The PKRP Favourite Cerysmatic Factory Playlist is available now via Spotify and Apple Music for your musical factorial edification and here are the Playlist Sleevenotes:

Wim Mertens - No Plans No Projects

A prolific minimalism composer from small-town Belgium doesn't sound like a typical place to start a Factory Records playlist. But then No Plans No Projects isn't a typical Wim Mertens piece either. Built around a simple keyboard refrain, this superb track from the Educes Me album bursts into life around halfway through with LOUD synths and portentous piano. Mertens's other contribution to Factory was the soundtrack to Peter Greenaway's arthouse movie The Belly Of An Architect (Fact 195), while Educes Me holds the accolade of having one of the most sought after (and expensive) formats - the boxed cassette in the yellow case has been known to fetch up to a £200!

OMD - Almost (Hannett Mix)

The Wirral duo's sprightly iconic debut single Electricity has always been a favourite of mine, but this lo-fi Hannett mix of its attendant b-side has stayed with me since its release. Electricity has just been reissued in a new sleeve with a Vince Clarke remix of Almost on the b-side - it should have been the main attraction, not relegated to a flip. I've always liked the strange hissing sound and off-beat drum machine, the plaintive sorrowful lyric and vocal, Saville's braille sleeve and of course the fact Tony Wilson released the single for his then wife Lindsay. It really should have been a double a-side. Either track could have been a hit with a spread of radio play.

Joy Division - These Days

All those amazing and iconic album-tracks and I go and pick an often-overlooked b-side - is this bloke for real? Thing is, Love Will Tear Us Apart will always be one of the most important singles ever and needs no introduction. You'd need a heart of estuary mud to hate it. But tucked away on side two of both formats is what I consider to be one of three very important Joy Division tracks and the link to where the band were heading at the time. Isolation, Decades and These Days demonstrate the band's increased interest in electronics at the time, before Ian's sad demise. Almost 40 years on and still nothing on Movement comes close to any track on the second JD album Closer, with the possible exception of the synth-layered Doubts Even Here, but head to New Order's sophomore set Power Corruption and Lies and preceding single Everything's Gone Green and the link becomes a little more obvious. I love how this song bustles along - great drumming and driving bass from Morris and Hook.

Fadela - N'Sel Fik

Back in the '80s, when global sounds permeated the curious music-lover's conscience via John Peel's interest, Peter Gabriel's Real World and related WOMAD festivals, the public remained a bit nonplussed with the emotional synth-pomp of North African Rai. Wonderfully off-kilter and at odds with typical 4/4 beats being peddled across the pond, N'Sel Fik became a frequently dropped track at the more eclectic parties in Manchester and London. It's tenuous link to rave-culture is derived from the opening line of Fadela's lovely song being lifted and dropped onto "We Are E", a huge breakbeat tune issued in 1991. I suspect the originator was less than pleased with being associated with 'being on one' but it's a decent enough and sought after hardcore banger. Fac 197 itself remains a regular go-to when I'm playing out.

The Durutti Column - What Is It To Me (Woman)

In truth, I could have picked dozens of DC tracks to pop on this playlist but What Is It To Me (Woman) has always captivated me. It demonstrates everything great about the interplay between guitarist Vini Reilly, drummer Bruce Mitchell and attendant guests, including harmonica maestro Rob Gray. Taken from the Stephen Street-produced The Guitar and Other Machines (Fact 204) released in 1987, this track has aged very well and benefits from not being quite so drum-heavy as other tracks on the otherwise pin-sharp GOTM. It's more future jazz than art-rock (or whatever The Durutti Column were being tagged in those days) and is as contemporary as anything in Reilly's enviable and essential canon.

Marcel King - Reach For Love (NY Remix)

For a short spell in Factory's existence, the label acted as a springboard for soulful club tracks with a house twist. Soon-to-be M People luminary Mike Pickering made a decent fist of it with his Quando Quango project (Genius is just that, Love Tempo and Atom Rock were also rightfully regarded), while Section 25, New Order and A Certain Ratio embraced new technology to create the likes of Looking From a Hilltop, The Perfect Kiss and Life's A Scream. Straight out of the blocks came this bruising rework of former Sweet Sensation, er, sensation Marcel King's glorious Reach For Love. Velveteen vocals and a big-stringed 'n' synthed-up arrangement were given an overhaul by revered producer Mark Kamins, who coincidentally had mixed two of the aforementioned Quando singles. Its flip-side Keep On Dancin' was a favourite of mine for a while but this song translates better when pumped through a decent sound-system. Great record.

X-O-Dus - See Them A Come

When it came to sound-system mixes, reggae dub-lord Dennis Bovell certainly fitted the bill. The great man's deft touch can be found on one of the most collectable 12" on Factory, X-O-Dus's epic English Black Boys (Fac 11). It's such a shame that an album never materialised after such a fine landmark debut record, although LTM Records did curate a rather fetching round-up of studio material some years back. My personal preference, as with many Factory singles, is its speaker-scaring b-side See Them a Come. This is some serious heavyweight material and when piped through a capable mixing desk, is eight straight minutes of pure rib-cage rattling reggae euphoria.

Kalima - Take It Easy

I've got a soft spot for the unsung Kalima, a soul-jazz collective born out of the remains of the rather more avant-garde Swamp Children. Along the way, Kalima issued a handful of unjustly ignored singles like The Smiling Hour, Whispered Words and Weird Feelings, as well as a string of albums that had one foot in the golden age of crooners and one in the latter day Acid Jazz age. The band's final Factory album Feeling Fine (Fact 249) is perhaps their most consistent, least 'trad' set and includes some remarkable musicianship and decent songs, including this cracker. Languid, woozy and slinky, Take It Easy surpasses the album's curious single choice Shine and, in fact, most of the band's mostly likeable catalogue.

Section 25 - Inspiration

One of the first Factory albums recommended to me by one Nick Clarke who ran Rhythm Records in Plymouth during the early to mid '80s was Section 25's crystalline From The Hip. Fact 90 remains one of my all-time favourite LPs and still sounds timeless to this day. When most synth acts from the decade pummelled the hell out of our earholes with leaden drums, the Blackpool outfit wove featherlight beats with hopeful and er, inspirational songs that took the band to another level. many cite the single Looking From a Hilltop as the key track on this album but I'm positive that this epic closer made far better use of the available New Order-donated technology.

Stockholm Monsters - Partyline

The original scallies and Perry guys and gals weren't afraid to get all controversial and political on our asses with songs like How Corrupt Is Rough Trade?, Your Uniform and this stunning electro post-romantic belter. Issued as a 12" only, one can't help thinking that a radio 7" might, MIGHT, just have landed the Stockies with a minor cult hit back in the day. Somewhat unlike their usual edgy alternative jangle-pop, Partyline is the sort of tune that Pet Shop Boys or New Order might have made if they'd upped the speedball dosage at a Top of the Pops rehearsal. I love this record. Its flipside, Militia, is also essential, making this one of those archetypal Factory singles that works on both sides.

The Railway Children - Brighter

And here's another landmark single. Wigan's oft-forgotten songsmiths The Railway Children knocked out several sprightly singles and a pair of decent albums for both Factory and latterly Virgin Records. Brighter sported great b-sides in History Burns and Careful and sounded like a Top 10 hit all summer long. Great sleeve from Johnson Panas too. How, HOW, did this not strike a chord with the then radio DJs? It still sounds like a burst of summer some thirty years later.

The Wake - Torn Calendar

Melancholy is something that Factory Records was very good at. In Scotland's The Wake, they had it in litres. The band's debut album was Harmony, a solemn post-punk postscript that inadvertently invented twee-pop without actually being 'pop', while celebrated single Talk About The Past earned plaudits aplenty from media to fanbase. But it was the peerless much-delayed Here Comes Everybody LP that really put The Wake amongst the indie pigeons. The entire album is nothing short of a sad-face masterpiece, with the slightly trippy pretty Torn Calendar leading the field of many many centrepieces and would-be singles.

The Names - I Wish I Could Speak Your Language

My first non-JD/NO Factory single purchase was Fac 29, the exemplary Nightshift by Brussels-based rock 'n darkwavers The Names. Along with its powerful boundary-crossing flip I Wish I Could Speak Your Language, here was a 7" single that delivered some of Martin Hannett's most brutal production, without compromising the band's delicate and austere lyricism. Everything about this song demonstrates everything about those involved - the huge smash-snare drums typified by Hannett's dextrous hands, urbane almost paranoid lyrics and subtle uses of synth and guitar hooks. The Names' track record might not have spawned 'hits', but their concise canon contains few misses.

New Order - Everything's Gone Green

This is the record that kickstarted indie dance-music, no arguments. The likes of Franz Ferdinand, LCD Soundsystem, Friendly Fires and The Rapture probably wouldn't have had their 15 seconds / minutes / hours / years of exposure without this truly majestic record. It doesn't say or do much but it does everything. Never mind Blue Monday or Temptation, Everything's Gone Green remains New Order's first active foray into disco hi-hats and club mixes. Extended for a Factory Benelux 12" with new b-sides, EGG is not only one of New Order's most important records, it remains a masterclass by Martin Hannett who was ultimately swiftly spurned by band and label soon after they'd figured out how he operated his studio toys. Its attendant double 'A' Procession is also prime New Order material from the Movement sessions.

John Dowie - Idiot

Often dismissed as too surreal but revered by the likes of Stewart Lee (and myself), Birmingham's rather edgy humourist looked a bit like Jasper Carrott but couldn't have been more different. His attachment to Factory was all too brief with just three odd grin-worthy vignettes on the label's very first release, the double-7" A Factory Sample, and a lone headline single, the somewhat pub-singalong It's Hard To Be An Egg coupled with its 'visual' flip Mime Sketch. All five Factory tracks formed part of his then live poetry shows and were finally gathered together with his half-dozen Virgin label EP tracks and a slew of hilarious live tracks on the album An Arc of Hives. "I'm the kind of idiot who always ends a sentence with question. Don't I?" - we've all met someone like it and there are even more of Dowie's Idiots around nowadays.

Happy Mondays - Weekends

My first encounters with the Mondays were the Factory 'Supertent' gathering in Finsbury Park in 1987 when the band performed a somewhat chaotic set wearing huge parka jackets and puffing on suspect smoking material and the passable single Delightful, aka the Forty-Five E.P. I've always been of the opinion that Ryder's charges were more talented than people gave them credit (or abuse) for. But Delightful didn't help their cause. The two b-sides however certainly did, especially the song Oasis which eventually ended up in re-recorded form on their debut album Squirrel and G-Man 24 Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out). Recorded with a certain John Cale, 24 Hr (etc, etc) is an unexpected funky treasure in Factory's late canon. Perhaps a little more grown-up than the more familiar Madchester material, the gritty street funk of Kuff Dam (Mad Fuck backwards) and Tart Tart became a regular go-to for me at parties, as did Weekends (or Weekend S as it appears on some copies). Its odd galloping rhythm and barbed lyrics is short, sweet and might have made a hit-single in a parallel universe.

Minny Pops - Dolphin's Spurt

Dutch semi-industrialists with a near 7ft tall singer might not sound very Factory, but Minny Pops's brief honeymoon in Manchester spawned two pin-sharp electro-dance singles and an album for sister-label Factory Benelux. With the man Hannett at the helm for this single, both sides of the Dolphin's Spurt 7" are on point to this day, danceable and timeless, littered with its producer's trademark effects and atmospherics and lyrically insistent, nagging and a little confrontational. It's almost impossible to make out the words spat out by singer Wally van Middendorp but who cares? He's bigger than all of us.

Royal Family and the Poor - Visions

Liverpool's Mike Keane was the north-west's resident anarchic occultist, renouncing conventional mass-media and musical practice in favour of creating early demos and live shows of ritualistic chants, highly charged howling and the odd song here and there. After a few personal struggles, Keane's Factory output remains something of a treasure chest. Debut single Art on 45 was a sort of funky My Favourite Things and has since been given the nod by Maximo Park's Paul Smith and first album Temple of the 13th Tribe had a helping hand from Peter Hook and Stockholm Monsters' Lita Hira. For me though, sophomore set We Love The Moon - the Project Phase 2 continues to be Keane's masterpiece. Recorded with Pink Industry's Ambrose Reynolds, WLTM includes the superb Pagan Way (which still isn't on Spotify after all this time) and the 'hit' Visions, a glorious example of Keane's occasional foray into sensitive pop songs.

The Distractions - Time Goes By So Slow

Rightly acclaimed as one of Factory's most charming and rewarding singles, Time Goes By Slow was issued just after the band had already signed to Island. Musically and lyrically embedded in both '60s pop charm a la Adam Faith or The Hollies and post-punk favourites Buzzcocks, The Distractions followed up TGBSS with a handful of singles and a long-forgotten album Nobody's Perfect before taking a lengthy hiatus into the 21st century. More recently, the band have been busy writing and recording for Exeter-based indie Occultation, including the rather splendid sophomore album The End Of The Pier. For me, Fac 12 remains one of Factory Records' most important and timeless early singles.

A Certain Ratio - Waterline

A staple of the band's live set to this day, the funky near-instrumental Waterline was and still is a bit of a game-changer. Unmistakably ACR, the exclusively recorded Fac 52 single ushered in their post-Hannett future with an ankle-deep bassline, vocodered vocals, tight handclap drums and some speaker-bothering effects and atmospherics. Alongside the attendant album Sextet, Waterline with its bonged up and dubbed out flip Funaezekea turned the conventional Brit-funk sounds and ideals into the unconventional. And you can't get a much more unconventional ending to a track than the final 45 seconds on this 12".

- sleevenotes by Paul Pledger/Flipside Reviews for Cerysmatic Factory

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, Happy_Mondays, John_Dowie, Joy_Division, Kalima, Minny_Pops, New_Order, OMD, Section_25, Stockholm_Monsters, The_Distractions, The_Names, The_Railway_Children, The_Wake, Wim_Mertens, X-O-Dus

Section 25 IndustrialUnit, the SXXV spin-off band featuring Vin Cassidy and Steve Stringer, will play 81 Renshaw in Liverpool on Saturday 28 March 2020. Support comes from Vee VV, a Blackpool band formed after the demise of Tunnelvision and other guests to be confirmed.

Tickets are on sale now priced £8.00 plus booking fee via wegottickets.com.

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Facebook Event

81 Renshaw
81 Renshaw Street
Liverpool
L1 2SJ

More info: www.81renshaw.co.uk

See also: The Section 25 IndustrialUnit Cerysmatic Factory Playlist

Labels: gig, Liverpool, Section_25, Section_25_IndustrialUnit, Vee_VV

Section 25 IndustrialUnit follow up their recent show in Walthamstow, London with a couple of 2020 dates in Manchester and Freiburg.

On Saturday 29 February 2020 it's Aatma on Faraday Street in Manchester with special guest The Junta. They travel to Freiburg in Germany for a date at The Slow Club on Friday 3 April 2020.

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29 February 2020
Aatma, 1st Floor
14-16 Faraday St
Manchester
M1 1BE

Buy Tickets Now

Friday 3 April 2020
Slow Club Freiburg
Haslacher Straße 25
79115 Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany

Facebook Event

Labels: Freiburg, Germany, gig, gigs, Manchester, Section_25, Section_25_IndustrialUnit, Stephen_Stringer, Vin_Cassidy

Ahead of their Wildcard Brewery gig in London on 21 November 2019, Section 25 IndustrialUnit's Vin Cassidy and Steve Stringer pick their top tunes for Cerysmatic Factory.

Vin's picks

'Whip It' by Devo - I saw them at Manchester Apollo back in the day. Excellent.

'The Light Pours Out Of Me' by Magazine - Saw them at Lancaster University, Great Hall and they did this epic piece. The proto post-punkers.

'United' by Throbbing Gristle - Saw them at The Russell Club and was converted

'The Gnome' by Pink Floyd - Reminds me of when my brother and I were small. We were very fond of Syd's whisticism.

'Strong' by London Grammar - This got into my head at work. I like the vocal style.

Steve's picks

'2000 Light Years From Home' by The Rolling Stones - A great track from Satanic Majesties. I listened to this a lot back in 1977.

'Careering' by PIL - I saw this on the Old Grey Whistle Test in early 1980. A great TV moment - uncompromising and sublime.

'Für Immer (Forever)' by Neu - From Neu 2, driving, precise. Rock music at its best.

'Warszawa' by David Bowie - Great ambient future sounds and still inspiring to listen to.

'I Want More' by Can - Great pop dance track from 1976. Always loved the feel and sound of this track.

The Section 25 Industrial Unit Cerysmatic Factory Playlist is available on Apple Music and Spotify.

Section 25 IndustrialUnit play the Wildcard Brewery in Walthamstow, London E17 on Thursday 21 November. Tickets are available now via Eventbrite from 11.00 GBP + booking fee.

Many thanks to Paul Pledger for sequencing and assembling (and exerting compiler's licence to insert the 11th track).



See also: Section 25

More info: section25.com

Labels: PKRP, playlist, S25_Industrial_Unit, Section_25

Scream City 5 was the last edition of the fanzine that I produced, back in 2010 after a 2-year gap from the fourth edition. I didn't know at the time that there wouldn't be any others. In fact, for quite a while after this edition I had an active concept for SC6 "the Video Edition" which would have delved into the world of Ikon, Doublevision, Play at Home, etc and probably come with a free VHS tape glued to the front cover (seriously, this was in the concept!). I did some tests for video titles and had some ideas for articles including the Ikonathon (a non-stop marathon of video-watching that would somehow morph into a critical masterpiece plus, on a more serious note, the extensive interview by Brian Nicholson with the late Malcolm Whitehead that eventually made it onto Cerysmatic (and which, in turn, inspired the whole Scream City digital archive).

Back to Scream City 5 and its international theme, starting with the cover and Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion projection which has absolutely nothing to do with Factory but just seemed right for this edition. I stopped short of doing the fold-out inside front cover which would've enabled a build-it-yourself Dymaxion globe but I resolve to make the template available for those who are geometrically inclined. This, and other supporting materials such as alternate covers, source materials, etc will be made available once the main issues are published.

There were 10 different articles spread across 60 pages: Andrew James took a Factory Trip Around the World, I interviewed Fiona Allen about The Area and The Haçienda, James Nice presented an extract from his Shadowplayers book and discussed the background, David Quantick sleevenoted The Distractions, Ian McCartney gave us his magnum opus on Mozart vs Joy Division, Matthew Robertson had an exclusive interview with Andrew Penhallow of Factory Australasia, I talked to Mark Reeder, Ike Yard and Michael H Shamberg and David Nolan paid tribute to Larry Cassidy.

To top things off there was a limited edition compilation CD featuring Section 25, Ike Yard, Thick Pigeon, The Wake, The Names, The Durutti Column, Biting Tongues, The Distractions, Shark Vegas and Fidelity Kastrow & Spartak.

Phew! Enough fanzines already!!

Labels: Biting_Tongues, FAC281_The_Area, FAC51_The_Hacienda, Fiona_Allen, Ike_Yard, Malcolm_Whitehead, Scream_City, Section_25, Shark_Vegas, The_Distractions, The_Durutti_Column, The_Names, The_Wake, Thick_Pigeon

Scream City 2 was published in June 2006 a mere 4 months after the first issue. This production cycle proved to be unsustainable though as it was 2007 before the third one appeared.

There was a loose theme around Fac 151 The Festival of the Tenth Summer plus interviews with Andy McCluskey of OMD, Cath Carroll of Gay Animals and Miaow, Larry Cassidy of Section 25 and Tony & Chris from 4M (whose track 'The PSV' was a covermount CD which is now available to listen to via Soundcloud).

moist wrote an article about the long-lost original 'Haçienda Classics' compilation album that was scuppered due to Factory in-fighting and other shenanigans. Meanwhile the non-original 'Haçienda Classics' was hitting the shelves...

Andrew James contributed the seminal music vs style guide with his 'Giving Alvar Aalto to the Kids' and he charged a very reasonable fee.

The cover evolved from my fondness next of Observer books and the Photoshop/Illustrator mastery of Steven Hankinson. The design evolution will be covered in a future article.

With only a very small amount of editing to protect you from my editor error in the first place and malware on obsolete websites in the second, I present to you - Scream City 2.

Labels: 4M, Alvar_Aalto, Cath_Carroll, FAC51_The_Hacienda, Hacienda_Classics, OMD, Peter Saville, Scream_City, Section_25, Tenth_Summer

The Use Hearing Protection FAC 1-50/40 exhibition at Chelsea Space in London runs until 26 October 2019. As well as displaying, to all intents and purposes, the complete rundown of all the Fac numbers from 1 to 50, this exhibition presents the first opportunity to buy official Factory records merchandise (to any real degree) since the heyday of Factory Records itself. The Use Hearing Protection - Factory Records 1978-1979 box set itself is released on 11 October 2019 but the price tag on that rolls in at a hefty 180 GBP. Here we present a quick run-through of the slightly more affordable merchandising options, most of which are only available at the exhibition itself (as of the publication date of this article).

First up we have individual Factory Records postcards priced at £2.00 each. These come in Fac 47 anvil logo (black-on-white and white-on-black variants), Fact 45 'Always Now', Fact 10 'Unknown Pleasures' (white-on-black and black-on-white variants) and Fac 33 'Ceremony' (green sleeve).

Next (all at £5.00) we have the Factory badge set (5 button badges in various designs including worded 'Factory' and anvil), Factory pencil, Factory key ring and the Use Hearing Protection poster (which seems especially good value).

At £10.00 we have the Unknown Pleasures and Always Now tea towels. My mind starts slightly thinking of Joy Division Oven Gloves at this point but these do seem to be a constant in the photos of hauls made by people who I know who have visited the exhibition so someone in the marketing department deserves a big pat on the back for having the guts to see this one through to manufacturing and selling! Also at £10.00 there's Factory A6 paper pad and the Factory tape (eschewing the original silver-on-green of Fac 136 for on-message yellow-on-black). If A6 isn't big enough for you then there's an A5 paper pad at £15.00. Both pads seem a tad pricey but the grey design is attractive.

Finally there's a series of t-shirts in various designs starting at £15.00 for the kids' yellow Use Hearing Protection one (which looks great but, even though I've lost a lot of weight, won't fit me) and £25.00 for the adult t-shirts - Use Hearing Protection white, the amusing 'Printed on poor quality vinyl' stamp white t-shirt and the rather snazzy 'Unknown Pleasures' with text in the correct size in white-on-black.

Bonus items also on sale include Matt Robertson's Fac 461 'Factory Records - The Complete Graphic Album' book and the 40th anniversary vinyl edition of Fact 10 'Unknown Pleasures'.

Happy shopping!

Let's hope that after the exhibition finishes the range of items available to buy online is extended.





The full price list is as follows:

FACTORY RECORDS PRICES
Hearing Protection White T-shirt*	£25.00
Hearing Protection Yellow kids T-shirt*	£15.00
Unknown Pleasures Text Black T-shirt*	£25.00
Stamp White T-shirt*	£25.00
Factory Postcard	£2.00
Factory A5 Pad	£15.00
Factory A6 Pad	£10.00
UP Tea Towel	£10.00
Section 25 Tea Towel	£10.00
Badge Set	£5.00
Factory Tape	£10.00
Factory Pencil	£5.00
Factory Pin Badge	£5.00
Factory Key Ring	£5.00
Factory Records Book	£25.00
Unknown Pleasures Vinyl	£20.00
UHP Poster	£5.00

Labels: exhibition, graphic_design, Joy_Division, merchandise, Peter Saville, Section_25, Use_Hearing_Protection

Issue 497 of Record Collector magazine includes Section 25's Vin Cassidy on the new 5LP 'Always Now' box set out now via Factory Benelux.

Vin recalls the recording of the Always Now album: "Section 25 has always been pretty diligent about its archive. When Factory collapsed in 1992, Larry drove to Manchester and managed to retrieve our master tapes from there. And the actual experience of recording Always Now was pretty special. It was the first time that we’d recorded at a top-line studio like Britannia Row and we were fairly apprehensive about it. But Martin Hannett put us at our ease and we enjoyed doing it. While we were there, Paul, our guitarist, bumped into Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour in the games room a few times, as both of them were trying to get on the Space Invaders machine! We’d see Floyd popping in and out as they were prepping equipment for a tour that they were doing."

Looking forward, Vin considers the prospects for future vinyl reissues: "Next up, it'd be nice to see From The Hip on vinyl again. It’s our signature electro album, so maybe there'll be a 40th anniversary box set in 2024? I’m old school and I still see vinyl as the proper release format. It has that permanence and all-around audio and visual quality about it."

We will be patient!

Record Collector is in the shops now. It's the one with the Status Quo front cover.

Labels: interview, magazine, Record_Collector, Section_25, Vin_Cassidy

Saturday 21 September 2019
Section 25 Industrial Unit
plus Hot Minute

20:00-03:00

Minimum Age: 18

Electric Church
79 Northgate
Blackburn
BB2 1AA

Labels: Blackburn, gig, gigs, S25_Industrial_Unit, Section_25

Factory Benelux presents a limited edition vinyl album by Tunnelvision, the youthful Blackpool band who released cult single Fac 39 Watching the Hydroplanes on Factory Records in 1981. Just 500 copies have been pressed on clear vinyl, matching the original Factory release.

Formed in 1980, the sombre post-punk quartet were mentored by Section 25 before impressing Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson at an early New Order gig in Blackpool in September 1980. Two songs from their first demo were mixed by Martin Hannett at Britannia Row and released as a 7-inch single (Fac 39) in June 1981, sleeved by Martyn Atkins in an opulent sleeve referencing dictionaries and leather-bound books. After several more gigs with New Order and other Factory artists Tunnelvision taped a second strong demo, mixed for release by Peter Hook. However, the turbulent teenage band disintegrated before a second single emerged.

Newly remastered from the original analogue reels, Watching the Hydroplanes features includes all 8 tracks from their two Cargo demos, including the Hannett mixes of the title track and Morbid Fear. The set also features Emotionless, recorded live at Bristol Trinity Hall in March 1981.

The outer sleeve is printed using silver PMS with a matt varnish. The printed inner bag features new liner notes and an attractive facsimile flyer for a gig with New Order at the Forum, London, in May 1981.

Tracklisting

A1. Watching the Hydroplanes
A2. Morbid Fear
A3. Old Comrades
A4. Glenn Miller
A5. Emotionless

B1. The Man Who Would Be King
B2. 100 Men
B3. Guessing the Way
B4. Whitened Sepulchre

Labels: album, Factory_Benelux, Martin_Hannett, Martyn_Atkins, New_Order, Peter_Hook, Section_25, Tunnelvision, vinyl

Steve Stringer and Vin Cassidy are preparing a live duo project running alongside Section 25, aptly named the S25 Industrial Unit.

Vin Cassidy said, "The two of us are working in an Industrial and Dance vein and inspired by the original band's back catalogue. We experiment with electronic and percussion/effects, non-rock guitar/keyboards etc."

Itinerary

Blackburn - 21 September 2019, Electric Church, 79 Northgate, Blackburn BB2 1AA [Buy tickets]

Vienna - 25 October 2019, Replugged/Klang 50 [Buy tickets)

London - 21 November 2019, The Barrel Store, Wildcard Brewery, Shernhall Street, E17 9HQ London [Tickets]

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See also Facebook page: facebook.com/s25industrialunit.

Labels: gig, S25_Industrial_Unit, Section_25, Steve_Stringer, Vin_Cassidy

A deluxe 5LP vinyl box set edition of Always Now, the debut album by Section 25, produced by legendary producer Martin Hannett and sleeved by Peter Saville is released on 6 September 2019 on Factory Benelux.

Recorded as a trio at Pink Floyd's Britannia Row studio in London in January 1981, Always Now combined austere post-punk rhythm and noise with elements of Can, Krautrock and modern psychedelia. Key tracks include Friendly Fires, Dirty Disco and New Horizon, along with C.P. (a collaboration with Hannett) and Hit (extensively sampled by Kanye West for the track F.M.L. on his 2016 album The Life of Pablo).

The first 1000 copies of this lavish new edition feature vinyl platters pressed in black, clear, yellow, red and silver. The outer case in printed in PMS 123 with spot varnish.

The accompanying 16-page booklet features unseen images by noted photographer Philippe Carly and texts by founder SXXV members Larry and Vin Cassidy. Also included is the first ever interview with guitarist Paul Wiggin, whose sudden departure in late 1981 saw Tony Wilson try (and fail) to recruit pre-Smiths teenager Johnny Marr as replacement.

The album is available to pre-order now via Factory Benelux Mailorder [->].

Tracklisting

LP1 [the original Always Now album - black vinyl]

A1. Friendly Fires
A2. Dirty Disco
A3. C.P.
A4. Loose Talk (Costs Lives)
A5. Inside Out
A6. Melt Close

B1. Hit
B2. Babies in the Bardo
B3. Be Brave
B4. New Horizon

LP2 [non-album singles from the period 1980-81 including 'Je Veux Ton Amour' and 'Girls Don't Count' - clear vinyl]

A1. Knew Noise
A2. Up To You
A3. Girls Don’t Count
A4. After Image
A5. Human Puppets

B1. Charnel Ground
B2. Haunted
B3. Je Veux Ton Amour
B4. One True Path

LP3 [complete live show recorded at Groningen, NL on 26 October 1980 - yellow vinyl]

A1. Loose Talk (Costs Lives) (live)
A2. Human Puppets (live)
A3. Knew Noise (live)
A4. Friendly Fires (live)
A5. Girls Don’t Count (live)

B1. New Horizon (live)
B2. Haunted (live)
B3. You’re On Your Own (live)
B4. One Step Backward (live)

LP4 [second studio album 'The Key of Dreams' - red vinyl]

A1. Always Now
A2. Visitation
A3. Regions
A4. The Wheel
A5. No Abiding Place
A6. Once Before

B1. There Was a Time
B2. Wretch
B3. Sutra

LP5 [further experimental material recorded in 1981 and self-released on 'Illuminus Illumina' cassette plus live encore jam recorded with all four members of New Order at Reading University on 8 May 1981 - silver vinyl]

A1. Fallen Monument
A2. Are You There?
A3. Virtually Everything
A4. Tape Loop
A5. Subferior
A6. In the Garden of Eden
A7. Cry

B1. Red Voice
B2. Floating
B3. Reading Uni Jam with New Order 1981

Labels: album, Factory_Benelux, Section_25

To commemorate the early works and ongoing influence of Factory Records there will be an exhibition: Use Hearing Protection FAC 1-50 / 40 [->], taking place at Chelsea Space in London, SW1.

The exhibition will tell the story of its formative years from 1978 to 1982 through the first 50 numbered Factory artefacts, including works by Peter Saville, Joy Division, John Dowie, Cabaret Voltaire, New Order, A Certain Ratio, OMD, Linder Sterling, The Distractions, The Durutti Column, Section 25, The Names, Minny Pops, Kevin Hewick and many more.

Of course, this is not the first time the First 50 concept has arisen in Factory folklore. FAC 301 was assigned to Tim Chambers's First 50 [->] project. A while ago, Tim told Cerysmatic that Tony Wilson wrote him a cheque for £75 to do a Filofax-type Fac historical document but it never happened and FAC 301 became the Think About The Future [->] international congress.

Use Hearing Protection FAC 1-50 / 40 is supported by rare and unseen materials from personal archives, as well as non-Factory period items of influence. These combine to describe a period from which Factory Records was proposed and realised, underpinning its revolutionary cultural impact on the music, art, design and ideas of our times.

Curated by Jon Savage and Mat Bancroft, the exhibition is featured in this year's London Design Festival (although it continues for longer than the Festival) and will be free entry, running from 13 September until Friday 25 October.

As if a whole exhibition devoted to the early history of Factory Records was not enough, an expanded exhibition, with the Use Hearing Protection, FAC 1-50 objects at its core is being developed by the Science and Industry Museum [->] in Manchester. This exhibition will build on the Chelsea Space display and is due to open July 2020, telling the story of Joy Division and the founding of Factory Records in the city. More on that as we have it...

p.s. if you own the Fact 10+4 posters [->] (mega-rare Saville-designed promo posters for Unknown Pleasures plus 4 other then upcoming Factory releases) and are willing to loan them for this exhibition please do get in touch.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, exhibition, Factory_Records, Factory40, graphic_design, Joy_Division, Linder, London, Minny_Pops, New_Order, OMD, Peter Saville, Section_25, The_Distractions, The_Durutti_Column, The_Names

To the Outside of Everything is a 5CD box set with extensive liner notes which tells the story of how the UK's post-punk scene evolved from the spirit of 1977 and the arrival of key labels such as Fast, Rough Trade, Zoo, Factory Records and Cherry Red.

The Factory Records line-up is as follows:

Transmission – Joy Division
From the Cradle to the Grave – Crispy Ambulance
Sketch For Summer – The Durutti Column
Girls Don't Count – Section 25
My Mother was a Friend of an Enemy of the People – Blurt
Ceremony – New Order
Watching the Hydroplanes – Tunnel Vision
Heart Disease – Biting Tongues

To the Outside of Everything is available to pre-order now direct from Cherry Red.

Labels: Biting_Tongues, Blurt, Cherry_Red, compilation, Crispy_Ambulance, Joy_Division, New_Order, Section_25, The_Durutti_Column, Tunnelvision

FACTORY RECORDS

Releases Late Winter / Spring / Early Summer

EARLY MARCH

FAC 97 "ACT ON INSTINCT" STREETLIFE
12" single from Belgian Band led by Wally Van Middendorp

FAC 96 "TELSTAR" - AD INFINITUM
7" Reworking of classic antique. The lyrics are implicit and vocoded. Only available with special holographic sleeve

MARCH 29TH

FAC 88 "TALK ABOUT THE PAST" - THE WAKE
12" + 7" Single by Glasgow's hottest young things. Produced by Oz at Revolution Manchester. Extra Piano by Vini Reilly

APRIL

FACT 90 "FROM THE HIP" - SECTION 25
New Album from the seaside, a change of pace - a change of style. A Be Music production.

FAC 103 "THIEVES LIKE US" - NEW ORDER
12" Single De Chirico Reconstruction Sleeve. Engineered by Michael Johnson. B/W "Are you lonesome tonight". Instrumental Mix available B/W "Murder" from Factory Benelux.

FAC 92 "KEEP ON DANCING / REACH UP FOR LOVE" MARCEL KING
Double A 12" Single Sweet sensation dances out and back on a BeMusic - Dojo production.

--

Handwritten Factory Records release schedule for Late Winter / Spring / Early Summer 1984 featuring Streetlife (not sure about the Belgian description), Ad Infinitum, The Wake, Section 25, New Order and Marcel King. From the AHW collection.

Labels: Ad_Infinitum, back_in_the_cellar, DoJo, Marcel_King, New_Order, Section_25, Streetlife, The_Wake, Vini_Reilly

RELEASE SCHEDULE

Friday 23rd May
FAC 18 Section 25 "Girls Don't Count" 7" 45/33rpm
FACT 14 Durutti Column "Return"; new sleeve, reissue 12" 33rpm
FACT 16 A Certain Ratio "GAB"; new style plastic wallet case

Friday 30th May
FAC 28 Joy Division "Komakino" free flexi-disc 7" 45rpm

Friday 6th June
FAC 17 Crawling Chaos "Sex Machine" 7" 45 rpm

Friday 13th June
FAC 23 Joy Division "Love Will Tear Us Apart" 7" 45/33rpm

Friday 27th June
FACT 25 Joy Division "Closer" 12" 33rpm

FACTORY RECORDS (US) INC SCHEDULE

Friday 30th May
FACTUS 1 Joy Division "Unknown Pleasures" P&D's by R.TradeUS

Friday 13th June
FACUS 2 Joy Division "She's Lost Control" 12" 45rpm by RTUS

Friday 4th July
FACTUS 3 The Durutti Column "The Return of...." 12" 33rpm (Antilles)

Friday 11th July
FACUS 4 A Certain Ratio "Do the Du (casse)" 12" 45rpm (Antilles)

With regards to recent events, we feel there is very little we want to say. The feelings of Ian's friends and colleagues are private and should remain so. We'd like to thank all the people who abet us in record production, the journalists, broadcasters and friends from other companies and bands who have expressed their sympathy. For the young people who loved the music, we hope that some of the above releases help with that empty feeling that we are all going through.

The all-night party just goes on.

--

Transcript of Factory Records release schedule dated May 20, 1980 (2 days after the death of Ian Curtis) from the AHW archive.

View the full May 1980 release schedule.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, back_in_the_cellar, Crawling_Chaos, history, Ian_Curtis, Joy_Division, Section_25, The_Durutti_Column

Transcript of typewritten Factory Benelux release schedule from the archives with, as ever, a few unexpected twists on the FBN catalogue as we know it. Check the explanatory notes at the end for more info.

---

December 30th 1983

Releases of time to come

FBN 15
CRISPY AMBULANCE 'Sexus'
1982 recording in Brussels. Sleeve Patrick Roques. testpressings just arrived ¹
12"

FBN 22
from the december 83 recordings; no edit known as yet; song still to be selected; sleeve? this is for NEW ORDER. ²
12"

FBN 26
SURPRIZE
'In movimento' A Dojo Be Music production for this Italian act; sleeve by the band in the Mussolini style; cutting in Belgium Jan 9th. ³
mLP

FBN 28
NYAM NYAM
'Fate/Hate' Hookie on production; cutting done in London recently; testpressings soon to be available; sleeve by the band currently being processed in Brussels. ⁴
12"

FBN 31
JAMES
recordings to happen in Brussels early February with an appearance at Interferences, latest nightspot in Grand-Place, Bruxelles. ⁵
12"

FBN 32
ACR
If Donald was less upset about Benelux recent foolishness, we'd know more about this project... but it shouldn't remain a questionmark for much longer... ⁶

FBN 33
Section 25 'From The Hip'
To be released simultaneously by Brussels and Manchester and France, etc. Sleeve by Saville; masters and films impatiently expected; a memorable release for start of 84; thank you Wally. ⁷

FBN 34
LAVOLTA LAKOTA 'Mitawin/Prayer'
Testpressings just arrived. A Hookie production again; one side is 33rpm; sleeve by the band currently being processed in Brussels ⁸
7"

FBN 35
THE WAKE 'Talk About The Past'
Masters and films expected anytime. Release to be launched with a Benelux and German tour late February. ⁹

FBN 35
THE DURUTTI COLUMN 'Short Stories for Pauline'
From the December recordings in Brussels. Picture sleeve for the back (c.f. Tony's choice) Release schedule to be discussed according to Portuguese LP and the next FAC album. ¹⁰
LP

---

Notes:

¹ - released as FBN 18 (instead of FBN 15) in April 1984
² - released as FBN 22 (Murder b/w Thieves Like Us (instrumental)) in May 1984
³ - released as FBN 26 in April 1984
⁴ - released as FBN 28 in April 1984
⁵ - unreleased by James but FBN 31 eventually became Alma Mater by Stockholm Monsters
⁶ - released as FBN 32 (Brazilia) in December 1984
⁷ - released as FBN 33 and FACT 90 (From The Hip) in March 1984
⁸ - released as FBN 34 (Prayer / Mitawin) in July 1984
⁹ - unreleased FBN version of FAC 88 Talk About The Past
¹⁰ - unreleased until it eventually surfaced on the resurrected Factory Benelux on CD and LP in 2012

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, back_in_the_cellar, Crispy_Ambulance, Factory_Benelux, history, James, Lavolta, New_Order, Nyam_Nyam, Section_25, Surprize, The_Durutti_Column, The_Wake

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

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.

--

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

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

--

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

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