Situationists

Fac 1, Factory Communications 1979-1992

Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.

The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy DivisionNew OrderA Certain Ratiothe Durutti ColumnHappy MondaysNorthside, and (briefly) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and James. Factory also ran The Haçienda nightclub, in partnership with New Order.

Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer 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 also to various other related miscellany, including artwork, films, living beings, and even Wilson’s own casket and tombstone.

Two short clips about Factory artefacts

“I am not a piece of hash. I’m in charge of Factory Records. I think.”

Tony Wilson


Fac 51, The Hacienda or How Not To Run A Club by Peter Hook - #update

The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook 

The Haçienda was, as Hook says, in many ways the perfect example of how not to run a club – if you view a nightclub as a money-making business. But if, like the baggy trousered philanthropists Factory, you see it as an altruistic gift to your hometown and a breeding ground for the next generation of youth culture, it was, accidentally, purposefully, shambolically, anarchically, thrillingly, scarily, inspirationally, perfect.

All at The Guardian

See him talk about it.

See this short documentary about The Hacienda.