Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Factory Communications...

Factory Records has to be (short of possibly Motown) the most written about record label of all time... Three more books related to Factory/Anthony H. Wilson/The Hacienda are in the works:

First is 'You're Entitled To An Opinion - The Lives and Times of Tony Wilson' by Dave Nolan. Nolan wrote the snappily titled Bernard Sumner biography 'Confusion - Joy Division, Electronic and New Order Versus the World.' and 'I Swear I Was There: The Gig That Changed the World'. The latter is about the legendary Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester on June 4 1976, hosted by The Buzzcocks and attended by Morrissey, Tony Wilson, future members of Joy Division and that ginger twat from Simply Red. The author is obviously a big fan of Manchester's musical history and short book titles...

Next is another book about Wilson, this time by another great bastion of the Manchester music scene - Paul Morley. Morley's effort is snappily titled (do I see a common thread here?) 'Fuck Em: The Complete Truth and Other Lies about Anthony­ H Wilson by Everyone Who Knew Him and a Few People Who Didn't'... Morley wrote for the NME in what many consider its golden years from 1977-1983.

Finally, is Peter Hook's hilariously titled 'The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club' - sure to be plenty of good stories in this one...

Until these books are out, I recommend Anthony H. Wilson's marvellous '24 Hour Party People - What the sleeve notes never tell you'. I'll just say Barabbas - if you know what I'm talking about fine, if not that's fine too, but you should probably read more...

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