22 Nov 2019
Scream City 6![Scream City 6 [front cover detail]](https://factoryrecords.org/cerysmatic/images/sc6-front-cover-detail-320.jpg)
Scream City 6 is the long-awaited film and video edition originally planned for 2012 but which never happened but is now slated for 2020.
The regular line-up of writers will return - Michael Eastwood, John Cooper, Andrew James, Ian McCartney, David Nolan plus debutants Iain Key, Brian Nicholson and Paul Pledger.
The publication schedule is somewhat tentative at this stage but, with a surprising amount of work already having been completed several years ago, it is not having to be started from scratch. More information when I have it but it should be published in the first half of 2020.
In a break from tradition, but rather aptly considering the subject material, this edition will be online-only.
See also: Scream City
Labels: Andrew_James, Brian_Nicholson, David_Nolan, Factory_Records, fanzines, Iain_Key, Ian_McCartney, Ikon, Michael_Eastwood, PKRP, Scream_City
20 Sept 2019
Films made on Factory Records money
We continue to remember Malcolm Whitehead's legacy and look back at the 'Films made on Factory Records money' 2-part interview published in 2017. This was originally conceived for the 'undone' issue 6 of Scream City fanzine which was planned for 2011/12 but which never happened (long story, Ed.).
The concept was "the Video Issue' and it was going to come with a dvd and accompanying articles in the paper-based fanzine. The interview, by Brian Nicholson, covered Fac 9 the Factory Flick, Fac 20 Too Young To Know Too Wild To Care, Fact 38 Below The Canal, Fact 46 The Video Circus and the history of Ikon in general.
Many thanks to Brian (and sorry again for the delay).
p.s. the Fac 46 "a video-circus" poster shown above seems to have been left out of the Use Hearing Protection exhibition.
Labels: Brian_Nicholson, Ikon, interview, Malcolm_Whitehead
19 Sept 2019
Malcolm Whitehead RIPWe will be looking back at Malcolm's life and career in more detail in the coming days and weeks (and thinking about his lasting legacy for much longer than that).
Malcolm is mainly known for his career behind the camera. However, we remember him tonight by showing two notable cameo appearances. Rest in peace.
'Clash of the Titans - Sooty vs Malcolm' - Happy Christmas Eve at the Haçienda - Malcolm appears as "Uncle Malcolm":
'Eat Y'Self Fitter' The Fall - promo video shot in and around Fac 51 The Haçienda - Malcolm appears as the "Ma-Na-Ger"
Labels: Ikon, Malcolm_Whitehead
31 Aug 2019
FACT 37 Joy Division 'Here Are The Young Men'
I was late to discover Joy Division. I'd heard 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' on the radio and vaguely remember hearing 'Transmission' but it wasn't until a slightly older friend, learning that I had liked New Order's then recent output leant me a copy of the 'Ideal For Living' book, sometime in late 1984, did I join the dots between the 2 bands.
The book was extremely detailed regarding gigs and releases and built up a mystique around the band and 'the myth' which has been somewhat dismantled over more recent years with the number of biographies and autobiographies produced that cover the lifespan of the band
One of the most interesting discoveries being that a video existed with footage of the band... although I had no way of knowing how or where to get it. This was 1984, however, and to a 14-year-old living in the West Midlands surrounded by Duran Duran and Frankie Goes To Hollywood fans just knowing the name Joy Division and a little of their legacy felt like being a member of a secret club.
The following year I moved back to Manchester, albeit the suburbs, and enjoyed trips into the city centre with friends. Although initially venturing into the likes of HMV or Virgin at the bottom of Market Street, or Our Price at the top. After buying what official releases I could find I was quickly turned on to the bootleg stalls in the Underground Market and the Corn Exchange.
I was amazed at the hundreds of tapes available of gigs (this was slightly before CDs were a thing) from around the world, but was dumbstruck when I saw the massive lists held by the traders of Joy Division and New Order recordings. It was when looking through these that I remembered this VHS release.
I asked around and eventually got an address to order it from, from memory it was less than £20 including postage, which was a lot, but worth it for what would be my first 'view' of Joy Division (other than a rare sighting of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'.
When the video arrived the first thing that struck me was the lack of detail (other than band name and song titles) but the same stylish design of other Factory Releases, this time a simple gold lettering on black. It wasn't for many years I learnt that the Fractured Music logo was the band's publishing company and not a Factory Records logo. Pouring over the song titles I recognised some but not all and eagerly put it into the bulky top-loader for the first viewing...
Hopefully I'm not speaking out of turn but my first impression was that I'd been sold a dud, at worse a bootleg. The quality of sound and vision was not what I had naively expected. These were the days before the Internet so other than being able to speak to someone who had heard or seen something there was no way of googling through online customer reviews or just searching YouTube.
Inside the box (the plastic one and not the original flip top) there was a piece of paper with the name of 'IKON Video' on... and a phone number... 061 928 7387.
I'll never know who answered the phone the day I called, possibly it was Malcolm Whitehead* who was responsible for much of Factory's video output... whoever it was, when I questioned the quality of the tape I'd received initially laughed. I guess they must have sensed some disappointment in my voice, and for the next few minutes explained the background to the material and how it'd had been shot "amateurishly" and in all honesty I should be grateful for what footage existed (in hindsight that may have been more of a "fuck off and leave us alone" than the way I took it).
Watching it occasionally now (albeit from a copy I have transferred onto DVD) I am indeed extremely grateful that an hour of Joy Division performing live does exist alongside the few TV appearances.
I wish they were clearer, I wish the sound was better, I wish there were more...
No matter what has been written by band members or associates over last 20 years or so, for me 'Here Are The Young Men' returns some of the initial mystique that surrounded Joy Division through the shadowy, blurred footage, and for the majority of us who weren't old or fortunate enough it's one of our only opportunities to see Ian Curtis in action.
We should all be extremely grateful.
- Iain Key for Cerysmatic Factory
* - Brian Nicholson (ex-Ikon) comments: "I've heard similar tales of woe before. There was a return VHS marked up "poor quality" with a covering letter from Harrods that was displayed proudly on the office wall (sadly I can't find it). It wasn't Malcolm on the phone and it wasn't me either. In 1984 Ikon still occupied the large middle room at Palatine Road, the room with all the boxes of vinyl! (That's another story) It may have been Tim Chambers but more likely Mike Scott who did all the office work. There's a great NME review, referring to it as FAC 23 Here Come the Young Men, "...they're (Factory) still marketing the sort of stuff that most people would throw in the bin."
--
Catalogue entry details via factoryrecords.org [->]
VHS: UK 1982 (Factory FACT 37) [PAL/NTSC]
BETA: UK 1982 (Factory FACT 37)
3:10 Decades
6:12 Dead Souls
3:37 Love Will Tear Us Apart
3:33 Shadowplay
4:28 Day of the Lords
2:25 Digital
2:24 Colony
2:23 New Dawn Fades
3:00 Auto-Suggestion
3:07 Transmission
4:46 Sound of Music
3:42 She's Lost Control
2:28 Walked in Line
8:30 I Remember Nothing
3:26 Love Will Tear Us Apart *
* Official promo video

Many thanks to Iain and Brian.
Labels: Brian_Nicholson, First_50_Cerysmatic, Ikon, Joy_Division, New_Order, Tim_Chambers
8 Dec 2018
Bessy Talks Turkey 1984 --> 201813 Jun 2017
But what price art?A letter from Tony Wilson to Ralph Steadman dated 1 September 1983:
Dear Mr Steadman
Forgive the intrusion and the videos herein. And most particularly forgive the paltry sum of money offered in the last paragraph. Let me explain; Factory Records is a small independent record company operating out of Manchester, England, with some success, mostly in keeping our back to the marketplace but still with our hands in the till. The company has a small video wing - so far we have put out three videos, largely mail order, at the extremely socialist price of £13.50, and they have sold 200, 800 and 1800 respectively. Recently an old friend of mine, a frequently down and out comedian called John Dowie (we put a record out for him in 1979) approached me and asked if we would put out a video cassette of a performance at last year's Edinburgh Festival. Since sales demand will be low and only in the region of 40 to 100, no real expense is involved. Our cottage industry simply transfer from a 3/4" master to a VHS one by one to keep up with demand. HOWEVER (better than but) it would nice to have a good sleeve. It would be nice to have a good sleeve. It would be nice to have a serious piece of art reflecting the manic nature of the piece and the classical nature of the record company involved - do I have to say any more? When things cost about £9 to produce and we sell them for £13.50, on sales of about 50 I could only reasonably offer you £100 (it could be a very quick drawing). We could agree that any sales above 50 you would get £1 a copy for. I enclose the Dowie video itself with its awful sleeve, and our own New Order video. Plus an example of the size of paper required. All it has to say on it is "Dowie" and the matrix number "FACT 89".
I could tell you how long I have been an ardent admirer, I could tell you how I purchased large quantities of those remaindered postcards, the Gridiron Exploder being my favourite, an I could tell you that I am a friend of Viv and Ian Starr as a form of civilised introduction. I could also offer you more money but what price art?
Yours sincerely
Anthony H Wilson
P.S. Ian just sold the Searle. I think he has some money for you - not much, but then who's Searle anyway?
---
AHW's direct approach paid off and Mr Steadman duly provided the cover. It is not known whether it sold more than 50 copies.
View the full letter and accompanying notes/details (and the final cover).
Labels: back_in_the_cellar, graphic_design, Ikon, John_Dowie, Ralph_Steadman, Tony_Wilson
11 Jun 2017
IKON: Not An Officially Authorised BiographyIf you want to know the truth IKON is largely built on arrogance - Not the sort of bullshit based on the aesthetics of presentation, celebrity status, the paying of "dues" and the attendant materialistic goals of the Metropolitan Media. Nor is IKON based on some kind of inverted snobbery of "the North will rise again" type.
No.
IKON is based, simply, on "doing it". Day in, day out. Very un-heroic, boring even. Very difficult though, to keep the stamina, especially when it seems that critically nothing changes;
N.M.E. 25/9/82
".... the power and dynamics of the music are accompanied by poor editing and shaky, hand-held camera work."
N.M.E. 10/9/88
".... the band wobble around as much as the camera."
Fuelled by Punk, although old enough to know otherwise, pre-IKON there was an 8mm, home-movie camera and friend who managed a local band - who became a bit successful. It was the start of a video label, based then, as now on co-productions and collaborations.
Essentially non-broadcast, IKON was the first mobile video cinema - "The Video Circus" - Northampton, Berlin, Pickmere Country Club, Osaka, Blackpool (police raid permitting), Toronto and others too numerous to mention - and is the first (and only) independent producer, distributor and retailer of the noisy, ugly, raw, careless, rare, offensive, beautiful, timeless.... blow our own trumpet why don't we!
It's just that if IKON hadn't who would? Who would? Who would take the time, care and consideration to promote such a range of exotica?
READ THE RELEASE SHEET NOW!
Sneak-previewed at the Venice Film Festival or the Riverside Studios, London; Pirated in Milan, Amsterdam and Barcelona; Critically acclaimed in New York; Video that doesn't rely on exotic locations (no offence Darwen, Glasgow, Bury or Hale). dry ice, Hollywood re-hash, bare breasts or football transfer-fee budgets.
IKON is the best kept secret of Altrincham (where?), U.K. and can be found getting them in at a bar new you.
Tim Chambers (Interest Declared)
IKON distributes: Ron Johnson, Doublevision, Cut Deep, Dubious, Ink/Red Flame, Factory ad of course IKON.
--
Eighties-era official unofficial IKON biography by Tim Chambers on IKON logo stationery. View the full biography.
With thanks to Brian Nicholson and Tim Chambers.
Labels: history, Ikon, Tim_Chambers
30 May 2017
Alan Goes To Moscow"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
17 May 2017
Films made on Factory Records money (Part 2)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.
--
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
15 May 2017
Films made on Factory Records money (Part 1)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
--
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
29 Apr 2013
IKON/KINOFor more info on individual Ikon products and peripherals see factoryrecords.org.
Thanks to Tim @ Stupefaction for spotting.
Labels: Ikon
28 Apr 2005
I Remember Nothing Joy Division Video NightTime: 8pm
Email: ikonand @ yahoo.co.uk
Tickets: 5 pounds on door
Reservations on request
Barzooka
70 Victoria Street
Blackburn BB1 6DN
Tel: 01254 55607
Map
Labels: Ikon, Joy_Division
13 Jan 2004
Thank you very much Screen EdgeAndrew James takes up the story: "Until recently, they had been missing covers for said item, but thanks to the generosity of John "Cerysmatic" Cooper [that's me, Ed.], who kindly loaned his original cover to Screen Edge for scanning, the video is once again available for the very reasonable price of 12.99 GBP for VHS (plus postage).
Not quite an Ikon original, but the next best thing for idiots like me who passed it up first time around, and no silly EBay prices. See www.outlaw23.com for more info and addresses etc."
Labels: Ikon, The_Durutti_Column
Use Hearing Protection - Factory Records 1978-1979
Use Hearing Protection Factory Records 1978-1979 review
Hacienda How Not to Run a Club TV series
Use Hearing Protection - Fac 1-50 / 40 exhibition
Out of Order - Curating the Factory Catalogue
The Drifting Cowboys Durutti Column T-Shirt
- Electronic Sound magazine [Issue 54] Factory Records
- May 1980 release schedule
- hallowed articles
- FAC 148
- FAC 148 letter from Quarry Bank Mill to Tony Wilson
- FAC 81 stationery source materials
- FAC 81 stationery
- 86 Palatine Road Blue Plaque
- Joy Divison USA Tour Itinerary
- Tony Wilson letter to Ralph Steadman re John Dowie
- IKON stationery
- The Factory stationery
- In the City badge
- Peter Saville Associates stationery and bill
- Movement of the 24th January stationery




































