26 Sept 2013
Facs In The Attic Part 2 
And so we continue with our trawl through the Factory rarities in order to dig out some valuables, some to be found in the unlikeliest of places. All prices are extracted from the 2014 Record Collector Guide, some eager Discogs listings and my own experiences.

Wim Mertens

Educes Me

Take one Belgian neo-classical composer and two simultaneously issued albums (on Les Disques Du Crepuscule), switch the logos and alter the labels and what happens? Er, very little. By the time Factory got its act together and added them to its catalogue, both Educes Me (FACT 190) and the soundtrack to the heavy Peter Greenaway art-house film Belly Of An Architect (FACT 195) had already sold as many copies as they could muster a few months earlier. To be fair, Belly did fairly well and shifted a few units off the back of the film's VHS release (on Palace, sigh) and via continued interest in Greenaway's work. Educes Me, on the other hand, didn't exactly benefit from being on Factory but it did get a curious re-release as a boxed-cassette. If you happen to have such an item - smartly packaged in a bright yellow hue with a colourful inlay booklet - then have a seat. Record Collector valuations clock in at an eye-watering £200. For a tape. No, really. Check out our Wim Mertens discography to feast your eyes on his other work (much of which fetches serious money - see Part 3 of our Facs In The Attic series).

Various Artists

A Factory Sample

Inevitably, that most frequent purveyor of releases comes up trumps when it comes to Factory valuables. Various Artists releases include the A Factory Quartet double-album (FACT 24 - £20), the Palatine box-set (FACT 400 - £40 to £100), particularly the vinyl and CD sets and two curios that don't feature in the RC book of dreams. The first is the 4 x 12" promo pack which has no number but comes loosely-housed in a PVC sleeve with each track's BPMs helpfully printed on it, plus four white-label copies of Pleasure Crew's I Could Be So Good For You (FAC 169), Fadela's N'Sel Fik (FAC 197 - worth a tenner on its own), The Hood's Salvation (FAC 182) and Meatmouth's Meatmouth Is Murder (FAC 196). I'd estimate a £15 price-tag, partly for at least two of the enclosed records but also for the attractive Johnson Panas sleeve. The second is Martin (FACD 325), a collection of Hannett's finest production work including Joy Division, U2 and A Certain Ratio etc.. I'd pitch this at £15 to £20 all day long for the CD and vinyl.

All of which is peanuts when compared to A Factory Sample. FAC 2 was the first release on the label, came packaged in expensive polythene outers, bolstered by some natty stickers and four sides of music. No wonder it's valued from around the £200 mark. Without the stickers, it's probably worth £100 - £125 and with a scruffy sleeve minus the polythene, around half that again.

The Wake

Harmony

Before jumping the sinking Factory ferry and high-tailing it to the Sarah label, Glasgow's The Wake released some of the most beautiful songs to ever grace the label. Vinyl copies of debut-album Harmony (FACT 60) and gorgeous (and delayed) follow-up Here Comes Everybody (FACT 130) command around £20 - £25 each, although the former has just been exquisitely reissued as a double-vinyl version on Factory Benelux which may or may not have an effect on prices. The band's singles aren't too hard to come by although the 7" of Talk About The Past (FAC 88) is trickier to track down (£8).

Stockholm Monsters

Happy Ever After

This under-rated outfit feature in this article due to their two earlier singles, Fairy Tales (FAC 41) and Happy Ever After (FAC 58), both capable of reaching £15 in top condition. There are two different-coloured sleeves for Fairy Tales, a burgundy and a green one, both as easy (or as hard) to find as each other. The band's only album, Alma Mater (FACT 80) is worth £10 of anyone's money, while their superb Partyline 12" (FAC 146) might scrape a few quid less (a travesty) with 7" test pressings doubling the price.

The best of the rest

Electricity

Dolphin's Spurt

Loved It

In no particular order are just some of the other least likely (and most probable) rarities worth seeking out.
The braille sleeved Electricity (FAC 6) by OMD - £60
The only Distractions single on Factory (FAC 12) - £15
The first (and only) reggae 12" by X-O-Dus (FAC 11) - £15
That infamous Sex Pistols cassette (with gold tape, pouch and card) (FACT 30) - £20 - £50
The one and only ESG 7" (FAC 34) - £30
The majestic Nightshift by The Names (FAC 29) - £15
The white vinyl John Dowie 7" with feather (!) (FAC 19) - £15
The two Dutch masters by Minnypops, Secret Story (FAC 57) and Dolphin's Spurt (FAC 31) - £12
The cassette version of Pigs and Battleships by Quando Quango (FAC 110c) - £18
The rare as hen's teeth CD promo and invite of The Other Two's Loved It (FACD 251) - £25 to £40
The first James single Jimone (FAC 78) - £12
The stand-alone Thick Pigeon album (FACT 85) - £40
The sleazy Crawling Chaos 7" Sex Machine (FAC 17) - £20
and the under-rated Chicken Rhythms by Northside on vinyl (FACT 310) - £12

Thanks to Record Collector and Discogs for prices.

Part 3 will feature rarities recorded by Factory artists and issued on Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crepuscule.

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7 May 2010
Auteur Labels - Factory Records 1987 
News just in from LTM of a new instalment in the Auteur Labels series and the second in the Factory Records year. Auteur Labels - Factory Records 1987 includes choice cuts from New Order, ACR, Happy Mondays, The Durutti Column, The Wake, Section 25 and many more. It is released on 12 July 2010 via LTM.

Tracklisting

New Order - True Faith
A Certain Ratio – Bootsy (Racic Remix)
Happy Mondays – 24 Hour Party People
Quando Quango – Bad Blood
Biting Tongues – Compressor
The Durutti Column – Catos Con Guantes
Fadela – N'Sel Fik
Arthur Baker – Come On
The Hood – Salvation! (Nitro Dub)
Pleasure Crew – So Good
Meat Mouth – Meat Mouth Is Murder
Miaow – When It All Comes Down
The Wake – Furious Sea
Section 25 – Bad News Week (The Cough Mix)

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Title: Auteur Labels - Factory Records 1987
Label: LTM
Catalogue number: LTMCD 2555
Format: CD
Release date: 12 July 2010

Also available: Auteur Labels - Factory Records 1984.

Available from LTM Mail Order.

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14 Aug 2007
Manchester owes him one 
"Yes, he was arrogant and flash. But Tony Wilson's great legacy was making Mancunians proud again", says Nicholas Blincoe (ex-Meat Mouth) in yesterday's Guardian.

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15 Sept 2004
Left of the Dial 
Dispatches from the 80s Underground is a new 4-CD boxed set on Rhino Records available 5 October 2004.

"The 1980s: musically, it was the best of times; it was the worst of times. While Air Supply, .38 Special, Starship, and New Kids on the Block were topping the charts, influential, timeless music was being made in small clubs by bands who were traveling in vans and sleeping on people's floors after the gigs. To tell their story, Rhino now releases LEFT OF THE DIAL: DISPATCHES FROM THE '80s UNDERGROUND, the first boxed set ever to survey this important era in rock, available October 5." Read full press release.

The set features tracks from Joy Division, New Order, OMD, Happy Mondays, The Smiths and The Stone Roses. The extensive sleevenotes include personal reminiscences by Tony Wilson.

Left of the Dial: Dispatches From the '80s Underground
Release date: 5 October 2004
Number of discs: 4
Label: Rhino Records

Disc one

Radio Free Europe R.E.M. (Athens, GA.)
Going Underground The Jam (Woking, England)
A Forest The Cure (Crawley, England)
Holiday in Cambodia Dead Kennedys (San Francisco)
I'm in Love With a German Film Star Passions (London)
I Will Dare The Replacements (Minneapolis)
That's When I Reach for My Revolver Mission Of Burma (Boston)
Johnny Hit and Run Pauline X (Los Angeles)
Just Like Honey The Jesus And Mary Chain (Glasgow, Scotland)
Black Celebration Depeche Mode (Basildon, England)
Tell Me When It's Over The Dream Syndicate (Los Angeles)
Hollywood (Africa) The Red Hot Chili Peppers (Los Angeles)
Temptation New Order (Manchester, England)
Ghosts Japan (London)
A Song From Under The Floorboards Magazine (Manchester, England)
Oblivious Aztec Camera (Glasgow, Scotland)
Don't Want To Know if You Are Lonely Hüsker Dü (St. Paul, Minn.)
Rise Above Black Flag (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
Back in Flesh Wall Of Voodoo (Los Angeles)
Cattle and Cane The Go-Betweens (Brisbane, Australia)

Disc two:

Message of Love The Pretenders (London)
Vienna Ultravox (London)
Freak Scene Dinosaur Jr. (Amherst, Mass.)
This Charming Man The Smiths (Manchester, England)
Stigmata Ministry (Chicago)
Ways To Be Wicked Lone Justice (Los Angeles)
Wardance Killing Joke (Notting Hill, England)
Enola Gay Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (Liverpool)
Mirror in the Bathroom The English Beat (Birmingham, England)
Fairytale in the Supermarket The Raincoats (London)
Behind the Wall of Sleep The Smithereens (Carteret, N.J.)
Political Song for Michael Jackson To Sing Minutemen (San Pedro, Calif.)
Punk Rock Girl The Dead Milkmen (Philadelphia)
Still in Hollywood Concrete Blonde (Los Angeles)
Love Will Tear Us Apart Joy Division (Manchester, England)
Blister in the Sun Violent Femmes (Milwaukee)
Lake of Fire Meat Puppets (Tucson, Ariz.)
Amplifier The dB's (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
When Love Breaks Down Prefab Sprout (Newcastle, England)
Goo Goo Muck The Cramps (New York)
This Corrosion Sisters Of Mercy (Leeds, England)
Senses Working Overtime XTC (Swindon, England)

Disc three:

The Cutter Echo & The Bunnymen (Liverpool)
Pay To Cum! Bad Brains (Washington, D.C.)
Birthday The Sugarcubes (Reykjavik)
Madonna of the Wasps Robyn Hitchcock 'n' The Egyptians (London)
We Care a Lot Faith No More (San Francisco)
Teenage Riot Sonic Youth (New York)
To Hell With Poverty Gang Of Four (Leeds, England)
Fa Cé-La The Feelies (Hoboken, N.J.)
Ana Ng They Might Be Giants (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Swamp Thing The Chameleons UK (Middleton, England)
The Mercy Seat Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (London)
I Look Around The Rain Parade (Los Angeles)
All That Money Wants Psychedelic Furs (London)
Under the Milky Way The Church (Sydney)
Rise Public Image Ltd. (London)
Kundalini Express Love And Rockets (London)
Gravity Talks Green On Red (Los Angeles)
Adrenalin Throbbing Gristle (Manchester, England)
She Bangs The Drums The Stone Roses (Manchester, England)

Disc four:

Monkey Gone to Heaven Pixies (Boston)
Uncertain Smile (original 7 version) The The (Swadlincote, England)
Bela Lugosi's Dead Bauhaus (Northampton, England)
Christine Siouxsie And The Banshees (Bromley, England)
Straight Edge Minor Threat (Washington, D.C.)
I Want To Help You Ann The Lyres (Boston)
Our Secret Beat Happening (Olympia, Wash.)
Jane Says Jane's Addiction (Los Angeles)
World Shut Your Mouth Julian Cope (Liverpool)
Running up That Hill Kate Bush (Bexleyheath, England)
Sex Beat Gun Club (Los Angeles)
Take the Skinheads Bowling Camper Van Beethoven (Santa Cruz, Calif.)
Institutionalized Suicidal Tendencies (Venice, Calif.)
Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops Cocteau Twins (Grangemouth, Scotland)
24 Hour Party People Happy Mondays (Manchester, England)
I Want You Back Hoodoo Gurus (Sydney)
Suburban Home Descendents (Los Angeles)
A Pair of Brown Eyes The Pogues (Kings Cross, Ireland)
Jet Fighter The Three O'Clock (Los Angeles)
Moving To Florida Butthole Surfers (San Antonio, Texas)
A New England Billy Bragg (Barking, England)

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