I think it's safe to say that everyone who ever came into contact with Tony has at least one "Tony Wilson Story".

My Dad and I had season tickets in the South Stand at Old Trafford for many years about 6 rows behind where Tony and Oliver, or other friends would sit. Every game we'd watch the players come out, the toss of the coin, the teams line up for kick-off. Then, normally, within a couple of minutes of the match starting, Tony would arrive causing those on his row to stand, and those around hm to strain to see past if anything of interest was happening.

Whilst making his entrance Tony would apologise, shake hands and wave, occasionally I'd get a nod in my direction.

I think my Dad actually enjoyed having Tony sitting in our block as when he spoke about his religion - Manchester United, he'd always mention the late arrival and wished that "the bugger off Granada" would buy a watch and then with some irony comment "he's always on the TV, never late for that...".

I'd then often then hear other people pick up the thread with the line, "that Tony Wilson...".

Ironically, my first meeting with Tony involved him being late as well. My friend, Ian, and I were doing a project on Factory Records for college in early 1995 and we had invited to interview him. We arrived at the time agreed, were shown into his office and then waiting for 2 hours. He'd been at awards do in London the night before and had been delayed.

As with his late arrivals at Old Trafford though he was apologetic and very personable.

I transcribed the interview we did that day with the idea I could submit it to The Big Issue. I ran it past Tony and he (politely) dismissed it as boring, pedestrian and nothing new, which in fairness it was. It was the same story that anyone who knows the history of the label could relate.

Rather than tell me this over the phone or by letter though I was invited back into the Factory office and Tony explained his feelings and suggested I try again. To assist me he lent me a couple of books, one of interviews with politicians and one with musicians and artists and told me to read them and go back to him on the afternoon of Monday 22nd May.

I remember being nervous when I arrived, I'd been given a second chance and I really didn't want to blow it.

This interview was going to by an attempt to look beyond the caricature and break down some of the perceptions people held, hence the limited questions about Factory or Factory Too (as it was then).

I still vividly remember sitting on the metal staircase just outside the office in Little Peter Street on a warm spring afternoon with a dictaphone between us, being in the company of one of the most charismatic individuals you could ever hope to meet.

I rushed home, on a high to listen to the recording, and was mortified to realise the batteries were dying meaning that we sounded like chipmunks on helium. Not to be put off I soldiered on and transcribed the piece, sending it back to Tony for approval.

It was nearly a month before I heard anything back due to Tony being away. What impressed me was he'd not just read and approved what I'd sent, he'd been through it and made notes and changes "to make sense of his rambling".

So that's my Tony Wilson story, rather than dismiss the first piece of work I'd offered, which would have been the end of it, he gave me feedback, encouragement and and opportunity to produce the best piece of work I could which was printed in the Big Issue in August 1995.

Nearly 25 years later I still feel blessed and proud to have had that opportunity.

- Iain Key, Stretford, November 2019



With a career in television, journalism and music spanning over 20 years Anthony H. Wilson, Granada stalwart and co-founder of Factory Records, love him or hate him, is one of the most well known faces in the North West.

He's a Manchester United and Eric Cantona fan and probably as close to a professional Mancunian you'll find.

Monday 22nd May, the country is seeing its 2nd glimpse of summer and Manchester is not the dour, gloomy city some would have you believe. Anthony Wilson is in a brilliant mood, despite the team he's supported since a boy failing to hold onto either their League Championship or the F.A. Cup.

How disappointed were you?

I actually wasn't that disappointed the previous weekend because a) I think it's boring if we win everything all the time and b) for me it was important for Eric’s myth. He won the League Championship in 1991 in France, 1992 with those tosspots from Leeds and in '93 and '94 with United. So you see it adds to the myth, the one year he wasn't playing he didn't win the League.

Poetic?

Yes, poetic, I didn't feel too bad but I did perceive they'd win at Wembley. I wasn't depressed by the game, but I was depressed that Paul Ince who is fantastic had a shit game from beginning to end and as far as I'm concerned we didn't actually get beat in either game .

We certainly didn't get beat by West Ham and it wasn't as if we actually got beat by Everton. The result was down to Mr Southall and his do or die heroics, so yeah, I'm a bit pissed off.

So was the season a disaster?

No, having won the League twice, a wonderful achievement, and to have pushed Blackburn so far without deserving to was great. My season was complete when Crystal Palace got relegated.

Why?

Everyone in the country seems to hate United but the level of hate and sheer nastiness from the Crystal Palace supporters was sickening.

As you are such a well-known face in the North West and have such a strong personality, do you think it's fair to say people either love you or hate you?

I think it's something people don't talk about in the media, we're not national celebrities. The easiest way to explain is if you ask people who Mike Neville is, 90% won't have heard of him. Do you know who Mike Neville is?

No.

In one fairly significant area of Great Britain, the North East, he is bigger than the Pope. He's been the local TV presenter for years and years, and he's bigger than the Pope, George Michael and Elvis rolled into one.

That’s what happens with regional TV presenters to a greater or lesser degree. I've been at Granada for 20 years and it’s a strange phenomenon that people are aware of me because of my personality. In 1973 I did a feature for Granada with Emmylou Harris and I asked her to do a song she'd recently recorded by Gram Parsons. Anyway she couldn't but that night at the Manchester Free Trade Hall she said "I'm going to do a song now for a nice young man I met this afternoon called Tony Wilson", almost immediately 2000 people stood up and shouted 'WANKER!'. Par for the course really but I think it ruined her concentration. So yeah, it goes with the territory really.

Have you ever been misunderstood?

Liverpudlians have a problem with me. These people at the end of the M62 think I have a problem with Liverpool, I love Liverpool. To be honest I don't think they've ever forgotten or forgiven me for the Brugge rosette.

What was that?

Liverpool were playing Brugge in the Semi Final of the European Cup, this is years ago, and I was told that under no circumstances was I to mention that night’s game. So I didn't, I just wore this fucking great white Brugge rosette.

Do you ever get worried about over exposure?

No, I do 4, 13-week series a year for Granada and it's up to them when they show them. Do you think I'm on TV too much?

Sometimes.

I don't think I'm on enough. I'm a red light junkie. I work my bollocks off and I think I should be on more often.

With working at Granada and also running Factory Too, do you find it difficult to split your time between the two?

No, I don't really, at Granada I'm a hired hand, a journalist and I work for them. It can be difficult because I do a lot of travelling, but at Factory though I'm only~~ ;!lking head\A and I've got a great team of people working with me.

Do you get a greater satisfaction from one over the other?

No (pause). It's a strange thing but I still see journalism as a craft, like being a plumber or a carpenter. I served my apprenticeship to do this job.

Moving on to Factory and music, in a recent article in VOX you drew parallels between 'No One Here Gets Out Alive' and Deborah Curtis's book about Ian and Joy Division. Do you think there will be a Doors type 'Joy Division revival' ?

I think, yes, to a degree, what is happening in the media - there is a generation that has come of age who understand the importance of and significance of Joy Division. I really thought that Paul (Morley) would write the book. Yes, there will be a degree of a revival.

Do you think it's a good thing that the book has been written?

Oh yes, the more books the merrier, but I think the book is a little short really.

It seems to be more 'pre-fame' than when things were happening.

Well yes, Debbie is telling her story and understandably it’s from that period. When a band, any band, gets going it always happens that the wife is an outsider, a rock ‘n' roll casualty. I was thinking about this the other day, the scene of the band travelling up and down the M1 in a transit, which is something that most Manchester bands go through. The wives or girlfriends do feel shut out because that's a lads thing.

Have you read the book yet?

Bits - from what I have read it's like 'Tony Wilson treated me like shit. I don't intentionally treat anyone like shit but I can imagine what Debbie or anyone would feel. Until you get to playing Wembley Stadium with the baby changing and hospitality suite next door - that's what's going to happen.

Do you ever get pissed off talking about Joy Division?

No, never, not at all. I'm still very surprised that I was fortunate enough to work with Joy Division. It's exactly the same as walking down the corridor at Granada and this guy goes 'Hello Tony', what gets me is do I call him Ken or Bill because you don't expect these mythical creatures, like Ken Barlow, to talk to you. I feel the same way about Joy Division, a bit other-worldly but I feel very strongly that people should know about it, and listen to the wonderful music.

Pete Waterman recently paid tribute to you over the 'In The City' festival, and you are revered by the music press. Are you the most important person in the music industry outside London?

No, people see me for things like Factory; the Hacienda; and 'In The City' but yous ~ the Hacienda is really Rob Gretton, 'In The City' is run by my girlfriend and partner Yvette Livesey, and Factory over the years in general has been run by all the people who are a lot cleverer than me. as with all these things I'm the 'talking head', the middle class wanker who went to Oxbridge and so I end up being the face of all these things and people get confused, they think / I'm the face and therefore I must be the thing itself, which I’m not.

With Factory it was Rob (Gretton) who thought of the idea. I thought we were just going to get our bands signed to other labels. I get the credit for these things which is hard on everybody else. It's all down to my face and lazy journalists.



You are presently arranging a Computer Festival for 1998 to celebrate the creation of the 1st modern computer being developed in Manchester. Why?

It's absolutely essential. I have friends regularly coming across from America and they get the Wilson tour of Manchester. First I take them to the Hacienda, then at 2 o'clock in the morning they get driven past Foo Foo's to see 500 drunken post-menopausal women falling out of the club which they think is amazing.

The next stop is the Daily Express building and then I take them to this unlit park in the middle of the University, where no-one ever goes, and to this little alley and this little building with a plaque on the wall that says "the world’s 1st computer ran here in 1948"; and then I laughingly point out that Rutherford split the atom 2 doors down.

If this had been anywhere else in the world they'd have built a fucking theme park and have brass bands playing. I'm a Salford lad and I didn't know 'til I was 31 that Manchester won the race ahead of Teddington and Philadelphia.

So I think it's very nice, and important, for the people of Manchester to know that a) our city was the scene for both the 1st and 2nd industrial revolutions and b} for the rest of the world to know. So we should celebrate this.

Do you think Manchester underrates itself?

Yes, it's almost like this wonderful thing of not selling ourselves to anyone because we can't be bothered. It's typically Mancunian just not to tell anyone. In fact United’s success over the years has been so overt with the likes of Edwards, Law, Best, Charlton, Robson and Giggs that when we do get overt everyone gets upset.

Yes, we underrate ourselves, but the opportunity to celebrate the computer is too good to miss.

Is there anything you'd still like to achieve?

Yes, loads (laughs). It seems you have music, TV, computers, so If you really wanted to achieve anything or be involved in anything you can. People find it strange but I feel excited about every record I'm putting out as I did with 'Transmission' or whatever. I've lots of ambitions, loads. One thing is a movie that was being done with 2 very talented Geordies that would have been, and still will be, one of the best British movies ever made. Before I die I want to see it made.

Is there anything you're glad you've never been asked?

Very good question (long pause). Yes, there are probably one or two things in my life that I'm embarrassed about, but I'm not going to tell you.

I think you make mistakes and that's part of the process. One thing I hate being asked is "What would you have on your gravestone?".

What would you have on your gravestone?

"The perfect client" as Ben Kelly, the architect calls me. Generally speaking I'll answer anything - it's my day job. That's probably why people say I'm a bullshitter, this bizarre reputation I have which I find insane, I wish I was.

--

Next time Tony Wilson is on your TV, don't switch channels, he may not be the man you think he is.

--

IN CONVERSATION WITH ANTHONY H. WILSON

QUESTIONS, INTERVIEW AND TRANSCRIPTION - IAIN KEY

MAY/JUNE NINETEEN NINETY-FIVE

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Transcription and editing from original draft by John Cooper, 2019

Labels: Factory_Too, Iain_Key, interview, Manchester_United, Tony_Wilson

Get ready for An Evening with Shaun Ryder as he continues his extensive UK Q&A tour in parallel with the Happy Mondays Greatest Hits tour. The events with the frontman of Happy Mondays and Black Grape features an in-depth interview with SWR plus an opportunity to ask your own questions too.

Shaun promises to talk frankly about any subject, whether it be Madchester, drug-addled gigs, tours with Happy Mondays, the Haçienda or I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

"Whatever anybody wants to ask I will answer, I've been doing it for over a year now and I don't think I've ever been stumped by anybody's questions, I think I've managed to answer them all".

The tour continues through the autumn and winter and tickets are available now.

November

6 - The Apex, Bury St Edmunds + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
19 - The Villa Marina Promenade Suite, Douglas, Isle of Man [Buy Tickets]

December

22 - The Bread Shed, Manchester + The Jade Assembly [Buy Tickets]

2020

January

11 - Sugar Club, Dublin, Ireland + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
17 - The Cheese and Grain, Frome + Penny Eyes [Buy Tickets]
24 - Penny Cars Stadium, Airdrie - with Ross Owen [Buy Tickets]

February

1 - The Tivoli, Buckley [Buy Tickets]
2 - The Factory Venue, Barnstaple + Alan McGee + The Hideaways [Buy Tickets]
7 - The Constitutional, Farsley SOLD OUT
8 - The Constitutional, Farsley SOLD OUT
9 - The Constitutional, Farsley SOLD OUT
21 - The Water Rats, London + The Magic Mod + The Gulps [Buy Tickets]
28 - Leaf, Liverpool + Stone [Buy Tickets]

March

6 - Savoy Theatre, Monmouth + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
7 - Chesterfield FC Proact Stadium + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
20 - The Benn Hall, Rugby + Brody Swain + The Estates [Buy Tickets]
27 - The Parish, Huddersfield + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
28 - Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury + Special guests [Buy Tickets]

April

10 - The Layton Club, Blackpool + Special guests
17 - Rialto Plaza, Coventry + Special guests [Buy Tickets]

Labels: Alan_McGee, events, gig, interview, Shaun_Ryder

Chan Masson interviewed A Certain Ratio for Section 26 (one louder than Section 25 I presume?) on the occasion of Ratio's current European tour. Thanks to Christophe Basterra are also due.

The full interview, in French, is available now via section-26.fr [->].

See also: acrmcr.com | A Certain Ratio Gigography

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, French, interview, Section_26

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

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

At this exclusive evening, Stephen Morris (Joy Division/New Order) will be in discussion with Dave Haslam (ex-Haçienda) about their lives in music, their inspirations, memories, and future plans at St Michael & All Angels Church in Macclesfield on Saturday 19 October 2019 from 19:00-21:00.

This will be very much a double-header because Stephen's recent autobiography 'Record Play Pause: Confessions of a Post-Punk Percussionist (Volume 1)', and Dave's new book 'We the Youth: Keith Haring's New York Nightlife' - will be available to buy on the night and there will be a signing session with both of them.

Tickets are £11 online (via Eventbrite) and £13 on the door.

--

St Michael & All Angels Church
Market Place
Macclesfield SK10 1DY

Labels: book, Dave_Haslam, events, interview, Joy_Division, New_Order, Stephen_Morris, talk

Lee McFadden (Alternative TV) interviewed Paul Slattery to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his photoshoot with Joy Division in Stockport, the Stuff The Superstars gig, and later on that year at the Electric Ballroom. The complete interview is on Soundcloud (embedded above) courtesy of Steve Worralll's Retrosonic Podcast and Retro-Man blog [->].

Paul Slattery's book 'Joy Division at Strawberry Studios' is published by Legends Publishing [->] priced GBP 20.00.

Labels: book, interview, Joy_Division, Lee_McFadden, Paul_Slattery, photography, RetroMan_blog, Retrosonic_Podcast

The hallowed articles independent record label was launched in 2013 by Mark Holt (ex-8vo) with his San Francisco-based nephew Matthew Holt who produces electronic music as 'Denley' and in the groups Broken Figures and Latent Sea. The first hallowed article, HA_01 featured Latent Sea's Serial Chiller with the b-side a remix by Oakland's BOATS. I caught up with Mark and Matt to decode the first five hallowed articles and to see what lies in store.

The hallowed articles roster, such as it is, is quite eclectic and spans a few genres. What was your approach to choosing artists to work with? Are there any other artists you would like to see on the label?

Matt: When Mark and I first decided to start a label, we were sitting eating sandwiches in front of the Cutty Sark in London and I asked him if he missed doing graphic design for musicians and if he'd ever want to start doing it again. When he said yes I just thought of how many talented artists I've met in my 11 years of making electronic music who's material never gets physically released and so we started there. I'd definitely say the broad genre of the label is electronic but we don't favor any one particular sub-genre within that. I have a personal connection to our first 5 artists, which was nice in the early days of the label, but by no means is that a pre-requisite. I love the music of Mo Kolours and provided there's no conflict of interest, I'd love to release two new songs from him.

What is the inspiration for the generic cover approach to the graphic identity? Other labels have had in-house designers (e.g. Peter Saville, Vaughan Oliver) but not many have used a themed design approach for every release.

Matt: Mark and I wanted a name that nodded at the fact that both my mom and dad's side of the family are from working-class north of England. I was raised on Kitchen Sink Realism films and my producer name, Denley, is a nod to Denley Moor, the town in "The Testing of Eric Olthwaite", the episode of Michael Palin's "Ripping Yarns" that parodies life in the north of England. I was looking through an old sheet metal cutting book that belonged to my grandfather, Mark's dad, and there was a chapter on how to make "hollowed articles". We switched "hollowed" to "hallowed" (greatly revered or respected) and the name was born. The generic cover approach speaks to this in that Mark describes it as a "boiler plate" approach. A nod to Mark's days at Factory where everything was given it's own FAC # and we hope the design appeals to the collectors and completists out there.

Mark: The "boiler plate" approach is like stamping something out - every time it's the same. That idea appealed to me a lot – the sleeve is the label, the disc is the music. All the music and musicians are treated the same. We are not trying to interpret the music by means of the sleeve. That's way too subjective. The graphic on the covers alludes to a series of sleeves sitting in racks – if you like, a library of hallowed articles – they are removed, listened to and put back. The graphic device is in fact the 'A' of the hallowed articles logo rotated. It's a flexible device which can be played with in numerous ways. It appears on the record centres and appears on our first T-shirt.

I have noticed a trend in the covers from 1 thru 5 given that the geometric arrangements are becoming progressively more minimal and wonder if the gradually receding graphics will reach an evolutionary point in HA_06 and beyond?

Matt: The shapes on the cover are meant to represent ones record collection, which we view as a living, breathing, ever-changing entity. If you have friends over and play records all night you may have a different number of records in your collection at any given time. A record collection is a collection of ones own "hallowed articles", music you've loved and return to over the years.

Mark: Yes, the sleeves have become minimal but only as a by product of this idea of music being removed to play. We may generate a different boiler plate at some point in the future but it is likely to contain similar graphic elements, and in so doing, provide the vinyl with a democratic vessel or container.

The 7-inch single was in danger of becoming extinct but is undergoing something of a revival. Why do you think that is and how key is it to HA to have a tangible physical product?

Matt: Both sides of my family love music, but my father and his brothers instilled in me how rewarding having a big music collection can be. I have great memories of my parents playing records in the living room, letting their friends hold the albums and trading stories about the artists, using the music to bring people together. My father passed away in 2002 and I think that on some level, by stressing physical product we are honoring his legacy.

Will there be any 12" singles or even a compilation LP?

Mark: Probably yes, but for the moment we are focusing on the 7" format – it's a common currency and probably the most hallowed.

Are there any plans for hallowed article 06 and beyond?

Mark: We are deciding on our next move. We are also thinking about packaging the first 5 as one. We want to continue to play our part in what is now the established revival of vinyl. As a label we are not driven by quantity of releases or by financial turnover. We put stuff out when we are ready.

--

hallowed articles 1 to 5 are available now direct from the label.

Labels: 8vo, hallowed_articles, interview, Mark_Holt, Matthew_Holt

Welcome to part two of Ian McCartney's interview with Caesar of The Wake.

Did The Wake socialise with any of the other bands on the label?

We didn't really socialise much with many of the other bands - mainly because we were based in Glasgow and only spent time in Manchester when we were down to record or play live.

Through some of the shows we did get to meet a few of the other musicians. We got to know Stockholm Monsters a bit. One time they were up in Glasgow - supporting The Smiths on tour - and they stayed with us. We had a game of football with them (boys only - our keyboard player Carolyn gave it a miss) - a Scotland against England thing - and they kicked lumps out of us. After The Smiths gig we were in the van waiting to go home and a couple of Japanese girls approached them with these beautifully packaged little gifts for Sir Morrissey. And of course they said oh yeah we'll make sure he gets them and proceeded to rip them to shreds in the van when the Smiths fans had gone. They were good fun in a slightly mad way.

Vini Reilly played on the Talk About The Past single. Tony brought him along to the studio and he just improvised his piano part instantly which was impressive to see and a great help to the end of the song. We played with The Durutti Column maybe a couple of times too. One of our favourite Wake gigs was supporting them at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London. We've done some soundtrack work with Vini in recent years too with our theatre company 12 Stars.

We met Donald Johnson and some members of ACR at different points - especially the Factory All Stars thing when there was an episode of that TV show The Tube from The Hacienda and Factory put together a collective of sarcastically named non-stars to perform. It was only meant to be Carolyn taking part on vocals and keyboards but I got roped in to sing Love Will Tear Us Apart at the sound check. Oh and Simon Topping added brilliant percussion to several Here Comes Everybody tracks - that was a great idea from our producer Oz.



Obviously we played live a lot with New Order but that was never really a social situation.

Did you share concerns about lack of promotion, and so on?

We did hear some discussions about the lack of promotion but other groups seemed more concerned about it than us. We'd always looked on turning away from conventional publicity as a bit of strength at Factory. The lack of promotion was a kind of promotion in itself if that‘s not too romantic a view. The label was known for not resorting to the usual round of desperate publicity - which in truth it couldn't afford anyway. For me, as someone who got into the label through the music and presentation of the music as something I could trust without any hype, it made a sort of sense, I could see how it might work.

In the end, for a label which supposedly didn't have adequate advertising it's still around today, people are still interested, new generations. I don't see many books and movies out there about Sony. Although, unfortunately, we thought that 24 Hour Party People film was really poor. But James Nice's Shadowplayers book redresses the balance to my mind. Admittedly, James is a friend, but I genuinely believe it's a better representation, more in the spirit of the label.



Promotion is a really specialist thing and unless you can do it on a very large scale I'm not sure it makes that much of a difference. When we were with Blue Mountain for publishing they funded some music press adverts for Talk About The Past and it did seem to give it a slight boost - no more. Factory had no objections. So I'm not sure it was such an idealistic issue - more of a practical thing - they just couldn't compete in that arena.

Anyway, for what it's worth, we thought it was a good move to go in the other direction and make it a label you had to become interested in through your own reactivity and awareness.

Was Rob Gretton your main ally at Factory?

Yes, Rob was our main ally. Every time we wanted to do a record it was Rob we approached in the first instance. We stayed at his place quite often. He always dropped by the studios when he had time. He was around for most of Harmony and that made us feel like a real part of the label during those initial sessions.

I mean our relationship with Tony was good as well. Although when we did the Something That No One Else Could Bring EP we had a bit of a dispute with him about the artwork. We'd always done our own covers up to that point and we had an idea of what we wanted but didn't really have anyone to draw it up for us. Tony wanted to use specific designers - can't remember the name but it was some company who did a lot of the ACR stuff at the time. They came back to us with a sleeve that was basically for an ACR dance record and it just wasn't right for us at all - very 80s New York, very clubby - and nothing to do with our starting point. Had any of these people even listened to tracks like Gruesome Castle and Pale Spectre? That was the first time we felt Factory could easily slip into being a bit formulaic. We were expected to say yes to an idea that had nothing to do with our work just because Tony thought some art school guy was the next Peter Saville. We went in the opposite direction and went for something a lot more punk. But Tony didn't like it and the record was given a pretty low key release even by Factory standards to teach us a lesson. Apart from that though, Tony was great to us.



I'd say Rob would've been a lot more supportive over an issue like that but he wasn‘t around so much or accessible to us at the time. Rob actually enjoyed people challenging any preconceived notions of what a Factory record should look or sound like. I'm not saying Tony wasn't like that. I think he was deep down. It was just a period when the label was changing and certain people were becoming more influential and convinced Tony that dance music was the only way forward. We thought our EP was a much more interesting direction for Factory to go in than the dance stuff. We were right in my humble, but correct, opinion. It was never a natural dance music label apart from the ACR side of things.

What are your memories of Palatine Road?

Again being based in Glasgow we didn't get to Palatine Road that much - maybe four or five times - no more than that. Most of our business was done over the telephone - mainly with Rob at his place and later with Tony and Tina who worked at Palatine Road.

All I can remember is it being a lovely big house in Didsbury. There were lots of boxes and office paraphernalia lying around. It had a nice relaxed atmosphere. Some might say too relaxed. And yet it could get quite chaotic suddenly. My impression was it operated on the spur of the moment - there was a lot of spontaneity involved - not much in the way of a strict business plan or anything like that. I suppose there must've been a hell of a lot to deal with in respect of Joy Division and New Order at the time. But if you approached anyone at the Palatine Road office for help they would always try to get something done. It had the feel of a place that had grown organically - defined by the people who worked there and who ran the label on a day-by-day basis. I have good memories of it but as I say we weren't there very much.



What are your memories of Manchester in the mid-80s? (The Hacienda pre-acieeed, the city pre-Madchester, Manchester United pre-mega-global success.)

Memories of Manchester are fairly limited too. After that early period when we were chasing support slots and trying to find a label we weren't down that much and when we worked there we were in studios and hotels mainly or Rob's house in Chorlton (hardly the centre of any burgeoning music scenes). We spent an equal amount of time in Stockport during the Harmony and Of The Matter sessions working at Strawberry.

When we did go out it was to The Hacienda once that was up and running. We were there at the opening and quite a few occasions after that and played there a couple of times. Once supporting Howard Devoto and once on our own. They were good gigs but the sound there wasn't so great as is well known. Before it took off as a club it was a strange one. It was an exciting and impressive space to be in but of course people weren't going in any great numbers at the start. I think the gigs did okay. I always felt something significant was going to happen there eventually - it had so much potential. I'm just not sure that what actually happened was that significant artistically although it undoubtedly left its mark all over the city.

I suppose living in Glasgow we were closer to what was happening here. This was a very active and creative place at the time too. We spent more time around the groups here and had more awareness of what was happening with the Postcard label really.

As for Manchester United - well, for me football begins and ends with the SPL in spite of all the Sky billions.

--

See also: part one, parts one and two

Many thanks to Ian and Caesar.

Labels: 24_Hour_Party_People, Caesar, interview, New_Order, Shadowplayers, Stockholm_Monsters, The_Durutti_Column, The_Wake_interview

The Wake formed in Glasgow (Scotland) in April 1981, after singer/guitarist Caesar joined forces with drummer Steven Allen and a bassist, Joe Donnelly. Caesar had previously played with Altered Images and wrote their first single Dead Pop Stars, but elected to leave shortly before the band crashed into the UK charts.

- extract from the LTM biography by James Nice

The interview that follows was conducted via email with Caesar between around 2010 and 2012. Originally planned for Cerysmatic Factory's print fanzine Scream City, it never saw the light of day. This was my fault and down to my dilatory approach. The interview process should take, ideally, about 90 minutes. In this case we're talking 18 months. By which time Scream City's editor had decided it was time for the print project to rest (at least for the moment. Ed.). So, what follows is some talk about the past, from the (5+ years) past.

- Ian McCartney

In a VBS TV "Soft Focus" interview a few years ago, ex-The Wake bassist Bobby Gillespie tells the story of how the band signed to Factory. His version of events seems pretty simple: you basically knock on Rob Gretton's door and hand him a tape, leading to the band recording for Factory. Is this how you remember the events leading up to The Wake's being on the label?

Bobby's version of events is basically right. Some of us went to Manchester. It must've been around January 1982. I'm not sure who was there from the group and who wasn't. Anyway, a Wake delegation went down.

The idea was to visit Richard Boon at the New Hormones office - as well as Rob - to give them a copy of our self-released single On Our Honeymoon. We might have handed in a tape as well as the single - I can't remember - but the main thing was to give both a copy of the record. We were looking to support Buzzcocks or New Order. Also, obviously, we hoped that something might happen label-wise eventually.

Anyway, New Hormones wasn't really operating as a label anymore. Richard Boon had his hands full just managing Buzzcocks of course. But he was very friendly and helpful when we went to see him. I'm not sure how we got Rob's home address. It could be that Richard Boon gave it to us - I can't think how else we would've got it. But Richard Boon was kind enough to advise us a little and he was very encouraging.

However, we managed to find him, Rob was hugely approachable when we turned up at his door. We gave him the single and I got in touch with him shortly after to see if we could do any gigs with New Order. Sure enough something came up immediately; I'm not certain where it was - one internet site mentions Trinity Hall in Bristol 26th Feb 1982 and that sounds about right to me. After playing with them a few times he spoke to us about doing something with Factory. He'd already had a word with Tony about us.

As well as seeing us live, I guess Rob liked the fact we'd done the single independently and had the initiative to take it down to him and so on… The brilliant thing about people like Rob and Richard Boon was that they kept in touch directly with new music. Well, NEW Hormones and NEW Order after all.

Cheekily enough, when Rob asked us to do something - probably having in mind a single or an EP - I said we wanted to do a mini-album even though we were completely unknown. Again, the great thing about Factory then was they just went with an idea and enabled you to do it if they thought there was something behind it. No demos, no proposals, no need to explain what you were trying to achieve. If they believed in you, they backed you.

They booked us into Strawberry Studios in Stockport to record - it was a pretty state-of-the-art studio at that time, part owned by 10cc. I suppose Rob liked the fact they'd provided that facility outside of London.

And that's how we came to make Harmony.



A release like The Wake's debut single On Our Honeymoon would, I'm sure, have had the likes of Virgin records knocking on the door. Were labels other than Factory making offers at the time, and were they considered? Also, how many copies of On Our Honeymoon were pressed?

As for the notion that On Our Honeymoon (1,000 copies pressed) might have had the likes of Virgin Records approaching us that certainly wasn't the case...

I had been signed to a major label for a short time as part of the original line-up of Altered Images. I was the guitarist and wrote quite a lot of their early songs - first single Dead Pop Stars for instance - and I was still potentially contracted to CBS/Epic when I left to form The Wake. Even though I could've been tied to them legally they had absolutely no interest in keeping me on fortunately. We didn't contact any majors re The Wake.

It's hard to realise now the impact the new independent labels were having - we think of indie music as a genre, a style of music, whereas back then it was actually an explosion of small labels like Fast, Rough Trade, Factory and Postcard - and they were just the better known ones. It wasn't a guitar based beat group style of music at all - there were all kinds of musical approaches out there - it was more a way of thinking about how to keep creative control.



Unlike previous independents like, say, Stiff Records, labels like Factory weren't just calling cards to try and get a major deal, they were labels that appeared to be saying this is a way ahead - responding to the supposed ideals of punk - a new way of doing things, a new way of releasing music, and we were really attracted to that and thought it was the way forward for The Wake. Personally speaking, I would've seen The Distractions single on Factory, Time Goes By So Slow, that record, the song itself, the way it was presented by Factory, as some sort of ideal, that was what I wanted the group to be doing, that was the template.

Major label interest actually came later around the time of Talk About The Past. Just as that was about to come out on Factory we signed a publishing deal with Blue Mountain Music which was a company connected to Island Records. When we signed that deal, which came off the back of a headlining gig at the Hacienda, the boss of Island at the time - it was Dave Robinson who had started Stiff Records - heard Talk About The Past playing in the Blue Mountain office - and in true corny showbiz style burst into the room saying, ‘That‘s a hit! Who is it? They‘ve got a deal.'

Not too surprisingly, in subsequent meetings, when it came down to the details of signing to the label for real, some conflicts arose. The main problem was our determination to choose which songs could be released as singles. Another big stumbling block was our suggestion that singles might not necessarily appear on albums as was our way of doing things at Factory. Also we wanted final say on - and the option to design - all artwork including any advertising. Basically we were trying to retain the creative controls we had at Factory. This was the ultimate test for us - had this so-called major learned any lessons from smaller labels like Factory? And, of course, they hadn't taken the slightest bit of notice. So the deal never happened.

In any case, Tony really encouraged us to follow up on any major label interest. He was always very open about that. He was pleased when bigger labels took an interest in the Factory groups.

Around the same time, we recorded a session for the David Jensen Show on BBC Radio and the broadcast led to phone calls from - and meetings with - a few other well-known labels but it never came to anything.

We were always trying to move forward on a creative level - that was the main thing - and Factory was the right place to be when working on the Here Comes Everybody album which was coming next.



The Wake's time at Factory was about five or six years. Starting round about sometime in 1981, with the final release Something That No One Else Could Bring being in 1987. Now, I'm not trying to be a cheeky bastard (and please correct me if I've got it wrong) but by my reckoning the sales of the records wouldn't have paid enough to live off. Did you have another way of making money during these years?

...and did you have any discussions about moving elsewhere?

You're so wrong - we were living the dream and owned properties across the world. OK - I'm only kidding.

Record sales weren't enough to live from on a regular basis but we got occasional royalties and made money from gigs. Basically, we went through phases of having enough to get by on and some times of signing on and doing a few part time jobs now and then. The publishing deal made a big difference as it involved an advance.

Certainly now we make more from the LTM reissues than we ever did from the original Factory recordings. Then again, the records wouldn't exist at all without Factory's considerable financial input.

As mentioned before, we had major label interest around the time of Talk About The Past. The one we took most seriously was when Sounds journalist Dave McCullough, Geoff Travis (Rough Trade) and Mike Alway (Cherry Red) started up Blanco y Negro Records through Warners and there was definite interest from Dave in his new role as head of A & R. In the end we stuck with Factory for as long as we felt a connection. Possibly it was the right place for us to be all that time although it changed later.



--

End of part one.

See also: part two

Labels: interview, New_Order, Rob_Gretton, The_Wake, The_Wake_interview, Vini_Reilly

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

Bernard Sumner will be interviewed by Dave Haslam on stage at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester on Sunday 21 September 2014 in an event to promote his new Chapter and Verse - New Order, Joy Division and Me autobiography due for publication on 18 September.

There will be a book signing after the event.

Tickets priced 10.00 (8.00 concessions) are on sale now at royalexchange.co.uk.

Labels: Bernard_Sumner, book, Dave_Haslam, events, interview

Ben Kelly, the designer behind FAC 51 The Hacienda, FAC 201 Dry and FAC 251 The Factory HQ, appears in conversation with fellow designer Andrew Stevens in Selfridges Manchester Exchange Square as part of the Festival of Imagination on Wednesday 22 January 2014 from 6-8pm.

The pair will explore creative collaboration and how it can benefit a design project.

Tickets priced £10 (including refreshments) are available by calling 0161 838 0610.

More info on the Festival of Imagination at selfridges.com

Labels: architecture, Ben_Kelly, design, graphic_design, interview, talk

More MDMArchive action, this time it's Richard Boon live onstage in conversation with Dave Haslam at Gorilla, Manchester on Thursday 13 February 2014.

Richard Boon isn't just an important eye-witness to Manchester's music scene, but also a major player and an influential figure, with the inside story of one of the most glorious eras of Manchester music.

He was the Buzzcocks' manager who founded New Hormones, the UK's first punk / post-punk independent record label and helped run the Beach Club.

New Hormones was an inspiration to later labels like Factory Records, and released records by artists including Biting Tongues, Dislocation Dance, Ludus and Eric Random.

The New Hormones office at 50 Newton St was also the home of gig promoters Wise Moves and 'City Fun' fanzine.

This is a free event, with an audience Q&A included. It's a great opportunity to hear Richard Boon describing and discussing early Sex Pistols gigs; working with Malcolm McLaren, Buzzcocks, and Linder Sterling; and plotting and planning with Mark E Smith, Jon Savage and Morrissey.

Admission is free but spaces are limited. Please register for guest list places by emailing: info@mdmarchive.co.uk with 'Richard Boon Event' in the subject field. Each guest should email us individually.

THIS EVENT IS FUNDED BY HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND.

More info at the Facebook Event and mdmarchive.co.uk.

--

Thursday 13 February 2014
6.45pm for 7.30pm

Gorilla
54-56 Whitworth St West
Manchester M1 5WW

Labels: Dave_Haslam, interview, Manchester_District_Music_Archive, New_Hormones, Richard_Boon, talk

Chris Manecke of Abecedarians gives a rare interview on a show from the 55 Shades of Blue KXLU radio archives (streamed via Soundcloud) in which he talks about recording Smiling Monarchs / Benway's Carnival (FAC 117) for Factory Records in the early Eighties.

The episode, from 2012, also features a play of the original demo mix of Smiling Monarchs before it was remixed by Bernard Sumner (Be Music) and Donald Johnson (DOJO).

Labels: Abecedarians, Bernard_Sumner, DoJo, interview, Soundcloud

In a brand new interview with John Doran for The Quietus, ex-Cabaret Voltaire lead man Richard H. Kirk talks mainly about the recent expansive 83-85 Mute box set. However, there's a couple of interesting Factory Records-related snippets in there too...

On the occasion of the opening night of the Hacienda:

"We were mates with the Factory people and we'd worked with them in the past. We'd played the original Factory club at the Russell in Moss Side. I remember when the Hacienda opened up on the Friday night there was a private party which New Order played and it wasn't open to the public. I think we decided not to go to that because we would have ended up fucked up for that Saturday night. [laughs] Because we did like to party, make no bones about it. But I don't think there were that many people there on the Saturday night and the acoustics were absolutely terrible but you know, there was something about that place. Something really good. I went there many, many times and not just to play but to watch bands and to hang out."

On The Final Academy night in Brixton (immortalised in the Ikon video 'The Final Academy Documents [IKON 9]'):

"Yeah. Well, as you know we were all mates with Throbbing Gristle who had sadly split up and then Sleazy and Gen went on to form Psychic TV and we were kind of involved in that a little bit. We made a video piece for a Psychic TV release, that I don’t think ever saw the light of day and obviously being totally into [William] Burroughs it just seemed like it would be fantastic. Brion Gysin was there. John Giorno was there. Psychic TV, Last Few Days and maybe 23 Skidoo as well. We were performing more of a low key ambient piece where the films were important and the soundtrack less so."

Labels: Cabaret_Voltaire, FAC51_The_Hacienda, interview, Richard_H_Kirk

From 7th to 10th November, London Electronic Arts Festival (LEAF for short), founded by DJ and presenter Rob da Bank, will explore and showcase the heritage of electronic music and its impact on the arts both aurally and visually.

Concerts and appearances by the likes of Major Lazer, Trentemoller, William Orbit and The Bloody Beetroots will be supplemented by various other events including a series of interviews held with pioneers of electronica and dance-music.

As well as Giorgio Moroder and Dinos Chapman, there is a fascinating keynote interview with New Order planned for 8th November. Confusion, Touched By The Hand Of God and Thieves Like Us producer Arthur Baker will be asking selected members of the band about their Technique (FACT 275) album and its influence upon today's dance-music.

You can either buy a four-day delegate's pass to LEAF or simply purchase single event tickets for each talk, film or live gig staged across London.

The interviews (and many LEAF events) will take place at the Shoreditch Electric Lighting Station near Hoxton Market, N1 and you can check availability via Allgigs. Limited spaces - from £12.50.

Labels: Arthur_Baker, events, Giorgio_Moroder, interview, New_Order

Check out a 90-minute podcast on Rectangle Radio (via Podomatic) by Frédéric Cotton about the long inactive (but now resurrected) Factory Records offshoot label Factory Benelux.

The podcast is in French and features an interview with The Names.

Fore more FBN info follow Factory Benelux on Twitter and at factorybenelux.com.

Labels: Factory_Benelux, interview, labels, podcast, The_Names

Dave Haslam has confirmed that in addition to him interviewing Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column onstage at Manchester Town Hall on Sunday 3 March, Vini will be playing at least one song. Another confirmed addition to the bill is John Bramwell of I Am Kloot who will perform a special set of unplugged songs.

Tickets are still available priced GBP 7.00 from Quay Tickets.

Facebook event

Labels: Dave_Haslam, events, gigs, I_Am_Kloot, interview, John_Bramwell, The_Durutti_Column, Vini_Reilly

Vini will be interviewed on stage by Dave Haslam as part of the ongoing Close Up series.

Manchester Town Hall
Sunday 3 March

Tickets on sale Thursday 31 January. Details to follow.

Facebook event

Labels: Dave_Haslam, interview, The_Durutti_Column

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