And for good reason as it has everything you could want in a story: rags to riches, suicide, drugs, guns, legendary nightclubs, insane behaviour and records which helped to shape the sound of music for the next 40 years.
For anyone else, writing such a book would be a tall order but in the hands of James Nice, owner of LTM Records and Factory Records connoisseur, penning the definitive take on Tony Wilson’s Situationist stunt proved to be effortless.
For those of you unfamiliar with what I’ve written above, consider the below text as a quick summary:
In May 1978, a 'Factory for Sale' sign inspired Alan Erasmus and Tony Wilson to book a series of post-punk happenings at the Russell Club in Manchester. Soon this electrifying scene was translated to vinyl, with Factory Records going on to become the most innovative and celebrated independent record label of the next thirty years.
Always breaking new ground, Factory gave the world innovative and influential bands such as Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, Section 25, The Durutti Column and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and later New Order, James and Happy Mondays. However its founders' avowed ambition was not chart success, but 'a laboratory experiment in popular culture.
Factory collapsed with massive debts in 1992, and in the years since both the label and its troubled folly, The Haçienda, have become both a legend and a cautionary tale. However the definitive, authentic story has never been told - until now. Shadowplayers is the most complete, authoritative and thoroughly researched account of how a group of provincial anarchists and entrepreneurs saw off critics, bankers and gun-toting gangsters to create the most influential, acclaimed and adored music imprint of modern times.”
See what I mean? Who could resist such a story?
Meticulously researched and shining a spotlight in areas that had long been overlooked, this book is a treasure trove and, because each chapter is focused on a particular year, the information flows in a coherent manner so one never loses track of who is being discussed. It’s encyclopaedic without being excessively nerdy with details.
Refreshingly, Nice isn’t afraid to challenge the myth of Tony Wilson as benevolent Situationist, quoting Factory/Haçienda types who refer to him in less than flattering terms (particularly when he hooks up with the Happy Mondays) and debunks several myths such as the claim that New Order lost money on every copy of ‘Blue Monday’ (often touted as being the biggest selling 12’ single of all time). Apparently, this only applied to the first pressing and, when it went into the charts at 9, the sleeve had long been corrected to ensure profitability.
Nice is also unflinching in his depiction of the financial affairs of the Haçienda which, at one point, was losing £10,000 a month (nearly £32,000 in 2024 money). When the club does start to turn a profit (and become one of the first super clubs in Britain), it is quickly followed by the death of Clare Leighton (first Ecstasy death in Britain) and the appearance of the drug gangs (who included “White” Tony Johnston, notorious Cheetham Hill gang member and nephew of Moors Murderers victim Keith Bennett). Coupled with police hostility, signing bands whose commercial viability could be described as non-existent and frustration among New Order over where their royalties were going, it’s amazing that Wilson and co lasted for as long as they did.
Running over 500 pages, this is the definitive book on Factory Records. While others are funnier, none capture the overall picture as succinctly as Nice and while he understands that myth is a big part of the story, he also understands that without the music, there wouldn’t be Factory.
From a Sex Pistols gig in 1976 to selling out to London in 1992, it’s one hell of a tale. Better than anything The Beatles or Eminem could manage.
James Nice, 2010, Shadowplayers: The
Rise and Fall of Factory Records. Aurum. ISBN-13: 978-1845136345
Sun Records in Memphis Tenn. left a bigger musical legacy than any record label you care to mention Christopher....
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day (although I seriously doubt it) you'll come out of your musical closet and comfort zone. When/if you do you'll discover that there were 'punks' well before what New York in the 70's...........They were called 'Rockabilly's'..............