28 Apr 2004
FAC 511: And you forgotten 
Fac 511

And You Forgotten
A Memorial Event for Rob Gretton

23 05 04

A Certain Ratio
Anthony Wilson
Dave Rofe
Doves (acoustic set)

Graeme Park
Jon Dasilva
Mike Pickering
Mr. Scruff

The Ritz, Whitworth Street West, Manchester
Seven Thirty till One am
Tickets £12.50 Plus Booking Fee
Available from Piccadilly Box Office 0161 832 1111
www.ticketline.co.uk
easyInternetcafe, St Ann's Square, Manchester

All proceeds from this event will go to
Manchester Kids for distribution to local charities

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Oh Lardy! 
Thanks to the one and only Phil Jones (Phil Jones Presents Management) for this news. The Durutti Column are in conversation and playing two tracks live on the Marc Riley (aka Lard) show on BBC 6Music on Saturday 8 May 2004 at around 2.30pm (British Summer Time). Later that same day the band will play at Liverpool Academy.

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27 Apr 2004
GIGS 
This extract from the End of Year '80 Factory Shareholder's Analysis elaborates on the eccentric gigging policies of key Factory bands, stating that: "Up to the individual band. ACR only do two a month cause they have fragile personalities, New Order.. I'm not sure cause I'm the last person to find out about their gigs. Blurt play for money, Vini for love. Some approaches can be made via R. Trade gigs... though as ever nothing is definite."

Thanks to Sebfact for sourcing and transcribing.

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26 Apr 2004
The Durutti Column Subscription CD 
A few more details on The Durutti Column subscription service from Phil Kooky with the promise of more payment options in the future:

"1) We still cannot accept Paypal or credit cards or checks except those in UK funds..... I'm sorry but I hope to get this done soon and once the sub-group money comes in it shouldn't be too long coming.

2) Release date will be MAY 2004 sometime..... It will mean the newsletter will follow in the summer to those who subscribe.

3) It will not be a limited release - i.e. we will press to suit demand!

4) The prices in CASH - concealed at your risk are as the previous posting.

5) POST ANY ORDERS TO:

PHIL CLEAVER
2 ADAMS CLOSE
STANWICK
NORTHANTS NN9 6TQ

Finally, thanks for some great ideas on what to include but please please tell me what you want to know or be included it is good to make it what you want it to be!"

Cheers Phil and thanks for keeping us all updated on what is a very enterprising initiative.

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25 Apr 2004
Synopsis 
This extract from the book 'The A-Z of Record Labels' by Brian Southall [ISBN 1-86074-281-5] somewhat bluntly details the history of Factory Records. It also distinctly prematurely records the demise of New Order:

"Following a distinctly unique route which didn't include such traditional record company trappings as contracts and advances, Factory Records emerged out of Manchester's renewed and sometimes hectic music business in 1978. Cambridge graduate turned TV presenter and producer Tony Wilson was the leading light behind Factory Records and the short-lived Factory Club. The Durutti Column - who were managed by Wilson and partner Alan Erasmus - launched the label, but the first taste of success came with Joy Division, OMD, James and New Order, which then led to the opening of the notorious Hacienda Club.

Despite a host of hit records, Factory suffered drastically when their un-contracted bands started to leave, and even though new acts broke through, such as Happy Mondays, the label was in serious financial straits by the early Nineties. While an attempt to sell the label fell through, both New Order and Happy Mondays sold their catalogues before splitting up and Wilson was forced to dissolve the label in 1993, although the sequel, Factory Too, made a brief appearance in the mid Nineties.

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Unreleased 
Phil Kooky explains more about the Durutti Column Subscription Group (from the Durutti Topica email group]:

"Vini has set this up as way of getting out the following:

- a free CD which will feature 10 tracks, past, present and future. The first CD includes work in progress in March, tracks that were to be on Tempus Fugit and other outtakes. In addition, there are three demos, varying in quality - but of interest, including an unreleased track from 'Return of...', Missing Boy and something that never made the Vini Reilly album.

- a bi-annual newsletter will be printed and posted, we are not quite sure of the content and I would encourage anyone who wishes to subscribe to be pro-active in suggesting what they would like - a Q and A piece will be there too so feel free to forward any! I am also going to look at getting some tablature for any guitarists who wish to try their hand (me incl).

- discounts and priority avaialability to new releases.

The costs are: in the UK - 15.00 GBP; US Dollars - 38.00 USD Rest of World / 35.00 USD Europe; Euros - 30 Euros Rest of World / 25 Euros Europe.

This will also help fund a well overdue secure website!!!! If anyone has any questions or suggestions please feel free to mail me! Finally, I hope to have this ready in May."

Thanks very much Phil. Can't wait!

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22 Apr 2004
Glorious 
On 24 July 1981, The Durutti Column, A Certain Ratio and Kevin Hewick played a Factory mini-festival at Kaivopuisto Park, Helsinki, Finland. As previously reported here, this event was documented on Fact 56 A Factory Video on the track 'The Missing Boy' by The Durutti Column. Here is an extract from Kevin Hewick's reminiscences of the event, taken from full version which also features photos and video stills:

"The Finns were lovely people, great fans of the UK music scene and very pleased to have us playing there. The Kaviopuisto Park concerts were held every Sunday - Paul Jones and The Blues Band had done the one before.

Ratio, now with American Tilly on vocals with Simon Topping, were at their height of that era, extraordinarily good live - Donald Johnson just shone and seemed to steer it, really he was the most talented of any of the bands. I honestly think Tony missed out on a developing a talent who could have been a major artist in his own right - I'm sure Donald himself would laugh at that notion! Vini was a frail little bird, a mournful fellow who I loved dearly. On the 'plane back I sat next to him and he was about fading away.

On the plane to there I'd sat with Tony. Tony: "I'm having a Cointreau do you want one?" Me (betraying my council estate roots) "Whats a Cointreau?". Ah, if only I'd have said "What's a fookin' Cointreau" Tony would have hailed me as the greatest poet since Keats and there'd have been no Shaun Ryder!

There were also 2 shows at a grand 18th century building called The Old Student House and New Order had done there too. Someone said New Order actually weren't very good at their Old Student House show - see, already paying the price of not getting me in on vocals after all!

We stayed at a big hotel, 'The American Hotel', with a great bar in the round - astonishing buffet breakfast served there too. I shared a room with Donald Johnson and John Hollingsworth who later became 2nd in command at Warners UK A&R and, with Margaret Thatcher was to blame for the Eighties, (he gave us Howard Jones and the like) slept on our floor. He'd hitch-hiked there using me as a way to get to Wilson. Of course when John did get to the top from Cherry Red records (he failed to worm his way in at Factory) to Warners friends like me and Eyeless in Gaza were dropped like hot spuds.

15,000 people! I never faced so many before, never again. A glorious summer day - though the nights were also filled with sunshine, 2AM on the park like 2PM in England and it all felt so safe, no hassle with anyone, nothing like that".

Many thanks to Kevin Hewick.

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Defunktional 
The first part of the In The City conversation between art college pals Peter Saville and Malcolm Garrett from November 2003 is available in streaming audio on www.defunktion.net. Part Two is promised for the future.

Thanks to Conor. Again.

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20 Apr 2004
Saville Raw 
"It is not everyday that someone is asked to interview a formative figure in their lives". Design Indaba magazine asked Sean O'Toole to pose a few questions to Peter Saville, and these are his pure, raw unedited answers.

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19 Apr 2004
Magick and Mystery 
Mike Keane, who IS The Royal Family and The Poor, takes us on a track by track tour of his new album, 'North-West Soul' [Boutique 6607].

1) 'Falling' - This song was partly a response to the way having to watch my mother die in hospital in 1999 at sunset on her birthday, it is also about the reality of knowing that I/we ALL have to die and that we are ALL equals in death. It's also about how people tend to put everything and anything, particularly money - before love and their own humanity.

2) 'Sick Sad World' - self-explanatory. Yep, "Daria" is one of my favourite animations, should be up there with the Simpsons in my opinion !! :-)

3) 'Wandering' - This is about being able to rise above all the crap even though you have and are & will inevitably eventually be nothing.

4) 'Ratio' - this is about the strength to be found within oneself and how that strength unites the heart with all those other hearts across the world who also adhere to and express themselves in terms that do not conform to the banal and one-dimensional cardboard-cutout world of consumer society.

5) 'Long Time Coming' - This is about being alone for 10 years and living like a hermit in the inner city for 10 years & how to wake up to the fact that when you live by the truth in your heart you are never really alone, i.e. by overcoming one's fear of death.

6) 'Midnight Symphony 2' - I've always liked the idea of creating contemporary compositions & this track is an attempt at this idea, it reminds me of a 15 min track I did in 1979 called "Midnight Symphony" - which was never released, this track is an extension of my dreams as a child where I imagined fantastic creatues living in the night who were immortal and solitary & that one of them came to my bedroom one night and made me one of them & from that moment on I was never the same again.

7) 'Sweeter Than The Day' - Self-explanatory. It's about what it says i.e. - that people can't see whats right in front of and all around them all the time. Its also about the beauty of sunset / evening time.

8) 'Tell-Tale-Heart' - This is a "contemporary Nocturne" composition i.e. - musick for the Night. I've always LOVED horror movies and romanesque / gothic architecture & its history & culture, I also love really scary music, this is my tribute to these ideas. It is also about pain and healing & in that sense plumbs the depths of the human Psyche & its struggle to come to terms with ALL our own unconscious and subconcious desires - which is expressed thru such mediums as horror, fantasy, sci-fi and all those arts that express something more than the surface of things.

9) 'Hymn To The Night' - A song about aiming as high as you can in life. It's a "hymn" to the night in the sense of "night" as a "symbol" of all that is "secret" or "hidden" in our lives, the underlying things that move and motivate us, you see I believe that the surface of things is a big lie that we all agree to abide by, but the truth is that the way I see it we are ALL "magickal" beings, incarnations of some phenomenal intelligence at work in this universe, a universe FULL of magick and mystery as well as unlimited possibilites and opportunities for experience and expression, it remains a great tragedy that the majority of people today seem as lost and confused about their place in the universe as they always were, history attests to this fact, that it's only ever been the minority who are the thinkers, artists, scientists and truth-seekers & that these people have influenced the entire history of mankind and civilisation as we know it. My "music", if you can call it that, has always been nothing more than an expression of wanting to help others wake-up to their OWN potential & that I can best do that be fulfilling my own potential and then finding ways of expressing the experiences and adventures I've had in the land of "no limits" :-) Of course walking the road of "no limits" has taken a bit of a toll on me !!! :-)

10) 'Leaves In The Wind' - An old song originally released on Zulu compilation in 1882 - re-recorded here coz I always liked it. The song is self explanatory.

11) 'Sol Sonic' - Recorded about 3 years ago when I first got my equipment & studio. It was one of the FIRST recordings I did in 10 years so it's dear to me for that reason.

12) 'You & Me' - A reflection on the complexities of relationships.

13) 'Starfire' - from the same 1st session that 'Sol Sonic' was recorded in 2000 when I first got the studio.

Many thanks to Mike Keane.

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Luscious 
The Orch were featured on Fac 2.02 A Factory Sample Too along with Italian Love Party, K-Track and East West Coast. The band played the Fac 2.12 Factory Too launch / showcase event at Fac 51 The Haçienda ["The Orch played confident luscious soundscapes with drum-machine backing and featured guitar and keyboard players along with a singer."]. A brief post-Factory recording career followed and then they split.

Michael Conroy Harris (The Orch, 1993-96) has a few quick words about his official website, the gloriously-titled www.no-show.biz, and his latest music project: "I've just added an Orch discography, such as it is. All this is very weird timing as I've got an album out with my musical collaborator Bruce Magill - comes out on Skinny Dog Records in summer. We're called Superqueens and the album's called Cheap Shots".

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18 Apr 2004
Universal 
The Royal Family and The Poor's Mike Keane discusses the new album 'North-West Soul' [Boutique 6607] exclusively for Cerysmatic Factory:

"OK, well, 'North-West Soul' is a collection of songs that were adapted to music I had been working on for some time, others were written from scratch especially for the album.

This was by far THE most difficult album Ive ever had to produce, not least of all because I had lost all of my confidence having not recorded any serious work for so long (10 years) & also coz it's REALLY hard to get the overall sound and balance right on hard drive digital recorders. Life was SO much more simple when everything was analogue..... the problem with digital recording is that it is an utterly NON-musical process/way of recording, for example - with digital recording there is NO preference in the recording hardware towards HARMONICS, it just records a HUGE resolution of non-audible audio, in fact it records up to 80% of non-audible white noise, black noise and all sorts of other non-audible frequencies whicgh are NOT even needed OR wanted as they effect and interfere subtly with the "harmonics" of the notes you are trying to play - what this means is that it makes controlling and manipulating the tracks and overall mix so much MORE difficult coz unless you are adept as knowing how to strip and balance the frequencies for EACH track of audio they cross each other and create discordant sub-harmonics that decrease the clarity of the sound.

Plus I was working with a digital 8 track hard drive recorder and digital recording is VERY difficult to get "just right" ESPECIALLY when your using budget equipment with cheap d/a converters, what this basically means is that you have to be VERY careful not to use the digital connections too often - for example a track might sound so much better recorded digitally but once the master is transfered to a master-cd recorder this means it has already been digitally transfered a number of times within the d/a converters within the equipment used - resulting in serious degradation of the overall signal - AND this gets even worse when it then has to be digitally transfered to somebody else's mastering equipment in order to finalise it for cd manufacture. The long & short of it is that I had to spend a ridiculous amount of time struggling to balance everything out and get rid of a lot of noises."

That was Mike's history and technical analysis, but what about the title, 'North-West Soul'?

"It was inspired by several "sacred" sites that are NW including that Crowley's old house in Boleskine, Scotland is due North-west in the UK. Also coz I live in the North-West. All the tracks are very much influenced by the time of year they were written and recorded (autumn / winter 2003) and how this time of year tends to make me reflect on mortality, death and what it is I love most about being alive, the trees, the sky, the air, dreaming, the long nights, grey skies, etc.... and of course the condition of the human soul, solitary, universal, lonely as hell, immortal but alone, in fact I believe the entire universe was created out of loneliness!! :-) The irony is that despite the fact that we are surrounded by other so-called "human" beings one can still find oneself as isolated and alone as one might in the desert - odd that I sent it? I've been a hermit for over 10 years, what people cannot understand they tend to fear, so despite the fact that my "message" has always been about "love" & "will" people tend to steer clear of me. A while ago I came to realise that people don't love "me", they love the "idea" of "me". Alas, such is human nature I guess."

Coming next: Mike's track by track guide to the album.

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17 Apr 2004
Going Home 
It's the last weekend for the Peter Saville Show at Urbis in Manchester.

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16 Apr 2004
Infamous 
Glenn Routledge recalls his time working (and playing) at Fac 51 The Haçienda: "I worked there in the year it opened, when there were very few customers and we even asked people to bring board games in to play in the week! I started to do many bit of graphics and print, through Ginger [Howard Jones] and the first thing I came up with was a new design for the Haçienda newsletter. I was involved in tons of stuff over the years, and my pal and I [he also worked for Haçienda for the same amount of time] have many posters t-shirts, badges, cd's, cards, rock, and many of the signed Xmas gifts we were given by the directors of Factory".

Glenn also designed the Second Birthday poster.

Glenn continues: "My pal Brendon was offered Madonna's bra when she appeared at the Haçi, but he refused it! He has a fab Tube t-shirt from 1984! When Elsie Tanner and Foo Foo Lammar where top of the bill and Madonna was at the bottom!

We once thought of writing a book, since many stories were written by people on the outside and those that came along towards the end, and a couple of DJ's too [Dave Haslam]. We were both there every week for years and years! We even remember the bailiffs coming to turn off the power cos the club couldn't pay the bill!!

I did the artworks for the original 'Gay Mondays' night that Paul Cons tried to launch prior the the infamous FLESH. That night only had about 20 people tops! It was mostly of us from the club and some trendies from Sassoons. Funny!

Another thing was we did a swop night thing with Nude night and Camden Lock in London. A mini bus full of us which was organised by Mike Pickering, travelled to Camden, it took ages n ages and when we finally got there we were so off it, that we just collapsed and monged out.

One of the funniest of all things that Tony Wilson once mentioned was that 'The barstaff at the club' would nick full bottles of spirits to go to parties after the club had closed. we were all there with these massive bottles with the labels on the wrong way round! Hehehe we never admitted it of course....".

Thanks very much to Glenn. Hopefully there's more where that came from.

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Where is the meaning, where is the love? 
North-West Soul the long-awaited new album by The Royal Family and the Poor ("on this occasion Mike Keane and The Discarnate Angels of the Revolution"), has winged its way to Cerysmatic Factory (thanks Mike!). Recorded between July 2000 and January 2004 at Gaia Studio, Liverpool, England, and released by LTM, it features 13 new songs.

Early favourites include the Daria-inspired 'Sick Sad World' and the atmospheric 'Tell-Tale Heart'. Coming soon: Mike Keane's track-by-track breakdown of the album and the stories behind its making.

"I have learned that we do nothing 'alone' nor are we ever rarely alone, we just don't know how to recognise that which constantly watches over us. All we need to do is wake up to the possibilities and unchain our minds". Mike Keane, 2.49pm, 4th February 2004, Liverpool, England.

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Litmus 
Litmus played a splendid set of their Manchester band classical cover versions at the Islington Academy last week supporting The Durutti Column have some forthcoming dates in Manchester.

1 May 2004: Exchange Square, Manchester at 1.30pm & 3.30pm
20 May 2004 and beyond: The Circle Club, Barton Square, Manchester. This is a monthly residency.

For more details check out the official Litmus website at www.litmus-uk.com

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15 Apr 2004
Setting the Facs straight 
Thanks to Andy Woodcock for pointing out that it was he and not Ben Kelly who designed the famous Fac 331 Factory boardroom table ("the Temporary Contemporary Table") in Fac 251 The New Factory (the expensive new headquarters building). You may recall that the table was a glorious affair which was suspended from the ceiling and famously it was broken by Happy Mondays.

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Freak out 
Stuart Maconie, author of the recent 'Cider With Roadies' hosted BBC 6 Music's Freak Zone on Sunday 11 April and the show featured The Durutti Column in the Specialist's Choice.

The tracks played were 'Sketch For Summer', 'A Kind Of Love' and 'The Man Who Knows'. The last of these is featured on the new album 'Tempus Fugit'.

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13 Apr 2004
From Beat Club to Sub Sub 
Check out the v1.0 discography of Rob's Records, the record label set up by the late Rob Gretton which featured releases by A Certain Ratio and Sub Sub (who were later to mutate into Doves). All comments / suggestions / corrections / cover scans welcome!

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Chill Out 
This is from Phil Jones Presents: The Durutti Column have announced a new gig at the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells on Saturday 25 September 2004. Full details as follows:

Trinity Theatre, Church Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1JP
Saturday 25 September 2004 at 7.30pm
£14 and £12 concessions
Box Office Tel: 01892 678 678
www.trinitytheatre.net

And this from Paul on the Yahoo DC group: The Durutti Column are lined up to play the 'Chill Stage' at this year's Big Chill Festival at Eastnor Castle, Malvern Hills, Herefordshire on the 30-31 July and 1 August 2004.

Thanks to Mike, Phil and Paul for info.

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12 Apr 2004
All the king's horses... 
One more image added to the Peter Saville At Home collection (four out of eight ain't bad), this one is of the famous 'Two Situationist Cowboys'. Peter Saville's commentary goes as follows: "This is the first image used by Tony Wilson for the first Factory poster in early 1978 before I became involved in the project. I wasn't able to appreciate the philosophy at the time, but it seems almost biographical to me now." And the credits: "Image appropriated by Andre Bertrand. Speech bubble text appropriated from a novel called 'Tous les Chevaux du Roi' by Michele Bernstein".

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Compiling 
This in from Phil Kooky: The new Durutti Column Subscription Group cd will not be out until May. This is because Kookydiscs and the band have lots of tracks to compile from.

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9 Apr 2004
Debut 
24 Hour Party People premieres on Filmfour tonight and is named at Number One in The Independent's article today about the Top Ten Films About Music.

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8 Apr 2004
Original 
On the 24 Hour Party People dvd there's a deleted scene in which Morrissey talks to Tony Wilson on the street. It turns out that in the lost scene from the original script Moz goes back to Tony and Lindsay's for a spliff - and hands him a copy of the New York Dolls LP. Furthermore it includes another conversation between Morrissey and Alan Erasmus about scoring dope from Rhyl Sun Centre! (a bit which appears in the final film without Mozzer). Thanks to Adelle for info.

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6 Apr 2004
Funny how time flies 
This in from Kookydiscs: "Tempus Fugit. Out now! The much anticipated and critically acclaimed new studio album from The Durutti Column. Available mail order, £13.00 including p&p UK. Please add £0.50 Europe, £1.00 RoW. £ sterling cheques payable to: thedurutticolumn.com. For further information visit our website at: www.thedurutticolumn.com. Kooky, 2 Adams Close, Stanwick, Northants NN9 6TQ". Presumably the album will be available to buy at the gigs over the next few weeks as previously promised.

Further activity on the Durutti front sees the launch of the Durutti Column Subscription Group. For the price of £15 UK / £17 Eur / £20 RoW you will receive:

- a free exclusive compilation CD of rare and exclusive tracks
- bi-annual newsletter
- special offers on all discs and merchandising
- priority on all new releases

All £ sterling cheques payable to: 'thedurutticolumn.com' [cash prices: Euros: Europe 25, RoW 30, US Dollars: Europe 35, RoW 38]

Send to: Kooky, 2 Adams Close, Stanwick, Northants NN9 6TQ

Sounds like an interesting concept and let's hope it's a success.

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Instinctive 
To coincide with this Thursday's gig by The Durutti Column at the Islington Academy, the 7-14 April issue of Time Out (the London listings magazine) has a Q&A with Vini Reilly by John Lewis. Highlights include:

Favourite city in the world? Manchester, of course. It's such a vibrant, creative place - the centre of the cultural universe! But I also like Finland, Norway, Japan, and much of the West Coast of America.

What's the best thing you can cook? Bread. My brother-in-law bought me and my girlfriend a breadmaker for Christmas. We've been making lots of space cakes.

How many pairs of shoes do you own? One pair of shoes, about ten pairs of trainers, most of them Converse.

Best thing about your job? There's a moment when you play live when you're taken out of yourself, you're floating about. And sometimes when you're recording you can get so absorbed in a piece of music - the cerebral stuff goes out of the window, it becomes instinctive, almost primitive. The nearest thing to it is making love to someone you love.

Worst thing about your job? Record companies who owe you money and don't pay you in royalties. Out of the 20 labels or so I've worked with, all owe me money. Except Factory.

Ever sung karaoke? Yes, in a Thai restaurant where the owner, a Thai lady dressed as Elvis, makes everyone sing an Elvis song. I did 'It's Now Or Never'.

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4 Apr 2004
Wild Party 
A Certain Ratio played an outstanding 70 minute set at The Band On The Wall last night in front of an exultant (and in some cases slightly wet - due to a leaky roof) audience. Although there were no 'special guests' as suggested on the flyer, ex-Ratio member Andrew Connell was in attendance. Highlights included a 3-song opening burst featuring Choir and Waterline, Wild Party, Won't Stop Loving You and a first encore cover of Heart and Soul by Joy Division. Check out these initial photos and a scan of the setlist.

Setlist

Intro
Choir
Waterline
-------
Do The Du
Rialto
And Then Again
Flight
Wonder Y
Shack Up
Wild Party
Turn Me On
Starlight
Won't Stop Loving You
Wanna Be
-------
Heart and Soul
Si Fermir O Grido

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3 Apr 2004
Double whammy 
Today sees two ex-Factory bands playing on the same night but in different places. The Durutti Column head up to Glasgow for their gig at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. Whilst further south but still in the North, A Certain Ratio play their 25th Anniversary gig (with special guests - who hell they?) at The Band On The Wall in Manchester.

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