Jon Savage and Mat Bancroft visit the archive of Tony Wilson at the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester and, in Episode 1 of the Artefacts & Discussion series, talk flyers (including Stepping Out), press releases, shareholders' analyses and sandpaper.

See also: Back in the Cellar

Labels: back_in_the_cellar, graphic_design, Jon_Savage, Mat_Bancroft, Tony_Wilson

To coincide with the Use Hearing Protection: FAC 1 – 50 / 40 exhibition on at Chelsea Space until 26 October 2019, co-founder and art director of Factory Records, Peter Saville, will be in conversation with exhibition co-curator Jon Savage at the Clore Gallery in Tate Britain on 22 October 2019 from 19:00 until 21:00.

Following the talk, there will be a very special screening of rare footage of Joy Division playing live at the Apollo Theatre, Manchester filmed by Richard Boon during the Buzzcocks' 1979 tour. Some of the footage can be seen on the Fact 27 'Here Are The Young Men' video which, of course, is on display in the exhibition.

The event is free but tickets must be booked - see the Tate website [->] for more info.

Labels: Factory_Records, Jon_Savage, Joy_Division, Peter Saville, Richard_Boon, screening, talk, Tate_Britain

The Use Hearing Protection FAC 1-50/40 exhibition (aka "we are bored in the city") is on at Chelsea Space and the Chelsea College of Art and Design until 26 October 2019. Curators Mat Bancroft and Jon Savage have assembled historical artefacts in the form of records, posters, archive papers, documents and much more in the first exhibition of its kind that I can remember as part of celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Factory Records (41st shurely? Ed.).

The exhibition deals with the first fifty Fac numbers in approximately numerical order starting with Fac 1 at the end of the corridor as you enter the main space and after some scene-setting posters and publications such as the Joy Division 'Walthamstow' ("Shimmy") and Situationist texts like 'Leaving the 20th Century'. Explanatory texts and captions are kept to minimum but there is a foldout A4 black-and-white information sheet or, for a modest £5, the "we are bored in the city" A5 black-and-white information booklet (by Jon Savage) which contains small reproductions of some of the artefacts on display.

The FAC 1-50 collection is impressive when seen together as a body of work and is all the more so when you consider the very short span of time it took for it to be developed (1978-1981). Given the rarity and value of some of the individual items it's pleasing to see virtually everything that could be displayed is present and correct. The only exceptions are the mega-rare black-on-silver variant of the Fact 10+4 poster and the Fac 46 'Video Circus' poster. The latter number is represented only by the silver A Certain Ratio sticker for the NYC leg of the Video Circus. Interestingly the copy on display featured blue ink on a silver sticker whereas my personal copy (kindly given to me by Donald Johnson of ACR) has red ink. The former is very rare indeed and it was not possible to locate a copy (where are you Steven?).



The supporting material is mainly presented in flatbed display cases with clear vitrine protective lids. This comes from a variety of sources but most notably the AHW Collection at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester. This aspect was especially pleasing for me on a personal level since I have been involved with the documenting and catalogue of that collection since 2009 when I was invited to help the Museum by Oli Wilson. All along it's been at the back of my mind that wouldn't it be great to see this material in an exhibition. That dream has finally come to life and there is the tantalising prospect of even more material being exhibited when the Use Hearing Protection exhibition transfers to the Science and Industry Museum next year. The theme will still be FAC 1-50, but, due to increased capacity when the new exhibition space at the Museum is completed, there will be scope to include more material. I understand that there are also proposals to include a video screening room and perhaps even hold more associated events.

In fact, if there was one criticism of the current exhibition it is just that the limited exhibition space just isn't big enough to allow justice to be done to everything. With the exceptions of Fact 10 which has a whole panel devoted to it, Fac 18 which has 7"/12" variants and Fac 41 Fairy Tales (green and purple colourways), pretty much only one side of one version of one format is viewable. It would be nice to see both sides of the sleeves of all releases in the way that materials were exhibited at The Peter Saville Show in 2003. There are numerous opportunities to include additional material, such as all the variants of the Fac 18 'Girls Don't Count' with all the three different girlfriends, the Fact 14 'The Return of the Durutti Column' variants with and without stencilling, Fac 19 'It's Hard To Be an Egg' with the feather, Fac 39 'Watching the Hydroplanes' on clear and transparent vinyl, different formats of various albums and the occasional promotional poster.

Here's looking forward to next year.

--

More info at usehearingprotection.com/exhibition [->]

Labels: exhibition, Factory_Records, history, Jon_Savage, Peter Saville, Use_Hearing_Protection

'we are bored in the city' published by Chelsea Space to coincide with 'Use Hearing Protection: FAC 1 - 50 / 40' is available to buy online via estore.arts.ac.uk.

This old school, fanzine-style booklet includes an essay by Jon Savage and archival images & documents from the early Factory years, many of them from the AHW Archives at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester.

It's also available to buy in person at the exhibition itself and you may even get lucky and receive a free copy of the Fac 28 'Komakino' flexi-disc (while stocks last!). This famous Fac flexi was supposedly going to be made available free wherever it was made available. Forty years down the line isn't too bad to be fulfilling on that promise.

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we are bored in the city
A5 black and white
36 pages
ISBN: 978-1-911618-05-8

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See also: Those Factory Records flexis in full | Joy Division | Back in the Cellar

Labels: Chelsea_Space, exhibition, Factory_Records, Jon_Savage, magazine, Use_Hearing_Protection

True Faith explores the ongoing significance and legacy of New Order and Joy Division through the wealth of visual art their music has inspired and runs at Manchester Art Gallery from Friday 30 June to Sunday 3 September 2017 in conjunction with the Manchester International Festival.

"Curated by Matthew Higgs, Director of White Columns, New York (see FAC 171) and author and film-maker Jon Savage with archivist Johan Kugelberg, True Faith is centred on four decades' worth of extraordinary contemporary works from artists including Julian Schnabel, Jeremy Deller, Liam Gillick, Mark Leckey, Glenn Brown and Slater Bradley, all directly inspired by the two groups.

"Also featuring Peter Saville's seminal cover designs, plus performance films, music videos, fashion and posters from John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, Lawrence Weiner, Jonathan Demme, Robert Longo, Raf Simons and Kathryn Bigelow, True Faith provides a unique perspective on these two most iconic and influential Manchester bands. The exhibition will also present a selection of rarely seen personal materials, including original hand written lyrics."

Labels: Barbara_Kruger, exhibition, Jeremy_Deller, Jon_Savage, Joy_Division, Lawrence_Weiner, MIF2017, New_Order, Peter Saville, Robert_Longo

Caroline True Records presents "Perfect Motion: Jon Savage's Secret History of Second-Wave Psychedelia 1988-93" in a special limited edition double 12" vinyl gatefold sleeve deluxe package with full inner sleeves and liner notes. There's also a digital download code. Plus there's a free Baggy Mystery Mix CD with first 100 copies bought direct from the CTR Webstore. The complete package is priced 18.99 GBP.

The featured artists (including a heavy contingent from Factory and Madchester/Baggy camps) include Electronic, Northside, 808 State, The Stone Roses, Shack, Pet Shop Boys, Primal Scream, Sabres of Paradise, Joi, DHS, Sly & Lovechild and Deee-Lite.

The full tracklisting is:

Side one

Shack - I Know You Well (Extended 12" Mix) 5' 35"
The High - Box Set Go 3' 54"
Primal Scream - Slip inside This House 5' 17"
Northside - Take 5 (12" Mix) 4' 10"

Side two

PSB - The Sound of the Atom Splitting 5' 13"
Deee-Lite - What is Love? (Holographic Goatee Mix) 4' 08"
Electronic - Get the Message (DNA Groove Mix) 5' 27"
Sly & Lovechild - The World According To Sly & Lovechild (Soul of Europe Mix) 8' 20"

Side three

Joi - A Desert Storm 6' 28"
808 State - Let Yourself Go (D50 Mix) 4' 52"
DHS- Number 9 Bad Acid 4' 28"
St Etienne Featuring Q-Tee - Filthy 5' 32"

Side four

The Stone Roses - Full Fathom Five (CD Version) 3' 18"
Sabres of Paradise - Clock Factory 14' 44"

Labels: 808_State, Caroline_True_Records, Jon_Savage, Northside, Pet_Shop_Boys, The_Stone_Roses

Edited by Jon Savage and with a foreword by Deborah Curtis, this book is scheduled for publication by Faber on 2 October.

The book will feature Ian Curtis's lyrics of Joy Division's songs interspersed with previously unpublished facsimile pages of Ian's notebooks.

So This is Permanence is available to pre-order now via Amazon.co.uk.

Labels: book, Deborah_Curtis, Ian_Curtis, Jon_Savage, Joy_Division, lyrics

Section 25's From The Hip 30th anniversary edition will be released by Factory Benelux on 5 May 2014. The album which was originally released as FACT 90 in 1984 and which marked a turn towards pioneering electronica for the Blackpool band. Produced by New Order's Bernard Sumner and replete with Peter Saville's iconic coded imagery and Trevor Key's photography it is a landmark of the Factory Records history.

The new FBN edition is a digipack which presents the full album, remixes including the seminal Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix), a BBC radio session, b-sides, demos and a new recording of Reflection by the current line-up. Rounding it all of are liner notes to which Vin Cassidy and Jon Savage contribute.

More info and ordering details via factorybenelux.com.

Tracklisting

Disc 1

1. The Process
2. Looking From A Hilltop
3. Reflection
4. Prepare To Live
5. Program For Light
6. Desert
7. Beneath the Blade
8. Inspiration
9. Looking From A Hilltop (Restructure)
10. Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix)
11. Dirty Disco II
12. Dirty Disco II (Pre-Mix)
13. Beating Heart (12" Remix)
14. Back to Wonder (12" Version)
15. Beating Heart (12" Version)

Disc 2

1. Looking From A Hilltop (1984 BBC session)
2. Reflection (1984 BBC session)
3. Warhead (1984 BBC session)
4. The Process (1983 demo)
5. Looking From A Hilltop (1983 demo)
6. Prepare To Live (1983 demo)
7. Reflection (1983 demo)
8. Desert (1983 demo)
9. Program For Light (1984 vocal mix)
10. Another Hilltop (Stephen Morris Remix)
11. Reflection (Young Image)

--

Artist: Section 25
Title: From The Hip
Format: 2CD / Digital download
Catalogue number: FBN 33 CD
Label: Factory Benelux
Release date: 5 May 2014

Labels: album, Bernard_Sumner, Factory_Benelux, Jon_Savage, Peter_Saville, Section_25

The often-reliable Soul Jazz Records label has recently issued another mahoosive tome dedicated to record sleeve imagery, in particular punk, new wave and U.S. garage-rock. Entitled 'Punk 45 - Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself!', the hefty volume weighs 2kg, comes dressed in an eye-catching orange cover and includes over 350 pages of punk-singles cover art from 1976-80, all edited and forwarded by Jon Savage and Stuart Baker.

Of interest to Factory fans are interviews with Peter Saville, A Certain Ratio's Martin Moscrop and Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H Kirk, plus actual-size facsimiles of classic Factory-related 45s such as 'Transmission' and 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division, plus ACR, Section 25 and a few Les Disques du Crépuscule favourites from the early days, as well as hundreds of other luminaries of snotty new-wave and gob-rock such as Slaughter and the Dogs, Metal Urbain, Buzzcocks, The Skids, Robert Rental, XTC and the wonderfully-named Those Naughty Lumps.

The RRP is £25 (£20 from the Sounds Of The Universe shop in Broadwick Street, London) and is supported by a CD of the same title, comprised of various underground punk singles from the States. It's suffixed with the magic words, 'Volume One' which suggests the second volume may include a few UK nuggets.

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Punk 45: The Singles Cover Art of Punk 1976-80
Edited by Jon Savage and Stuart Baker
Published by Soul Jazz Books
400 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0957260009

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, book, Cabaret_Voltaire, design, Factory_Records, graphic_design, Jon_Savage, Joy_Division, Les_Disques_du_Crepuscule, Peter Saville, Richard_H_Kirk, Section_25

As trailed the other month, we now have fuller details direct from Factory Benelux about the forthcoming-in-2014 deluxe edition of From The Hip by Section 25.

This 30th anniversary edition will be comprised of 2 CDs in a deluxe 6-panel digi-pack. The first disc will contain the original album and the second will feature several original album demos from 1983 as well as their 1984 David 'Kid' Jensen BBC radio session plus remixes and a new track, Reflection (which will also be released as a limited edition 7" single for Record Store Day 2014).

Add to that the original Fact 90 artwork by Peter Saville, Trevor Key's mountain photography and a 12-page booklet you have a very nice package indeed.

--

More details at factorybenelux.com

Labels: Factory_Benelux, Jon_Savage, Peter_Saville, release, Section_25

Steve Morris, Peter Saville and Jon Savage will take questions from a specially wristbanded audience at the Rough Trade East store, London, on December 8th 2010.

Hosted by the NME's Paul Stokes, the event coincides with the release of the +- Joy Division seven inch vinyl boxset on December 6th 2010.

The session starts at 7pm (GMT) and is free to attend, but wristbands must be obtained from the store in advance - intially by purchasing +- thereafter on a first-come-first-served basis 1 hour before the event is due to start.

Labels: Jon_Savage, Joy_Division, Peter_Saville

Rhino has confirmed details of a Joy Division 10x 7" vinyl box set entitled + - to be released on 6 December in Standard and Deluxe formats and is intended as a tribute to Ian Curtis. Free downloadable high quality mp3s are also part of the deal for purchasers of the physical box set.

This new collection consists of ten vinyl 7" singles (some of which replicate tracks originally released in this format over thirty years ago) in a special presentation box. The music has been remastered from the original tapes by Stephen Morris and Frank Arkwright (Metropolis Studios). The tracklisting is compiled by Jon Savage (England's Dreaming, Joy Division) and everything is brought together under the creative direction of who else but Peter Saville.

+- is a numbered limited edition of 5000 copies. The Deluxe version, numbers 1-500, will contain a limited edition Peter Saville art piece as well as two exclusive promotional CDs + and -.

Tracklisting

1. Warsaw b/w Leaders Of Men
2. No Love Lost b/w Failures
3. Digital b/w Glass
4. Autosuggestion b/w From Safety To Where
5. Transmission b/w Novelty
6. Atmosphere b/w Dead Souls
7. Komakino b/w Incubation & As You Said
8. Love Will Tear Us Apart b/w These Days
9. She's Lost Control (12-inch Version) b/w Love Will Tear Us Apart 2 (Pennine Version)
10. Isolation b/w Heart And Soul

Thanks to Tim for spotting.

Labels: Ian_Curtis, Jon_Savage, Joy_Division, Peter_Saville

Today's Joy Division Plan K screening was abandoned after 30 minutes due to a power cable being cut by workers digging up the road outside the Heritage Centre in Macclesfield. With all power gone to the Cinemac cinema (which had played host yesterday to the triple bill of Factory Records-related films) the organisers had no choice except to cancel with full refunds being promised to the forty-odd people who had attended. The abandonment was taken in good spirit by most of those there, including Jon Savage who introduced the film, with the whole unlikely sequence of events being considered to be "very Factory".

It was a shame because the rarely-seen Plan K footage was highly gripping in all its fuzzy, raw, primitive glory. With both nights at the Manchester Apollo also on the programme it was just getting going when after about 35 minutes everything drew suddenly to a stop.

We decamped to the cafe downstairs and then to the Joy Division exhibition upstairs. Mark Reeder's stark black and white portrait of Ian Curtis was blown up to gigantic proportions on the far wall, various posters adorned the walls and display cases contained all manner of artefacts including contracts, setlists, invoices, press cuttings, photos, records, tapes, books, artwork and miscellaneous personal items (the best of which was a postcard from Steve Morris to Gillian sent whilst on a European tour which said how bad it was but how he thought it would only get worse!).

The one item which has probably generated the most interest is a handwritten letter from Ian Curtis to Rob Gretton about the release of Closer which reads:

"Judged purely on my own terms, and not to be interpreted as an opinion or reflection of mass media or public taste but a criticism of my own esoteric and elitist mind of which the mysteries of life are very few and beside which the grace of God has deemed to indicate in a vision the true nature of all things, plus the fact that everyone else are a sneaky, japing load of tossers, decree that this LP is a disaster. IK Curtis."

Every item tells a story and a lot of detail is crammed into a relatively small exhibition space and it's all well worth the two pounds entry fee. The exhibition continues at the Heritage Centre in Macclesfield until Sunday 8 August 2010.

Labels: artefacts, events, exhibition, Jon_Savage, Joy_Division, poster, review

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