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Factory Records Retrospective
Joy Division, New Order, James, The Happy Mondays, OMD, Durutti Column, Crispy Ambulance. These are but a few of the names that have passed through the illustrious ledgers of Factory records, and as the wrecking ball bears down upon the Haçienda.
From 1978 to the early nineties, Factory amassed a back catalogue of records and events, that stand as some of the most important in popular music. ... And when the good people of Factory realised that there were no clubs in Manchester that they liked, they built their own, and created a legend. ...
To understand the story of Factory records you have to appreciate the underlying master plan that formed it all. ... How else could you explain them releasing an album whose full title was Squirrel and G-Man Twenty-Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out). ... The ubiquitous and startling artwork of in-house designer Peter Saville became the public face of Factory, and the reluctance of New Order to do interviews paralleled with the fact that they didnt even print their name on the front of their records.
Normally, no label in the world would get away with such flagrant disregard for the conventions of the very industry that it was trying to be a part of, and Factory very nearly didnt, but luckily they struck gold with one of their very first signings, Joy Division. ... Their first album Unknown Pleasures established Factory as a creditable label, and for the next two years Joy Division created music that was both beautiful and haunting. ...
Joy Division and New Order essentially made Factory its initial fortune. It was through them, and the funds that they generated, that Factory was able to do all the things that it wanted to do. Factorys mysterious aloof identity presented itself in a sheer wilfulness and a desire to follow through the crazed ideas that people have, yet never make happen. Largely this consisted of releasing crap records by crap bands, but one day someone had the idea of building a club. ... In typical Factory style the Haç had virtually no intentional identity. ... Legend has it that one day Factory records boss and Granada TV impresario Tony Wilson, was addressing his staff, stressing to them the importance of keeping their ears to the ground. ... It was the drug ecstasy, and the people selling it? Well, that was the lads in the fledgling Factory band The Happy Mondays. ...
For the next year or two Factory enjoyed a golden period.
Approximate Word count = 2057
Approximate Pages = 8.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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