If you're stuck for Christmas present ideas for the music fan in your house then the UK Song Map is a great choice. This is a map of the United Kingdom made up entirely from the titles of over 1,400 songs. Factory is represented by the 'Madchester Rave On' EP (ok, not a song title) by Happy Mondays and 'Winter Hill' by A Certain Ratio.

More info and buying instructions at: wearedorothy.com [-->]

See also: Factory Records Christmas Cards

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, Christmas, Happy_Mondays, map

2018 reversion by Tim Sinclair (Artist)

Labels: Christmas, Claude_Bessy, Ikon

Happy Holidays Y'all!

With thanks to Tim Sinclair for getting into the festive spirit.

Labels: art, Christmas, photography, Tim_Sinclair

Stuart Maconie's Freakier Zone presents a special one-off Freaky Festive Mix by Graham Massey (Biting Tongues, 808 State, Toolshed, Massonix) tonight at midnight on BBC 6Music.

We are promised a wintry treat featuring ethereal carols, otherworldly instrumentals and transcendental improvisations.

More Graham Massey-type stuff via his Twitter.

Labels: Christmas, Graham_Massey, radio

Wishing Factory Records devotees worldwide a very happy Christmas!

Photographic manipulation by Tim Sinclair @ timsinclair.co.uk from an original photo of a photo by Chris.

Also available to download as wallpaper.

Labels: Christmas, photography, Tim_Sinclair

... is singing aloud for all to hear!

Labels: Christmas, New_Order, video

Factory Records had a grand history of cunningly conceived or lavishly produced Christmas presents (or sometimes both) but it wasn't always that way. In 1979, a small red box containing a couple of earplugs was the low-key gift ("Use hearing protection", geddit?) and it was attributed the number FACX 79. These items are especially rare. However, that wasn't the only item given away that year...

In addition there was a metal and cloth breathing mask in a sealed plastic wrapper bearing a small white-on-black sticker which states: "A Factory Product - For your protection Xmas 79/80". We were aware that these existed when one was spotted by our roving reporter at Factory/Hacienda exhibition held at FAC 251 shortly after it opened. However, full details of the item have remained a mystery until now, thanks to Julian in New York who recently contacted us. Masks were mailed out with a pink card with handwritten note by Tony Wilson.

Over to Julian for the full story:

"It was mailed to Larry Ottoway (NE England DJ and promoter) in December 1979 and is in the original mailing envelope. My presumption was also that the safety mask was related to (or, essentially, a variant of) FACX 79. The black and silver 'Factory Products' label on the face mask is nearly identical to the label on the earplugs and of course the two products could easily have been purchased from the same industrial supplier. I was wondering if other examples of the card had surfaced. It shows an altered wanted poster of the spies Burgess & Maclean and is inscribed, by Tony Wilson, I assume, on the interior, 'Larry, Seasonal Cheers, The FACTORY'."

Many thanks to Julian for the imagery and info.

View the full-sized image of the mask and card.

Labels: Christmas

The FAC 86R cardboard model kit of FAC The Hacienda was designed by Trevor Johnson which and was originally Factory Records' 1983 Christmas present (FAC 86).

This reproduction was later sold at FAC 281 The Area.

With thanks to Mark @ The Record Peddler for imagery.

Labels: Christmas, FAC281_The_Area, FAC51_The_Hacienda, Trevor_Johnson

Merry Christmas from Cerysmatic Factory and a Happy New Year. May it bring all that you wish for (including maybe a new Scream City).

Labels: Cerysmatic_Factory, Christmas

Mark Holt (ex-8vo) is selling a few items from his Factory collection including FAC 2 A Factory Sample, FAC 6 Electricity by OMD, FAC 86 Hacienda model kit, FAC 235 Blue Monday flicker book, FAC 245 Madchester postcard set and FAC 251 Factory HQ opening invitation plus cd.

He is also selling a copy of the mega-rare Sordide Sentimental SS 45005 Enigma / Danny by The Durutti Column.

Mark's eBay ID is yellow_mark and you can find a complete listing of all his items here.

Labels: 8vo, artefacts, Christmas, FAC251_The_Factory, Joy_Division, New_Order, OMD, The_Durutti_Column

After their European success with Peter Hook, Section 25 have announced a special one-off SXXV Xmas Party at the Beat Club in Blackpool on Friday 19 December. The line-up will comprise Section 25 plus a special aftershow DJ set from Peter Hook plus support from Pink Hearse, Dave Mac and DJ Stu Diggle. Tickets are only 8 quid in advance or 10 on the door.

A source close to the band informs Cerysmatic that Peter Hook's involvement will in fact be a bit more than DJing and that he will be joining SXXV on stage for the first UK outing for Peter Hook Section 25. So this is indeed an event not be missed.

--

Friday 19 December 2008

SXXV XMAS PARTY

Section 25
Peter Hook (DJ Aftershow Set)
Support: Pink Hearse & Dave Mac +1
DJ: Stu Diggle

The Beat Club
22 Corporation Street
Blackpool FY1 1EJ [map]

Doors 9 'til late.

Advance Tickets: 8.00 GBP
Pay on door: 10.00 GBP

Labels: artefacts, Christmas, Peter_Hook, Section_25

Phill Pennington designed several key Factory Records pieces whilst working at Peter Saville Associates.

He talks exclusively to Cerysmatic Factory about this intriguing time in the development of Factory:

"I designed the Factory logo which is simple factory symbol, initially with five other symbols for a poster to be used by Alan Erasmus in Moscow (FAC 126). My approach to designing the symbols was inspired by the well known Isotype system designed by Otto Neurath and Gerd Arntz in the 1920s.

The factory symbol went through several variations as I tried different proportions different numbers of roofs, windows, waves in the smoke and so on before arriving at what seemed to be the most minimal version possible. The symbol was not at the point intended to be the Factory logo, but as I mentioned, one of a set specifically designed for FAC 126. I did produce one other symbol a Christmas tree in the same style, which was used on a Factory Christmas card.

Confusion (FAC 93) was the only New Order sleeve I actually designed in its entirety. The idea came from seeing small colour registration letters on a type of printers proof known as a Chromalin. These letters were made of squares and printed in the basic 4 colours (CMYK) with the words overlapping in a confusing way, this seemed to tie in with the title, and I found that the words New Order and Confusion had the same number of characters (including the space).

So it was possible to overlap them in a confusing way. I wanted the finished piece to look like it was part of a spacecraft from some time in the future, sort of markings in the same way that military aircraft have markings, a piece of space wreckage from the future. To this end, my original version had the FAC number (93) made out of dots. It was Brett Wickens who decided that it should be in Gill.

I still feel it would have been stronger the other way. The sleeve was printed in four colour, plus four special colours, plus embossing. I think that they lost money on each copy produced, and the embossing was dropped after the original run, nobody talked about costs at the time.

I did also design a seven-inch version of the sleeve, which consisted of a set of different parts of the 12 inch cropped to seven inches. A full printer's proof was produced, but for some reason the sleeve was never used. The record label used a blown up sample of dot matrix letters (fairly new technology at the time).

I did the artwork for the follow up single, 'Thieves Like Us' (FAC 103), the numbers around the central image were taken from an Eighteenth Century board game which Peter had seen in a magazine (and which coincidentally turned out to be called 'the Jews game'), we decided to make them completely random and then wait for people to read some arcane or sinister message into them, which they did in the music press.

I designed the typography for the Factory boxed cassette series. The type arrangement is set in Bembo and is based on mathematical matrices. The most time-consuming part was Peter choosing the colours for the cloth bindings. I understand they were difficult for record shops to display.

I also designed, with Peter, the title sequence for the Channel Four series 'Play at Home', and a poster based on this, in our then new 'tech' style. We essentially had a computer animator record the process of constructing some titles then just used all the 'technical bits' which would normally would be edited out."

--

Many thanks to Phill.

Labels: artefacts, Christmas, Factory_Records, New_Order, poster

Having no party, sending no cards, & giving no presents

The History Lesson continues with this extract from the SHAREHOLDER'S ANALYSIS END OF YEAR '80.

FACT 25 Joy Division/Closer. Here are the young men. 12" 33 rpm

FAC 26 Paris Poster by Steve Horsfall after an idea by Alan Erasmus. Battle plans, silver on black, horizontal. Gig cancelled. Only 7 made. All gone. It's called taking limited editions to logical conclusions. Cfg FAC 28.

FAC 27 £500.00. Rob's got it. Cancelled Saville revenge project for alternate FAC17 sleeve.

FAC 28 Joy Division/"Komakino", flexi disc. Now done 75,000. The "totally free at point of sale" device still working wonderfully stirring greed and disillusion in the anti-realistic heart. We give them in massive quantities to our two distributors who give them to shops with the instruction. Not for sale xx or as sales incentive. Watch commodities being created before your very eyes. 7" 45 rpm

FAC 29 The names/"Night Shift". Perfect new pop from Brussels. 7" 45 rpm. The Names already have single out in Belgium with Warner's Benelux. Oooooh. Picture sleeve apparently relates to the B side, it's people at a party having conversations. Could have fooled me.

FACT 30 Sex Pistols/"The Heyday" interview tapes by Judy Vermorel, mid ’77. Should retail around £3.00. Can be taken as capitalist surge (if you don’t know the unit cost) or cultural rehabilitation or ghetto crawling. 5,000 done for mid December release. Plus advert. Factory Records is this year having no party, sending no cards, and giving no presents. Instead we are taking an ad,,,,Happy Christmas. Cassette, pronounced cASS-ette.(M.Mac)

Thanks to Sebfact for trancription duties.

Labels: Alan_Erasmus, artefacts, Christmas, Factory_Benelux, Factory_Records, Factory_Shareholders_Analysis, Joy_Division, labels, poster, The_Names, Vermorel

Fac 345 PALATINE / The Factory Christmas Gift 1991.

A Factory find for your edification with thanks to OMNY and John Macklin.

Labels: artefacts, Christmas, John_Macklin

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