of the vinyl seven-inch single, the flexi-disc, does seem to be beyond resurrection (unless there's an emerging hipster trend about which I am unaware) (quite possibly! Ed.) with inherent poor sound quality and durability being the main reasons.

So this would seem to be a good opportunity to review Factory Records' flexi-disc output (and to give the discs themselves one last play) for posterity...

We start with the FACT 14C Test Card flexi by Martin Hannett which came free with initial copies of The Return Of The Durutti Column.



Lo-fidelity actual suits this recording apart from a bit of popping towards the end of the First Aspect. That said, the dreamier sounds of the Second Aspect don't sound too bad either. It's 33 1/3 rpm and made by Lyntone (as are all in this collection) and one-sided. This is probably only about the second time I've ever played it. According to discogs.com, the last Lyntone flexi was in 1991.

Moving on to FAC 28 Joy Division Komakino b/w Incubation & As You Said (aka And Then Again, aka Incubation 2, aka Incubation B - all these aliases being due to the fact that the track is uncredited).



The flexi was supposedly available free to record shops indefinitely but stocks eventually ran dry. The quite large number that were pressed mean that it isn't that rare a release. It would later resurface in the Appendix of certain versions of FACT 250 Substance. It's sounds pretty damn good here too, despite perhaps lacking the full sonic depth associated with more modern formats.

Next we have FAC 51B Merry Christmas From The Haçienda and Factory Records.



This was a highly quirky release (even by Factory's eclectic standards) which celebrates the first Christmas at the Haçienda. Simplistic synths and processed vocals from New Order create two Christmas carols (Rocking Carol / Ode To Joy) the like of which you've never heard before. It's unavailable elsewhere to the best of my knowledge.

And finally we have FAC 214 The Guitar and Other Marketing Devices which present four excerpts from The Durutti Column's 1988 magnum opus in the glorious lo-fi of flexi-disc.



This promoted a modern-sounding album so what better medium to use than flexis!? This was probably an ironic ruse by Tony Wilson. A matching counter-top self-service box for the flexis was also designed and provided in matching exquisite design by 8vo. It's also the only square disc in this collection (which makes cueing the tonearm difficult). The music tracks are short and sweet and trail an album that would ultimately be listened to on higher quality formats such as CD and DAT. The in-track sound is fine but loud popping and scraping is highly evident between clips. It remains unclear as to how effective this disc was from a promotional perspective.

That's all our four FAC flexis folks!

Labels: FAC51_The_Hacienda, Joy_Division, Minny_Pops, New_Order, The_Durutti_Column

Welcome to the second and final part of Cerysmatic Factory's exclusive interview between Brian Nicholson and Malcolm Whitehead of Ikon, the video wing of Factory Records. Some of the mysteries of The Video Circus, the FACTUS 5 compilation and the undone ACR compilation Below The Canal are explained:

BN: Whose idea was the Video Circus?

MW: Because Tony used to travel between Manchester and Liverpool quite a lot for Granada he knew the art crowd in Liverpool. The woman who was in charge of the Bluecoat at the time asked him if he wanted to do something. Ian had died by then and we had all the Apollo stuff. I was working in Tony's basement at Old Broadway by then. He comes down and says he'd been talking to the Bluecoat about our set-up and they said do you want to put something on with video. We hired 8 or 10 Unicol stands from Holiday Brothers (local AV Hire company) and acquired some large TVs, not monitors, they all worked off RF. So I suggested we put them in a circle with the screens facing inwards. Tony liked that and he ran with the idea and sorted it all out. He had this great poster made, but it wasn't Saville. Can't remember who it was. It was spilt into three sections. For the first part we had Section 25 – New Horizon; ACR - Back to the Start; New Order – Ceremony and No Escape from the Cabs. Then we had the Apollo stuff from Joy Division and finally Facus 5.

BN: Who created Facus 5 (Videoshow' titled 'From Manchester to New York Direct')?

MW: It was Tony's video. Facus 5 was already done before Ikon started properly. Tony hired the equipment to do it including the camera and Umatic portapak for the ACR videos shot near Winter Hill at Rivington Pike.



BN: What was the Video Circus (FAC 46) like?

MW: Fucking fantastic. Me and Tony get there on the day and Oz the sound guy is there and he'd put dirty big fuck off speakers in-between the monitors. So it was – a couple of monitors then a speaker – it ended up looking like Stonehenge! So we all think it looks good and Oz says "I've got a ropelight in the back of the van." So he connected that to the top of the monitors and made it look like a fairground or a circus. Anyhow we go off for a bite to eat and then a drink. I was saying – nobody will turn up. It'll be a disaster. We go back to have a run through before it opens and there are crowds up the street and outside the building. We manage to get in and check things out. I stand on a stage that is over looking the set-up when the punters are in and I nearly had a little cry. It really was that good.

BN: How did people view it?

MW: Well it was incredibly loud for a start. The live Apollo footage sounded like you were at the gig. People wandered into the circle, watched a bit and came out. They all took turns. It was all very orderly.

BN: I always thought you toured it?

MW: We did but not as the Video Circus but as A Factory Video.

BN: Was it the same content?

MW: For a while yes. We showed it all over the place. I can't remember every show.

BN: How was it shown?

MW: It was different at every place. At Nottingham University Paul Smith (Doublevision/Blast First) put it on and it was fabulous. He had TVs all round the pillars in the SU.

BN: Is that when you first met Paul?

MW: Yes. Then we went to Northampton with Bauhaus at a youth club. For that show we used a video projector hired from Holiday Brothers. We did it at Heaven in London and the only other one I can remember is Newcastle with ACR. But we continued showing stuff all through the 80s at the Cornerhouse, ICA and Riverside and I seem to remember you doing one in Blackburn.

BN: That was a nightmare Happy Mondays, Ikon video and an NF stage invasion.

BN: Finally what ever happened to the planned ACR release (FACT 38 Below The Canal)?

MW: We had enough stuff to put on it but the workload at Ikon was incredible. I was working 12 – 14 hours a day and it was just one of those things that kept being put back. We had all the videos that Tony had shot, the Back to the Start video, footage shot at Heaven, the Tribeca film by Michael Shamberg and the gig footage from the Hacienda which was meant to be on there. The band had shot some Super 8 footage of a US tour and I also remember there being a Betamax tape from the States which we couldn't get transferred. Jeremy had also made his own stuff.



Huge thanks to Brian and Malcolm.

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See also: Part 1 The Factory Flick and Too Young To Know, Too Wild To Care

See also FACT 38, FACT 46 and FACTUS 4 at factoryrecords.org.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, Brian_Nicholson, Films_made_on_FAC_money, Ikon, interview, Malcolm_Whitehead, New_Order, Section_25, video

[updated 5 June]

The Railway Children continue their reunion gigs that have seen them play New York City, Manchester, Wigan, Minehead (Shiiine On) and London over the last year.

This time they're heading north of the border to play Audio in Glasgow on 17 June with support from The Wendys and The Orchids.

Tickets priced 15.00 in advance are available now via Tickets Scotland

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The Railway Children
The Orchids
The Wendys

Audio
14 Midland St
Glasgow G1 4PP

Facebook event
Official site

Labels: gigs, The_Railway_Children, The_Wendys

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark come back to recorded and live action in 2017 with the Punishment of Luxury album and tour. The album is due in September with a full UK tour in late October and through November. The album is currently available on PledgeMusic in a variety of formats.

October

Sun 29 - Liverpool Empire Theatre, Liverpool
Mon 30 - Colston Hall, Bristol

November

Wed 1 - Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-On-Sea
Thu 2 - Ipswich Regent Theatre, Ipswich
Fri 3 - The Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Sun 5 - De Montfort Hall, Leicester
Mon 6 - Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
Tue 7 - Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield
Thu 9 - The Hexagon, Reading
Fri 10 - O2 Guildhall Southampton, Southampton
Sat 11 - G Live, Guildford
Mon 13 - The Roundhouse, London
Wed 15 - De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea
Fri 17 - Manchester Academy 1, Manchester
Sat 18 - York Barbican, York
Sun 19 - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
Tue 21 - Birmingham Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Wed 22 - Sage Gateshead, Gateshead

Ticket go on sale Friday 19 May at 09:00 BST via axs.com and other outlets.

Labels: album, gigs, OMD

This year's Shiiine On Weekender at the Butlin's Minehead Arena from 10-13 November is shaping up to be a quite a bit of a FAC fest what with Happy Mondays being one of the three headliners and Peter Hook & The Light, A Certain Ratio, Space Monkeys, The Wendys and Time For Action. Plus there's a screening / Q&A of the Do You Own The Dancefloor? documentary film.

Tickets priced from 219 GBP (earlybird) are available now via www.shiiineonweekender.com.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, gigs, Happy_Mondays, Peter_Hook, Space_Monkeys, The_Light, The_Wendys, Time_for_Action

The official info sheet for FAC 9 describes it as the matrix number for films made on Factory Records money. However, according to Ikon man Brian Nicholson, that is not strictly true because he knows for a fact that Ikon's Malcolm Whitehead paid for one of the short films shown at that event in 1979 at the Scala Cinema in London. In this exclusive two-part interview for Cerysmatic Factory which is finally seeing the light of day, Brian talks to Malcolm about The Factory Flick and Too Young To Know Too Wild To Care:

BRIAN NICHOLSON: How did the Scala Cinema show come about?

MALCOLM WHITEHEAD: I was still working full time at the airport and finishing off the Joy Division film. One of the downsides of working in isolation was that there was a tendency to discard things or not finish things. Tony had seen it, was impressed, as he had not realised that you could shoot sound on Super 8. One day he contacted me and said that he wanted to show the film at the Scala cinema in London (the original Scala on Charlotte Street not the one at King's Cross). I was making excuses, saying it wouldn't stand up to projection in a cinema. But I relented and so it forced me to finish the film. The event at the Scala was promoted by Stephen Woolley. It featured Don Lett's Super 8 Rankin or The Punk Rock Movie (can't remember which, though some of the footage from The Punk Rock Movie came from Rankin) and Charlie Salem's film The Factory Flick. When Tony and me eventually got there he realises that we've got to play a wildtrack for Charlie's film as it had no soundtrack. So me and Tony had to rush out and buy a copy of Unknown Pleasures to play as the soundtrack.



BN: What about the ACR and Ludus films?

MW: I just remember the Don Letts film, Charlie's film and my Joy Division film. They showed it 3 times during the day.

BN: Was Fac 9 just The Factory Flick?

MW: No Fac 9 was the event, the stuff Factory showed.

BN: Who else was there from Factory?

MW: There was just me and Tony. Paul Morley turned up later with his chums, I remember because his mates were taking the piss out of him when Rob Gretton mentioned his name in my film. Whether anyone else came later I'm not sure as I had to leave during the last showing to get the train back to Manchester as I was at work the next morning.

BN: What did you think when you saw it on the big screen?

MW: Absolutely gobsmacked. It was the first time I'd shown a film in public and to a packed house (though the first house wasn't that packed because it was too early in the day). The dark bits didn't look great. It was projected from the projection booth.

The main thing I learned on the day was Don Letts was a bit arsey. I was talking to the usher, who was a nice girl, he comes in, she asks him for his pass and he plays holy fuck "Don't you realise who I am?" all that sort of shite. "These are my films." And I gave him the Whitehead stare and he starts backing down. I said, "I don't know who you are, why should she? You've no need to talk to her like that."

Later on in the bar the girl came and asked for my autograph in front of him. I said why do you want my autograph? She said "You might be famous later on" and gave him a stare! So that was good, the first autograph I'd signed – the first of about four in my life! The first screening in a cinema and then when Tony and me went to the bar there was the first ever encounter with a Space Invaders machine. We both thought – what the hell is this? Me and Tony started playing like a right pair of Mary-Ellens. Not hitting anything for about the first 6 turns. Then Tony embarrassed me by buying, because it had just come out and it was cool, a Space Invaders T-shirt that they sold behind the bar! After that I came away from the machine and shortly afterwards I caught the next train home.

BN: Was your film shown at The Factory?

MW: No, the only other place it was projected in public was with Mark Reeder in Berlin. I can't believe that I actually sent the film, the original Super 8 film! It came back OK though.



BN: According to the Factory Shareholders Analysis from around that time we were to expect an "all speaking film by Mr Whitehead". What was this film?

MW: I had a couple of ideas. Tony mentioned Too Young to Know, Too Wild to Care to me but I'd also mentioned to him about doing a film of the Peterloo Massacre, set in the present day. Shot guerrilla style at the scene of the massacre in St Peter's Square and near the Midland Hotel, with the Hell's Angels as the Cheshire Yeomanry. I'd sorted a few bikers out and we were going to do it early one summer morning when the police had gone for a brew. I wanted to do it on the site. I was going to cross cut that with some rural shots near Dunham Hall. I shot some Super 8 test footage of the rural stuff but in the end it came to nothing. So, then it was going to be Too Young to Care.

BN: Did you see a script of TYTK?

MW: Yes, I saw a script but Tony wanted Ian to be in it but he wouldn't. Liz (Naylor) asked me to try and persuade him but he wasn't having any of it.

See also: Part 2: The Video Circus, FACTUS 5 and Below The Canal

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See also FAC 9, FAC 20 at factoryrecords.org.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, Brian_Nicholson, Charles_Salem, Films_made_on_FAC_money, Happy_Mondays, Ikon, Joy_Division, Malcolm_Whitehead, New_Order, Section_25, Tony_Wilson

Space Monkeys play live at L'Aéronef, in Lille, France on Saturday 10 June.

Tickets are priced 5 Euro (7 on the door) and are available direct from aeronef.fr.

Follow Space Monkeys on Facebook and Twitter for more info including on other gigs later in the year including the Shiiine On Weekender (with The Wendys).

Labels: Space_Monkeys

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