Factory Records
Encyclopedia
Factory Records was a Manchester
based British independent record label
, started in 1978
by Tony Wilson
and Alan Erasmus
, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division
, New Order
, A Certain Ratio
, The Durutti Column
, Happy Mondays
, Northside
and (briefly) James
and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
. Like the label 4AD Records, Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett
and graphic design
er Peter Saville) which gave the label, and the artists recording for it, a particular sound and image. The label employed a unique cataloguing system
that gave a number not just to its musical releases, but to artwork and other objects.
, formed a partnership with Erasmus, an unemployed actor and band manager. The Factory name was first used for a club in May of that year, which featured local bands including The Durutti Column
(managed at the time by Erasmus and Wilson), Cabaret Voltaire
from Sheffield
and Joy Division
. Advertising for the club was designed by Peter Saville, and in September the trio decided to release an EP of music by acts who had played at the club (The Durutti Column, Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire and comedian John Dowie
). Rob Gretton
, manager of Joy Division, decided he did not want the band to sign to a London record label, preferring to do it all in Manchester. At that time there was a fairly successful punk label in Manchester called Rabid Records, run by Tosh Ryan (formerly of music collective Music Force) with Martin Hannett. They had had several successful acts, including Slaughter & The Dogs
(whose tour manager was Rob Gretton), John Cooper Clarke
and Jilted John
. Rabid would build artists up with a few punk singles, and then license them to bigger labels (Jilted John to EMI
, Slaughter & The Dogs to Decca
, John Cooper Clarke to CBS
). Tony Wilson would often be around the Rabid offices and Rob Gretton was friends with Tosh Ryan, Martin Hannett and others in the set up as they were all from the same council estate in Wythenshawe
. After his seminal TV series 'So It Goes
', which gave TV debuts to the likes of Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks etc., Tony Wilson was interested in the way Rabid Records ran, and was convinced that the real money and power was in album sales. With a lot of discussion, Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton and Alan Erasmus set up Factory Records, stealing Martin Hannett from Rabid. Thus Factory Records was born, with Wilson, Erasmus, Saville and producer Hannett as partners in the enterprise. In 1978 Wilson compered the new wave afternoon at Deeply Vale Festivals
; this was actually the fourth live appearance by the fledgling Durutti Column and that afternoon Wilson also introduced an appearance (very early in their career) by The Fall featuring Mark E. Smith
and Marc "Lard" Riley
on bass guitar.
The Factory label set up an office in Erasmus's home on Palatine Road, and the EP was released in early 1979. Singles followed by A Certain Ratio
(who would stay with the label), and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
(who left for Virgin Records
shortly afterwards). The first Factory LP, Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures
, was released in June. Joy Division would make a notable appearance at the Leigh Rock Festival in August 1979. Gretton became the fifth partner in the label towards the end of the year, and the Factory club closed down (it would reopen briefly the following year).
In January 1980 The Return of the Durutti Column was released, the first in a long series of releases by the "band" (now effectively a solo project for guitarist Vini Reilly). In May, Joy Division singer Ian Curtis
committed suicide shortly before a planned tour of the USA. The following month saw Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart
" reach the UK top twenty, and second album Closer
was released the following month. In late 1980 the remaining members of Joy Division decided to continue as New Order
. Factory branched out, with Factory Benelux being run as an independent label in conjunction with Les Disques du Crepuscule
, and Factory US organising distribution for the UK label's releases in America.
In 1981, Factory and New Order decided to open a nightclub, and preparations were made to convert a Victorian textile factory near the centre of Manchester, which had lately seen service as a motor boat showroom. Hannett left the label, as he had wanted to open a recording studio, and subsequently sued for unpaid royalties (the case was settled out of court in 1984). Saville also quit as a partner due to problems with payments, although he continued to work for Factory. Wilson, Erasmus and Gretton formed Factory Communications Ltd
.
The Haçienda (FAC 51) opened in May 1982. Although successful in terms of attendance, and attracting a lot of praise for Ben Kelly's interior design, the club lost large amounts of money in its first few years due largely to the low prices charged for entrance and at the bar, which was markedly cheaper than nearby pubs. Adjusting bar prices failed to help matters significantly, as by the mid 80s crowds were increasingly preferring ecstasy to alcohol. Therefore the Hacienda ended up costing New Order 10,000 pounds a month.
The following year, New Order's "Blue Monday
" became an international chart hit, and 1985 saw the first release by Happy Mondays
. The two bands were to be the most successful on the label, bankrolling a host of other projects. Factory, and the Haçienda, became a cultural hub of the emerging techno and acid house
genres, and their amalgamation with post-punk guitar music (the "Madchester
" scene).
Factory also opened a bar (The Dry Bar, FAC 201) and a shop (The Area, FAC 281) in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. Factory's headquarters (FAC 251) on Charles Street, near the Oxford Road BBC building, were opened in September 1990 (prior to which the company was still registered at Alan Erasmus' flat in Didsbury
).
In 1991 Factory suffered two tragedies: The deaths of Martin Hannett and Dave Rowbotham
. Hannett had recently re-established a relationship with the label, working with Happy Mondays, and tributes including a compilation album and a festival were organised. Rowbotham was the original member of The Durutti Column and shared the guitar role with Vini Reilly, being one of first musicians signed by the label; he was killed by an axe murderer and his body found in his flat in Burnage
. Saville's association with Factory was now reduced to simply designing for New Order and their solo projects (the band itself was in suspension, with various members recording as Electronic
, Revenge
and The Other Two
).
By 1992 the label was in serious financial trouble due to the two bands who had been most successful. The Happy Mondays were recording their troubled fourth album Yes Please!
in Barbados
, and New Order reportedly spent £400,000 on recording their comeback album Republic. London Records
were interested in taking over Factory, but the deal fell through when it emerged that due to Factory's early practice of eschewing contracts, New Order's back catalogue was owned by the band rather than the label. Factory Communications Ltd, the company formed in 1981, declared bankruptcy in November 1992
. Many of the former Factory acts, including New Order, found a new home at London Records.
The Haçienda closed in 1997 and was demolished shortly afterwards, being replaced by a modern luxury apartment block in 2003.
The 2002 film
24 Hour Party People
is centred on Factory Records, the Haçienda, and the infamous, often unsubstantiated anecdotes and stories surrounding them. Many of the people associated with Factory, including Tony Wilson
, have minor parts in 24 Hour Party People
. The central character, based on Wilson, is played by actor and comedian Steve Coogan
.
Anthony Wilson, the founder of Factory records, died on 10 August 2007 at age 57, due to complications arising from renal cancer.
Colin Sharp
, singer of The Durutti Column during 1978 who took part of the A Factory Sample EP, died on 7 September 2009, after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Despite his involvement with Factory was brief, Sharp was a close friend of Martin Hannett, wrote about him a book called Who Killed Martin Hannett? (2007) and maintained contact with fans of Factory Records through the fansite called Cerysmatic Factory.
Only months after Sharp's death, Larry Cassidy
, bassist and singer of Section 25
, died of unknown causes, on 27 February 2010.
In early 2010, Peter Hook
, in collaboration with the Haçienda's original interior designer Ben Kelly and British audio specialists Funktion-One renovated and reopened FAC 251: The former Factory Records headquarters on Charles Street, as a nightclub.
The club still holds its original name of FAC 251, but people refer to it as 'The Factory'. Despite the design influences from Ben Kelly, Peter Hook
insists 'It's not the Haçienda for f*cks [sic] sake'.
The club has a weekly agenda, featuring DJ's and live bands of all sorts of different genres.
In May 2010 the book Shadowplayers
was published. Written by James Nice, owner of LTM, the book charts the rise and fall of Factory and offers detailed accounts and information about many key figures involved with the label.
's The Tube
(FAC 104), a jumper with a picture of a sly fox (FAC 136), a bucket on a restored watermill (FAC 148), the Haçienda cat (FAC 191), a bet between Wilson and Gretton (FAC 253), a lawsuit filed against Factory Records by Martin Hannett (FAC 61), and a radio advertisement (FAC 294). Similar numbering was used for Factory Benelux releases
(FAC BN or FBN), Factory US releases (FACTUS) and Gap Records Australia releases (FACOZ) but the numbers were restricted to record releases.
Numbers were not allocated in strict chronological order - numbers for Joy Division and New Order releases generally ended in 3 or 0, A Certain Ratio and Happy Mondays in 2, The Durutti Column in 4. Factory Classical releases were 226, 236 and so on.
Despite the demise of Factory Records in 1992, the catalogue was still active, additions including the 24 Hour Party People
film (FAC 401), its website (FAC 433) and DVD release (FACDVD 424), and a book, Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album (FAC 461).
A Factory catalogue number (FAC 501) was given to Tony Wilson's coffin, as reported on the site 'Cerysmatic Factory'. http://www.cerysmaticfactory.info/2007_08_01_archive.html#886886002944732751
, the Kreisler String Orchestra, the Duke String Quartet (which included Durutti Column viola player John Metcalfe), oboe
player Robin Williams and pianist
Rolf Hind. Composers included Martland, Benjamin Britten
, Paul Hindemith
, Francis Poulenc
, Dmitri Shostakovich
, Michael Tippett
, György Ligeti
and Elliott Carter
. Releases continued until 1992, including albums by Graham Fitkin
, vocal duo Red Byrd, a recording of Erik Satie
's Socrate
, Piers Adams
playing Handel
's Recorder
Sonatas, Walter Hus
and further recordings both of Martland's compositions and of the composer playing Mozart
.
, the other main acts on the label were Hopper and Space Monkeys
, and the label also gave a UK release to the first album by Stephin Merritt
's side project The 6ths
, Wasps' Nests. A further release ensued: a compilation EP featuring previously unsigned Manchester acts East West Coast, The Orch, Italian Love Party and K-Track. This collection of 8 tracks (2 per band) was simply entitled A Factory Sample Too (FACD2.02). The label was active until the late 1990s, as was "Factory Once", which organised reissues of Factory material. Wilson got frustrated with the lack of freedom and the need of London Records to show profits and he left the venture with London Records to set up the short lived Factory Records LTD with only one band remaining - Space Monkeys who shortly after released an album "the daddy of them all". Hopper and The Durutti Column had already left Factory Too when Wilson left the company of London Records. In 2006 Wilson launched F4 Records with only a few bands - Raw-T (a grime collective) The Young Offenders Institute and some exclusive online tracks from The Durutti Column. The label closed in early 2007 when Wilson found out he had cancer and despite treatment, died of a related heart attack on 10 August 2007.
/New Order
, Happy Mondays
, Durutti Column and A Certain Ratio
. Each of these bands has between 15 and 30 FAC numbers attributed to their releases.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
based British independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, started in 1978
1978 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1978.-January–April:*January 14 – The Sex Pistols play their final show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom....
by Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
and Alan Erasmus
Alan Erasmus
Alan Erasmus was the co-founder of Factory Records with Tony Wilson, which signed Joy Division and Happy Mondays.He started off his career as an actor, appearing in Coronation Street and the TV film Hard Labour by Mike Leigh....
, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio are a Post-punk band formed in 1977 in Manchester, England. While originally part of the punk rock movement, they soon added funk and dance elements to their sound. They are sometimes referred to as "post punk funk"...
, The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England. The band is an ongoing project of guitarist Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. Other current members are Keir Stewart and Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan...
, Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
, Northside
Northside (band)
Northside are a British band from Blackley and Moston, Manchester, England. Formed in 1989, they released their only album Chicken Rhythms on Factory Records in 1991...
and (briefly) James
James (band)
James are a British rock band from Manchester, England. They formed in 1982 and were active throughout the 1980s, but most successful during the 1990s. Their hit singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", and "She's a Star" as well as their American College Radio hit "Laid"...
and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...
. Like the label 4AD Records, Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett , sometimes credited as Martin Zero, was a record producer and an original partner in Factory Records with Tony Wilson...
and graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
er Peter Saville) which gave the label, and the artists recording for it, a particular sound and image. The label employed a unique cataloguing system
Factory Records catalogue
The following is a list of items with recorded Factory Records numbers. The list primarily consists of music releases but also includes promotional graphics, film, etc. However, the list was not confined to creative output. A party , a lawsuit and a cat appear on the list along with other...
that gave a number not just to its musical releases, but to artwork and other objects.
History
Factory's genesis was in January 1978, when Wilson, a TV presenter on Granada TelevisionGranada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, formed a partnership with Erasmus, an unemployed actor and band manager. The Factory name was first used for a club in May of that year, which featured local bands including The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England. The band is an ongoing project of guitarist Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. Other current members are Keir Stewart and Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan...
(managed at the time by Erasmus and Wilson), Cabaret Voltaire
Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...
from Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
and Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
. Advertising for the club was designed by Peter Saville, and in September the trio decided to release an EP of music by acts who had played at the club (The Durutti Column, Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire and comedian John Dowie
John Dowie (humourist)
John Dowie is a British comedian, musician, and writer. He began performing stand-up comedy in 1969.-Career:Dowie was among the inaugural acts on Tony Wilson's Factory Records label. In 1978 he contributed three comedic songs to the first Factory music release, A Factory Sample, along with Joy...
). Rob Gretton
Rob Gretton
Rob Gretton was the manager of Joy Division and New Order. He was also a partner in Factory Records, proprietor of the Rob's Records label and a co-founder along with Tony Wilson of The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester, England. In 1977, Gretton became a leading figure in the Manchester punk...
, manager of Joy Division, decided he did not want the band to sign to a London record label, preferring to do it all in Manchester. At that time there was a fairly successful punk label in Manchester called Rabid Records, run by Tosh Ryan (formerly of music collective Music Force) with Martin Hannett. They had had several successful acts, including Slaughter & The Dogs
Slaughter & The Dogs
Slaughter & The Dogs is an English punk rock band that formed in the late 1970s in Manchester, England. They were one of the first UK punk bands to sign for a major label, Decca Records.-Career:...
(whose tour manager was Rob Gretton), John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clarke is an English performance poet who first became famous during the punk rock era of the late 1970s when he became known as a "punk poet"...
and Jilted John
Graham Fellows
Graham David Fellows is an English comedy actor and musician, best known for creating the characters of John Shuttleworth and Jilted John.-Early life:...
. Rabid would build artists up with a few punk singles, and then license them to bigger labels (Jilted John to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Slaughter & The Dogs to Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, John Cooper Clarke to CBS
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
). Tony Wilson would often be around the Rabid offices and Rob Gretton was friends with Tosh Ryan, Martin Hannett and others in the set up as they were all from the same council estate in Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe is a district in the south of the city of Manchester, England.Formerly part of the administrative county of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s to resolve the problem of its inner...
. After his seminal TV series 'So It Goes
So It Goes (TV series)
So It Goes was a British TV music show presented by Tony Wilson on Granada Television between 1976 and 1977. It is most famous for showcasing the then burgeoning Punk rock movement...
', which gave TV debuts to the likes of Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks etc., Tony Wilson was interested in the way Rabid Records ran, and was convinced that the real money and power was in album sales. With a lot of discussion, Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton and Alan Erasmus set up Factory Records, stealing Martin Hannett from Rabid. Thus Factory Records was born, with Wilson, Erasmus, Saville and producer Hannett as partners in the enterprise. In 1978 Wilson compered the new wave afternoon at Deeply Vale Festivals
Deeply Vale Festivals
The Deeply Vale Festivals were a unique free festival held in northwest England in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979. It is regarded as the one of significant events that united punk music into the festival scene.-Deeply Vale Free Festival:...
; this was actually the fourth live appearance by the fledgling Durutti Column and that afternoon Wilson also introduced an appearance (very early in their career) by The Fall featuring Mark E. Smith
Mark E. Smith
Mark Edward Smith is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and only constant member of the English post-punk band The Fall.-Early life:...
and Marc "Lard" Riley
Marc Riley
Marc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger...
on bass guitar.
A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio are a Post-punk band formed in 1977 in Manchester, England. While originally part of the punk rock movement, they soon added funk and dance elements to their sound. They are sometimes referred to as "post punk funk"...
(who would stay with the label), and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...
(who left for Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
shortly afterwards). The first Factory LP, Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures
Unknown Pleasures
Unknown Pleasures is the debut album by the English post-punk band Joy Division, released in 1979 through Factory Records. Martin Hannett produced the record at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, England. The album sold poorly upon release, but due to the subsequent success of Joy Division with the...
, was released in June. Joy Division would make a notable appearance at the Leigh Rock Festival in August 1979. Gretton became the fifth partner in the label towards the end of the year, and the Factory club closed down (it would reopen briefly the following year).
In January 1980 The Return of the Durutti Column was released, the first in a long series of releases by the "band" (now effectively a solo project for guitarist Vini Reilly). In May, Joy Division singer Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis
Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer and lyricist, famous for leading the post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980...
committed suicide shortly before a planned tour of the USA. The following month saw Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart
Love Will Tear Us Apart
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by the British post-punk band Joy Division. It was written in August and September 1979, and debuted when the band supported Buzzcocks on their UK tour in September and October 1979. It is one of the few songs in which singer Ian Curtis played guitar...
" reach the UK top twenty, and second album Closer
Closer (Joy Division album)
Closer is the second and final studio album by the English post-punk band Joy Division, released , two months following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. The album was originally scheduled to be released on . The record was originally released on the Factory Records label as a 12" LP and...
was released the following month. In late 1980 the remaining members of Joy Division decided to continue as New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
. Factory branched out, with Factory Benelux being run as an independent label in conjunction with Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
, and Factory US organising distribution for the UK label's releases in America.
In 1981, Factory and New Order decided to open a nightclub, and preparations were made to convert a Victorian textile factory near the centre of Manchester, which had lately seen service as a motor boat showroom. Hannett left the label, as he had wanted to open a recording studio, and subsequently sued for unpaid royalties (the case was settled out of court in 1984). Saville also quit as a partner due to problems with payments, although he continued to work for Factory. Wilson, Erasmus and Gretton formed Factory Communications Ltd
Limited company
A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...
.
The Haçienda (FAC 51) opened in May 1982. Although successful in terms of attendance, and attracting a lot of praise for Ben Kelly's interior design, the club lost large amounts of money in its first few years due largely to the low prices charged for entrance and at the bar, which was markedly cheaper than nearby pubs. Adjusting bar prices failed to help matters significantly, as by the mid 80s crowds were increasingly preferring ecstasy to alcohol. Therefore the Hacienda ended up costing New Order 10,000 pounds a month.
The following year, New Order's "Blue Monday
Blue Monday (New Order song)
"Blue Monday" is a single released in 1983 by British band New Order, and later remixed in 1988 and 1995. The song has been widely remixed and covered since its original release, and became a popular anthem in the dance club scene.-Background:...
" became an international chart hit, and 1985 saw the first release by Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
. The two bands were to be the most successful on the label, bankrolling a host of other projects. Factory, and the Haçienda, became a cultural hub of the emerging techno and acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
genres, and their amalgamation with post-punk guitar music (the "Madchester
Madchester
Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music...
" scene).
Factory also opened a bar (The Dry Bar, FAC 201) and a shop (The Area, FAC 281) in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. Factory's headquarters (FAC 251) on Charles Street, near the Oxford Road BBC building, were opened in September 1990 (prior to which the company was still registered at Alan Erasmus' flat in Didsbury
Didsbury
Didsbury is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre, in the southern half of the Greater Manchester Urban Area...
).
In 1991 Factory suffered two tragedies: The deaths of Martin Hannett and Dave Rowbotham
Dave Rowbotham
Dave Rowbotham was a rock musician who played guitar and bass with different Manchester bands in the 1970s and the 1980s, and as studio musician.-Biography:...
. Hannett had recently re-established a relationship with the label, working with Happy Mondays, and tributes including a compilation album and a festival were organised. Rowbotham was the original member of The Durutti Column and shared the guitar role with Vini Reilly, being one of first musicians signed by the label; he was killed by an axe murderer and his body found in his flat in Burnage
Burnage
Burnage is a neighbourhood of the city of Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire it was included in the county of Greater Manchester in 1974. It is about south of Manchester city centre, bisected by the busy dual carriageway of Kingsway, part of the A34...
. Saville's association with Factory was now reduced to simply designing for New Order and their solo projects (the band itself was in suspension, with various members recording as Electronic
Electronic (band)
-Albums:-Singles:-Music videos:-External links:* *...
, Revenge
Revenge (band)
Revenge was a band formed by New Order bassist Peter Hook and Lavolta Lakota and Rawhead singer Davyth Hicks on guitar and vocals, and Chris Jones . Revenge formed after New Order's hiatus in 1989-1990 and played their final gigs in January 1993...
and The Other Two
The Other Two
AlbumsSingles-External links:* * - Videos :* * * *...
).
By 1992 the label was in serious financial trouble due to the two bands who had been most successful. The Happy Mondays were recording their troubled fourth album Yes Please!
Yes Please!
Yes Please! was the last studio album that the British band Happy Mondays recorded before leaving Factory Records. Generally seen as their poorest work, it was released in 1992 and was produced by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads...
in Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, and New Order reportedly spent £400,000 on recording their comeback album Republic. London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
were interested in taking over Factory, but the deal fell through when it emerged that due to Factory's early practice of eschewing contracts, New Order's back catalogue was owned by the band rather than the label. Factory Communications Ltd, the company formed in 1981, declared bankruptcy in November 1992
1992 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992.-January–February:*January 11**Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s....
. Many of the former Factory acts, including New Order, found a new home at London Records.
The Haçienda closed in 1997 and was demolished shortly afterwards, being replaced by a modern luxury apartment block in 2003.
The 2002 film
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
24 Hour Party People
24 Hour Party People
24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom...
is centred on Factory Records, the Haçienda, and the infamous, often unsubstantiated anecdotes and stories surrounding them. Many of the people associated with Factory, including Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
, have minor parts in 24 Hour Party People
24 Hour Party People
24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom...
. The central character, based on Wilson, is played by actor and comedian Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...
.
Anthony Wilson, the founder of Factory records, died on 10 August 2007 at age 57, due to complications arising from renal cancer.
Colin Sharp
Colin Sharp
Colin Ainsley Sharp was a musician and writer from England, who was part of the Manchester music scene of the late 1970s and dedicated to arts in Newcastle....
, singer of The Durutti Column during 1978 who took part of the A Factory Sample EP, died on 7 September 2009, after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Despite his involvement with Factory was brief, Sharp was a close friend of Martin Hannett, wrote about him a book called Who Killed Martin Hannett? (2007) and maintained contact with fans of Factory Records through the fansite called Cerysmatic Factory.
Only months after Sharp's death, Larry Cassidy
Larry Cassidy
Lawrence John Cassidy was an English musician, known for being the singer and bassist of post-punk and electronic band Section 25....
, bassist and singer of Section 25
Section 25
Section 25 is an English post-punk band, best known for its single "Looking from a Hilltop" and its association with the Manchester record-label, Factory Records.-Early recordings 1977 - 1982 :...
, died of unknown causes, on 27 February 2010.
In early 2010, Peter Hook
Peter Hook
Peter Hook is an English bass player, musician and author.He was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until...
, in collaboration with the Haçienda's original interior designer Ben Kelly and British audio specialists Funktion-One renovated and reopened FAC 251: The former Factory Records headquarters on Charles Street, as a nightclub.
The club still holds its original name of FAC 251, but people refer to it as 'The Factory'. Despite the design influences from Ben Kelly, Peter Hook
Peter Hook
Peter Hook is an English bass player, musician and author.He was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until...
insists 'It's not the Haçienda for f*cks [sic] sake'.
The club has a weekly agenda, featuring DJ's and live bands of all sorts of different genres.
In May 2010 the book Shadowplayers
Shadowplayers
Shadowplayers is a documentary oral history film produced and directed by James Nice of LTM Recordings, released on DVD in May 2006. Tracing the detailed history of Factory Records and the Manchester post-punk music scene between 1978-1981, the extended film features interviews with 22 key...
was published. Written by James Nice, owner of LTM, the book charts the rise and fall of Factory and offers detailed accounts and information about many key figures involved with the label.
FAC numbers
All the label's releases (both music and video) were given a catalogue number of the form FAC followed by a number. This numbering system was also applied to other Factory "productions", including posters (FAC 1 advertised a club night), The Haçienda (FAC 51), a hairdressing salon (FAC 98), a broadcast of Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's The Tube
The Tube (TV series)
The Tube was an innovative United Kingdom pop/rock music television programme, which ran for five seasons, from 5 November 1982 until 1987...
(FAC 104), a jumper with a picture of a sly fox (FAC 136), a bucket on a restored watermill (FAC 148), the Haçienda cat (FAC 191), a bet between Wilson and Gretton (FAC 253), a lawsuit filed against Factory Records by Martin Hannett (FAC 61), and a radio advertisement (FAC 294). Similar numbering was used for Factory Benelux releases
Factory Benelux discography
Factory Benelux was the Belgian imprint of Factory Records, operated by licensee Les Disques du Crépuscule. This is a list of the releases on the imprint.-Sources:* *...
(FAC BN or FBN), Factory US releases (FACTUS) and Gap Records Australia releases (FACOZ) but the numbers were restricted to record releases.
Numbers were not allocated in strict chronological order - numbers for Joy Division and New Order releases generally ended in 3 or 0, A Certain Ratio and Happy Mondays in 2, The Durutti Column in 4. Factory Classical releases were 226, 236 and so on.
Despite the demise of Factory Records in 1992, the catalogue was still active, additions including the 24 Hour Party People
24 Hour Party People
24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom...
film (FAC 401), its website (FAC 433) and DVD release (FACDVD 424), and a book, Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album (FAC 461).
A Factory catalogue number (FAC 501) was given to Tony Wilson's coffin, as reported on the site 'Cerysmatic Factory'. http://www.cerysmaticfactory.info/2007_08_01_archive.html#886886002944732751
Factory Classical
In 1989, Factory Classical was launched with five albums by composer Steve MartlandSteve Martland
Steve Martland is an English composer.-Life and Music :Martland was born in Liverpool, England and studied composition at Liverpool University and in the Netherlands with Louis Andriessen...
, the Kreisler String Orchestra, the Duke String Quartet (which included Durutti Column viola player John Metcalfe), oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
player Robin Williams and pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Rolf Hind. Composers included Martland, Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
, Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
, György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
and Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
. Releases continued until 1992, including albums by Graham Fitkin
Graham Fitkin
Graham Fitkin is a British composer, pianist and conductor. His compositions fall broadly into the minimalist and postminimalist genres...
, vocal duo Red Byrd, a recording of Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
's Socrate
Socrate
Socrate is a work for voice and piano by Erik Satie. First published in 1919 for voice and piano, in 1920 a different publisher reissued the piece "revised and corrected". A third version of the work exists, for small orchestra and voice, for which the manuscript has disappeared and which is...
, Piers Adams
Piers Adams
Piers Adams is a British recorder player and member of baroque group Red Priest.After attending Reading Blue Coat School Adams trained as an astrophysicist, but turned professionally to the recorder at age 21...
playing Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
's Recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
Sonatas, Walter Hus
Walter Hus
Walter Hus is a Belgian composer and musician.Walter Hus studied at the music conservatories in Ghent and Brussels. In 1984, he graduated with excellence for piano with Prof. Dr. Robert Steyaert and soon became involved with new music in many different expressions...
and further recordings both of Martland's compositions and of the composer playing Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
.
Factory Too and beyond
In 1994, Wilson attempted to revive Factory Records, in collaboration with London Records, as "Factory Too". The first release was by Factory stalwarts The Durutti ColumnThe Durutti Column
The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England. The band is an ongoing project of guitarist Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. Other current members are Keir Stewart and Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan...
, the other main acts on the label were Hopper and Space Monkeys
Space Monkeys
The Space Monkeys were a four-piece alternative band from Manchester, England, signed to Factory Too and Interscope Records in the US. The band members were Richard McNevin-Duff, Tony Pipes, Dom Morrison and Chas Morrison...
, and the label also gave a UK release to the first album by Stephin Merritt
Stephin Merritt
Stephin Merritt is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles , best known as the principal singer and songwriter in the band The Magnetic Fields...
's side project The 6ths
The 6ths
The 6ths is a band created by Stephin Merritt, also the prime mover behind The Magnetic Fields, The Gothic Archies and Future Bible Heroes.One story has it that the band was conceived when Merritt, observing that there was no tribute album dedicated to him, decided to make one himself...
, Wasps' Nests. A further release ensued: a compilation EP featuring previously unsigned Manchester acts East West Coast, The Orch, Italian Love Party and K-Track. This collection of 8 tracks (2 per band) was simply entitled A Factory Sample Too (FACD2.02). The label was active until the late 1990s, as was "Factory Once", which organised reissues of Factory material. Wilson got frustrated with the lack of freedom and the need of London Records to show profits and he left the venture with London Records to set up the short lived Factory Records LTD with only one band remaining - Space Monkeys who shortly after released an album "the daddy of them all". Hopper and The Durutti Column had already left Factory Too when Wilson left the company of London Records. In 2006 Wilson launched F4 Records with only a few bands - Raw-T (a grime collective) The Young Offenders Institute and some exclusive online tracks from The Durutti Column. The label closed in early 2007 when Wilson found out he had cancer and despite treatment, died of a related heart attack on 10 August 2007.
Factory Records recording artists
The bands with the most numerous releases on Factory Records include Joy DivisionJoy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
/New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
, Durutti Column and A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio are a Post-punk band formed in 1977 in Manchester, England. While originally part of the punk rock movement, they soon added funk and dance elements to their sound. They are sometimes referred to as "post punk funk"...
. Each of these bands has between 15 and 30 FAC numbers attributed to their releases.
External links
- Dennis Remmer's extensive Factory discography, with pictures and descriptions of each FAC number
- The Factory Overseas releases (Australia. Japan, Canada, etc)
- Oliver Wood's Factory Graphics page.
- LTM Recordings official site, features much former Factory catalog on CD and DVD
- Factory on MusicBrainz
- A Factory Box Set - Communications 1978-1992 Album Review