Cerysmatic.Factory

The PKRP Cerysmatic Factory Favourites Playlist

2019-12-19T07:00:00.000+00:00

The PKRP Favourite Cerysmatic Factory Playlist is available now via Spotify and Apple Music for your musical factorial edification and here are the Playlist Sleevenotes:

Wim Mertens - No Plans No Projects

A prolific minimalism composer from small-town Belgium doesn't sound like a typical place to start a Factory Records playlist. But then No Plans No Projects isn't a typical Wim Mertens piece either. Built around a simple keyboard refrain, this superb track from the Educes Me album bursts into life around halfway through with LOUD synths and portentous piano. Mertens's other contribution to Factory was the soundtrack to Peter Greenaway's arthouse movie The Belly Of An Architect (Fact 195), while Educes Me holds the accolade of having one of the most sought after (and expensive) formats - the boxed cassette in the yellow case has been known to fetch up to a £200!

OMD - Almost (Hannett Mix)

The Wirral duo's sprightly iconic debut single Electricity has always been a favourite of mine, but this lo-fi Hannett mix of its attendant b-side has stayed with me since its release. Electricity has just been reissued in a new sleeve with a Vince Clarke remix of Almost on the b-side - it should have been the main attraction, not relegated to a flip. I've always liked the strange hissing sound and off-beat drum machine, the plaintive sorrowful lyric and vocal, Saville's braille sleeve and of course the fact Tony Wilson released the single for his then wife Lindsay. It really should have been a double a-side. Either track could have been a hit with a spread of radio play.

Joy Division - These Days

All those amazing and iconic album-tracks and I go and pick an often-overlooked b-side - is this bloke for real? Thing is, Love Will Tear Us Apart will always be one of the most important singles ever and needs no introduction. You'd need a heart of estuary mud to hate it. But tucked away on side two of both formats is what I consider to be one of three very important Joy Division tracks and the link to where the band were heading at the time. Isolation, Decades and These Days demonstrate the band's increased interest in electronics at the time, before Ian's sad demise. Almost 40 years on and still nothing on Movement comes close to any track on the second JD album Closer, with the possible exception of the synth-layered Doubts Even Here, but head to New Order's sophomore set Power Corruption and Lies and preceding single Everything's Gone Green and the link becomes a little more obvious. I love how this song bustles along - great drumming and driving bass from Morris and Hook.

Fadela - N'Sel Fik

Back in the '80s, when global sounds permeated the curious music-lover's conscience via John Peel's interest, Peter Gabriel's Real World and related WOMAD festivals, the public remained a bit nonplussed with the emotional synth-pomp of North African Rai. Wonderfully off-kilter and at odds with typical 4/4 beats being peddled across the pond, N'Sel Fik became a frequently dropped track at the more eclectic parties in Manchester and London. It's tenuous link to rave-culture is derived from the opening line of Fadela's lovely song being lifted and dropped onto "We Are E", a huge breakbeat tune issued in 1991. I suspect the originator was less than pleased with being associated with 'being on one' but it's a decent enough and sought after hardcore banger. Fac 197 itself remains a regular go-to when I'm playing out.

The Durutti Column - What Is It To Me (Woman)

In truth, I could have picked dozens of DC tracks to pop on this playlist but What Is It To Me (Woman) has always captivated me. It demonstrates everything great about the interplay between guitarist Vini Reilly, drummer Bruce Mitchell and attendant guests, including harmonica maestro Rob Gray. Taken from the Stephen Street-produced The Guitar and Other Machines (Fact 204) released in 1987, this track has aged very well and benefits from not being quite so drum-heavy as other tracks on the otherwise pin-sharp GOTM. It's more future jazz than art-rock (or whatever The Durutti Column were being tagged in those days) and is as contemporary as anything in Reilly's enviable and essential canon.

Marcel King - Reach For Love (NY Remix)

For a short spell in Factory's existence, the label acted as a springboard for soulful club tracks with a house twist. Soon-to-be M People luminary Mike Pickering made a decent fist of it with his Quando Quango project (Genius is just that, Love Tempo and Atom Rock were also rightfully regarded), while Section 25, New Order and A Certain Ratio embraced new technology to create the likes of Looking From a Hilltop, The Perfect Kiss and Life's A Scream. Straight out of the blocks came this bruising rework of former Sweet Sensation, er, sensation Marcel King's glorious Reach For Love. Velveteen vocals and a big-stringed 'n' synthed-up arrangement were given an overhaul by revered producer Mark Kamins, who coincidentally had mixed two of the aforementioned Quando singles. Its flip-side Keep On Dancin' was a favourite of mine for a while but this song translates better when pumped through a decent sound-system. Great record.

X-O-Dus - See Them A Come

When it came to sound-system mixes, reggae dub-lord Dennis Bovell certainly fitted the bill. The great man's deft touch can be found on one of the most collectable 12" on Factory, X-O-Dus's epic English Black Boys (Fac 11). It's such a shame that an album never materialised after such a fine landmark debut record, although LTM Records did curate a rather fetching round-up of studio material some years back. My personal preference, as with many Factory singles, is its speaker-scaring b-side See Them a Come. This is some serious heavyweight material and when piped through a capable mixing desk, is eight straight minutes of pure rib-cage rattling reggae euphoria.

Kalima - Take It Easy

I've got a soft spot for the unsung Kalima, a soul-jazz collective born out of the remains of the rather more avant-garde Swamp Children. Along the way, Kalima issued a handful of unjustly ignored singles like The Smiling Hour, Whispered Words and Weird Feelings, as well as a string of albums that had one foot in the golden age of crooners and one in the latter day Acid Jazz age. The band's final Factory album Feeling Fine (Fact 249) is perhaps their most consistent, least 'trad' set and includes some remarkable musicianship and decent songs, including this cracker. Languid, woozy and slinky, Take It Easy surpasses the album's curious single choice Shine and, in fact, most of the band's mostly likeable catalogue.

Section 25 - Inspiration

One of the first Factory albums recommended to me by one Nick Clarke who ran Rhythm Records in Plymouth during the early to mid '80s was Section 25's crystalline From The Hip. Fact 90 remains one of my all-time favourite LPs and still sounds timeless to this day. When most synth acts from the decade pummelled the hell out of our earholes with leaden drums, the Blackpool outfit wove featherlight beats with hopeful and er, inspirational songs that took the band to another level. many cite the single Looking From a Hilltop as the key track on this album but I'm positive that this epic closer made far better use of the available New Order-donated technology.

Stockholm Monsters - Partyline

The original scallies and Perry guys and gals weren't afraid to get all controversial and political on our asses with songs like How Corrupt Is Rough Trade?, Your Uniform and this stunning electro post-romantic belter. Issued as a 12" only, one can't help thinking that a radio 7" might, MIGHT, just have landed the Stockies with a minor cult hit back in the day. Somewhat unlike their usual edgy alternative jangle-pop, Partyline is the sort of tune that Pet Shop Boys or New Order might have made if they'd upped the speedball dosage at a Top of the Pops rehearsal. I love this record. Its flipside, Militia, is also essential, making this one of those archetypal Factory singles that works on both sides.

The Railway Children - Brighter

And here's another landmark single. Wigan's oft-forgotten songsmiths The Railway Children knocked out several sprightly singles and a pair of decent albums for both Factory and latterly Virgin Records. Brighter sported great b-sides in History Burns and Careful and sounded like a Top 10 hit all summer long. Great sleeve from Johnson Panas too. How, HOW, did this not strike a chord with the then radio DJs? It still sounds like a burst of summer some thirty years later.

The Wake - Torn Calendar

Melancholy is something that Factory Records was very good at. In Scotland's The Wake, they had it in litres. The band's debut album was Harmony, a solemn post-punk postscript that inadvertently invented twee-pop without actually being 'pop', while celebrated single Talk About The Past earned plaudits aplenty from media to fanbase. But it was the peerless much-delayed Here Comes Everybody LP that really put The Wake amongst the indie pigeons. The entire album is nothing short of a sad-face masterpiece, with the slightly trippy pretty Torn Calendar leading the field of many many centrepieces and would-be singles.

The Names - I Wish I Could Speak Your Language

My first non-JD/NO Factory single purchase was Fac 29, the exemplary Nightshift by Brussels-based rock 'n darkwavers The Names. Along with its powerful boundary-crossing flip I Wish I Could Speak Your Language, here was a 7" single that delivered some of Martin Hannett's most brutal production, without compromising the band's delicate and austere lyricism. Everything about this song demonstrates everything about those involved - the huge smash-snare drums typified by Hannett's dextrous hands, urbane almost paranoid lyrics and subtle uses of synth and guitar hooks. The Names' track record might not have spawned 'hits', but their concise canon contains few misses.

New Order - Everything's Gone Green

This is the record that kickstarted indie dance-music, no arguments. The likes of Franz Ferdinand, LCD Soundsystem, Friendly Fires and The Rapture probably wouldn't have had their 15 seconds / minutes / hours / years of exposure without this truly majestic record. It doesn't say or do much but it does everything. Never mind Blue Monday or Temptation, Everything's Gone Green remains New Order's first active foray into disco hi-hats and club mixes. Extended for a Factory Benelux 12" with new b-sides, EGG is not only one of New Order's most important records, it remains a masterclass by Martin Hannett who was ultimately swiftly spurned by band and label soon after they'd figured out how he operated his studio toys. Its attendant double 'A' Procession is also prime New Order material from the Movement sessions.

John Dowie - Idiot

Often dismissed as too surreal but revered by the likes of Stewart Lee (and myself), Birmingham's rather edgy humourist looked a bit like Jasper Carrott but couldn't have been more different. His attachment to Factory was all too brief with just three odd grin-worthy vignettes on the label's very first release, the double-7" A Factory Sample, and a lone headline single, the somewhat pub-singalong It's Hard To Be An Egg coupled with its 'visual' flip Mime Sketch. All five Factory tracks formed part of his then live poetry shows and were finally gathered together with his half-dozen Virgin label EP tracks and a slew of hilarious live tracks on the album An Arc of Hives. "I'm the kind of idiot who always ends a sentence with question. Don't I?" - we've all met someone like it and there are even more of Dowie's Idiots around nowadays.

Happy Mondays - Weekends

My first encounters with the Mondays were the Factory 'Supertent' gathering in Finsbury Park in 1987 when the band performed a somewhat chaotic set wearing huge parka jackets and puffing on suspect smoking material and the passable single Delightful, aka the Forty-Five E.P. I've always been of the opinion that Ryder's charges were more talented than people gave them credit (or abuse) for. But Delightful didn't help their cause. The two b-sides however certainly did, especially the song Oasis which eventually ended up in re-recorded form on their debut album Squirrel and G-Man 24 Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out). Recorded with a certain John Cale, 24 Hr (etc, etc) is an unexpected funky treasure in Factory's late canon. Perhaps a little more grown-up than the more familiar Madchester material, the gritty street funk of Kuff Dam (Mad Fuck backwards) and Tart Tart became a regular go-to for me at parties, as did Weekends (or Weekend S as it appears on some copies). Its odd galloping rhythm and barbed lyrics is short, sweet and might have made a hit-single in a parallel universe.

Minny Pops - Dolphin's Spurt

Dutch semi-industrialists with a near 7ft tall singer might not sound very Factory, but Minny Pops's brief honeymoon in Manchester spawned two pin-sharp electro-dance singles and an album for sister-label Factory Benelux. With the man Hannett at the helm for this single, both sides of the Dolphin's Spurt 7" are on point to this day, danceable and timeless, littered with its producer's trademark effects and atmospherics and lyrically insistent, nagging and a little confrontational. It's almost impossible to make out the words spat out by singer Wally van Middendorp but who cares? He's bigger than all of us.

Royal Family and the Poor - Visions

Liverpool's Mike Keane was the north-west's resident anarchic occultist, renouncing conventional mass-media and musical practice in favour of creating early demos and live shows of ritualistic chants, highly charged howling and the odd song here and there. After a few personal struggles, Keane's Factory output remains something of a treasure chest. Debut single Art on 45 was a sort of funky My Favourite Things and has since been given the nod by Maximo Park's Paul Smith and first album Temple of the 13th Tribe had a helping hand from Peter Hook and Stockholm Monsters' Lita Hira. For me though, sophomore set We Love The Moon - the Project Phase 2 continues to be Keane's masterpiece. Recorded with Pink Industry's Ambrose Reynolds, WLTM includes the superb Pagan Way (which still isn't on Spotify after all this time) and the 'hit' Visions, a glorious example of Keane's occasional foray into sensitive pop songs.

The Distractions - Time Goes By So Slow

Rightly acclaimed as one of Factory's most charming and rewarding singles, Time Goes By Slow was issued just after the band had already signed to Island. Musically and lyrically embedded in both '60s pop charm a la Adam Faith or The Hollies and post-punk favourites Buzzcocks, The Distractions followed up TGBSS with a handful of singles and a long-forgotten album Nobody's Perfect before taking a lengthy hiatus into the 21st century. More recently, the band have been busy writing and recording for Exeter-based indie Occultation, including the rather splendid sophomore album The End Of The Pier. For me, Fac 12 remains one of Factory Records' most important and timeless early singles.

A Certain Ratio - Waterline

A staple of the band's live set to this day, the funky near-instrumental Waterline was and still is a bit of a game-changer. Unmistakably ACR, the exclusively recorded Fac 52 single ushered in their post-Hannett future with an ankle-deep bassline, vocodered vocals, tight handclap drums and some speaker-bothering effects and atmospherics. Alongside the attendant album Sextet, Waterline with its bonged up and dubbed out flip Funaezekea turned the conventional Brit-funk sounds and ideals into the unconventional. And you can't get a much more unconventional ending to a track than the final 45 seconds on this 12".

- sleevenotes by Paul Pledger/Flipside Reviews for Cerysmatic Factory

Fac 15 Zoo Meets Factory Half-way

2019-09-13T06:00:00.000+01:00

ZOO MEETS FACTORY HALF-WAY
LEIGH POP FESTIVAL OPEN AIR
BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY
AUGUST 27th ALL DAY FIRST BAND 1.00 pm
£2

~~FACTORY~~ ZOO RECORDS and ~~ZOO~~ FACTORY RECORDS BRING YOU
THE FLESH THAT BROUGHT YOU THE VINYL

LORI AND THE CHAMELEONS JOY DIVISION ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN THE DISTRACTIONS
ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK
THE TEARDROP EXPLODES ELTI-FITS X-O-DUS
CRAWLING CHAOS A CERTAIN RATIO

USE YOUR WITS OR USE THE BUS NO 26 from Manchester Victoria : NO 39 from Liverpool

Festival site - Plank Lane, Leigh, Lancs

--

Handwritten rough (presumably by AHW) for the eventual Fac 15 poster for the Zoo Meets Factory Half-Way event (aka The Leigh Pop Festival). Tony Wilson designed this poster "after Peter Saville".

This translated into the eventual white-on-black poster / black-on-white draft flyer (which in this version contains a repeat of the "bring you the flesh..." line:

The reverse of the handwritten layout features the outline running order for the event:

1.00 Elti Fits
2.00 Crawling Chaos
3.00 Exodus
4.00 A Certain Ratio
5.00 Echo + Bunnymen
6.00 Distractions
7.00 OMITD
8.00 Teardrop
9.00 Joy Division

We Sell Flesh and Vinyl

2017-07-20T18:15:00.002+01:00

FACTORY RECORDS ACTIVITY IN THE MONTH OF MAY

VINYL

May 17th A CERTAIN RATIO FAC 5 7" 45rpm single. 'Thin Boys' and 'The all-night party'. Colour sleeve.

May 30th ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK FAC 6 7" 45 rpm single. 'Electricity' and 'Almost'. All-black thermographed sleeve.

Both singles are 5,000 releases distributed through 'all the usual suspects'. Other work is continuing in the studio and cutting.... i.e.

May 12th EXODUS FAC 11 Recording single in Cargo Studios, Rochdale. Working title, 'English black boys'. Producer: Denis Bovelle.

May 1-7 JOY DIVISION FAC T 10 Final mixes of ten tracks for album 'Unknown Pleasures'. Release in June. Produced by Martin Zero at Strawberry, Stockport.

Finally, recording plans for June.

ELTI-FITS 7" 45 rpm: Manchester band

SLEEPERS 7" 45 rpm; Los Angeles (crossed out, "oops, Bay Area" in handwriting) reissue, presses here.

DURUTTI COLUMN L.P. Small issue (4,000) Pure guitar, nowt else.

TILLER BOYS LP Small issue (1000)

That's the vinyl output, for the flesh approach please turn the page......

----

Early Factory Records info sheet on official stationery. Mentions the band Sleepers (more info needed).

SAVILLE - the partner's story

2017-05-30T17:03:00.000+01:00

Here we have a transcript of the story of Peter Saville (with asides on Martyn Atkins and Stephen Horsfall) as written by Tony Wilson around 1981. Constructivism - check; Praxis - check; hip bourgeois hedonism - check. We'll assume the reference to a FAC 48 coffee table was a gentle jape.

SAVILLE: The Partner's Story

The first time I met Saville was February or March '78 . It was the Apollo Theatre, Manchester, a Patti Smith gig - after she'd gone off - artistically. He said he was at the Poly and was interested in doing graphics work that tied in to music. I took his phone number. Nice suit, nice girlifriend. Bit smooth - sharp eyes tho! The Factory club started in May '78. we needed a poster. His track record at that point; one smart brochure for AMEK¹ the Salford PA people, and a nice piece of Neon for the Smirks. AMEK had just brought out a new desk. He had failed to complete the second brochure. Perhaps it was because he was doing our poster (FAC 1; yellow and black industrial constructivist/mid-fifties Jan Tschichold). Perhaps not, perhaps it was the difficult birth. That comes later.

After the club: (there were two more posters FAC 3 and 4 (white seriffed type on black - same tune as John Foxx). For some strange reason these posters were always late and usually went up after the gig. Lateness/brute inefficiency became our house style. It's a process called praxis; do something and then find out why you did it. The inefficiency/dedication dialectic was like that and Peter played his part.

We then needed to put a record out, Autumn '78. No-one else would. Praxis. It was FAC 2, a company concept (hand made imitation of Thailand double plastic backed tissue paper for double 7" EP. Saville used silver and black definitive Hi-tech. (c.f. Record Mirror quote on video Chapter 7). Why the lovely sleeves - then and now. Well if you're putting out the best music, it seemed sort of obvious to put out the best sleeves - not just in Indieland. Anywhere. As one of those praxis things it's not clear whether it was for our fun or THEIR (that presence in record shops) value for money. It can in fact be seen, Saville artwork in particular, as a kind of hip bourgeois hedonism. Often is in the comics. Tough. The coffee table is black and red (FAC 48) and will be on mail order (approx £75.00 by Autumn).

For Factory Mr Saville then did his black on black OMITD sleeve (FAC 6). He offered his thermographic conceit to A Certain Ratio first in the coffee bar of the Royal Exchange, March 1979 but the brats turned him down settling for their dead Lenny Bruce and my four Anthony Perkins in a Saville-Warhol piss-take.

A rags to riches story; or rather a mid-Cheshire Bowie to an echt Anthony Price. There followed the odd hand-made sleeve (FAC 18 - five months for the right tracing paper) X-O-Dus (FAC 11) took Denis Bovell seven months to mix, and Peter Saville nine months to design. You have to feel a slight twinge of pity for the poor musicians in all this but they are now warned at the outset.

The Joy Division stuff was usually pretty prompt. Mostly because the one of Saville's partners who managed Joy Division had a bigger stick than the others. Though Transmission 12" - FAC 13 - took 14 months. By this time our hero has gone to Din Disc; apparently it's nearer to the Zanzibar than Factory. Now Factory and Dindins and even, in the extremest of bad taste (not the sleeve, the music) Roxy Music, and lots more late artwork. House style. There was the OMITD first album in the perforated metal outer, the only one we didn't like to see going to a nasty Major - or Minor Major. Incidentally, the first mono set was Barney's idea.

A small mention for Factory's other designers. Mr Atkins whose upcoming Tunnelvision single sleeve (FAC 39) is very fine but who now seems to have deserted to the Liverpool camp which is if anything even more depressing than E.G. retreads. And back in Manchester Steven Horsfall newly elected to the RCA and bitter at the way Saville neutralised his label for the ESG single (FAC 34). He's done FACT 14/Durutti Column/FAC 17 embossed & FACT 24 the Factory Quartet². Sadly this sleeve was lambasted in January's Peter Saville backlash in the comics. Peter ducks as well as he weaves. The sleeve for ACR's "To Each" was designed by the group with the help of T.G. Sleazy³; it was an anti-arti-Peter effort. "Typically arty farty Factory/Saville sleeve" said the comics. And he thought it was revolting (FACT 35).

And to close I won't indulge in aesthetic adulation of a friend. Sickly. Just like to say, I do think he's the best typographer in town, any town, Factory's company address will not be changing on the new notepaper as Palatine looks too good in the new 30's Italian typeface to change it - apparently. The birth... well when this show⁴ opened in Liverpool a month ago, I happened to be in Liverpool working for the people I work for so I went along; thought I might be able to find out if he'd done the rough for the Section 25 album. Great opening; cheap wine, expensive accents, and our lad's display. A blank wall. Dada; no just late - not there. No sleeves - no Peter. When the exhibition closed, on a blank Factory wall, and still no Peter, I noticed that Peter's mum, standing in the doorway ready to leave was taking it very stoically. Though it seemed that she like me had been here before. Waiting for Peter. I asked her if his peculiar habit ever troubled her or drove her to physical violence. She smiled and said no, and said she was just glad he was alive. This seemed a bit over the top but she explained that he had been a Caesarian and had his blood changed twice. I'm a caesarian too, but I didn't get any of that. If I had I would have written this next week. "Likely to do well - but often late for school", it should also be pointed out that Peter is a catholic. There is a mafia but it's not the one you think it is.

But is it art?

Notes:

¹ - More on AMEK at langley-design.com

² - there is no other known evidence of Stephen Horsfall having worked on FAC 17 or FACT 24 but I would be interested to know if this did indeed happen.

³ - cover painting by Ann Quigley

⁴ - the Cover Versions exhibition at the Bluecoat, Liverpool in 1981, see thebluecoat.org.uk

The History Lesson - Stepping Out

2017-05-28T10:52:00.000+01:00

The full catalogue of Factory Records FAC numbers is loved by everyone for its patterns and idiosyncrasies. In 1979, the nascent label was planning the first real wave of releases following on from the FAC 2 sampler and various events at The Factory. This flyer, entitled "Stepping Out" provides more detail and whilst some is familiar there's a few curveballs indicating what might've been.

Notably it seems that "instrumental album" by The Durutti Column was once scheduled to be FAC 12 and The Distractions' first single was slated as FAC 14. These would eventually swap and get different titles ("Pillow Talk" was actually "Pillow Fight", the eventual FAC 12 b-side).

FAC 13 was also going to be a badge before turning into "Transmission", the first single by Joy Division. I assume that this was the same badge that came out as FAC 21.

Finally, FAC 15 was originally going to be a single by Elti-Fits but turned into the Leigh Festival/Zoo Meet Factory Halfway event held in Leigh.

Transcription

FAC 5 A CERTAIN RATIO "All Night Party" 7" 45rpm Out now
FAC 6 ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES "Electricity" 7" 45rpm Out now
FAC 9 FACTORY FLICK "No City Fun" 8' 16mm July
FAC 10 JOY DIVISION "Unknown Pleasures" 12" 33 1/3 rpm July
FAC 11 X-O-DUS "English Black Boys" 7" 45rpm To be mixed
FAC 12 THE DURUTTI COLUMN Instrumental album 12" 33 1/3 rpm August
FAC 13 BADGE Fac thirteen with pin July
FAC 14 THE DISTRACTIONS "Pillow Talk" 7" 45rpm August
FAC 15 ELTI-FITS "Thirty Miles" 7" 45rpm August

NEW COMMODITIES
EXCLUSIVELY FACTIONED FOR YOU
THEY ARE ALL YOU NEED;
THEY ARE IN THE SHOPS

X.O.Dus live and in the studio

2013-12-21T19:03:00.000+00:00

X.O.Dus have lined up a couple of gigs with Finnish chums The Blush in January 2014. They play The Lomax in Liverpool on Friday the 10th and Stanley's Cask pub, New Brighton, Wallasey on Saturday the 11th.

The band is also in the studio (see pics) finishing a new EP project for release in New Year.

Facs In The Attic Part 2

2013-09-26T21:56:00.000+01:00

And so we continue with our trawl through the Factory rarities in order to dig out some valuables, some to be found in the unlikeliest of places. All prices are extracted from the 2014 Record Collector Guide, some eager Discogs listings and my own experiences.

Wim Mertens

Take one Belgian neo-classical composer and two simultaneously issued albums (on Les Disques Du Crepuscule), switch the logos and alter the labels and what happens? Er, very little. By the time Factory got its act together and added them to its catalogue, both Educes Me (FACT 190) and the soundtrack to the heavy Peter Greenaway art-house film Belly Of An Architect (FACT 195) had already sold as many copies as they could muster a few months earlier. To be fair, Belly did fairly well and shifted a few units off the back of the film's VHS release (on Palace, sigh) and via continued interest in Greenaway's work. Educes Me, on the other hand, didn't exactly benefit from being on Factory but it did get a curious re-release as a boxed-cassette. If you happen to have such an item - smartly packaged in a bright yellow hue with a colourful inlay booklet - then have a seat. Record Collector valuations clock in at an eye-watering £200. For a tape. No, really. Check out our Wim Mertens discography to feast your eyes on his other work (much of which fetches serious money - see Part 3 of our Facs In The Attic series).

Various Artists

Inevitably, that most frequent purveyor of releases comes up trumps when it comes to Factory valuables. Various Artists releases include the A Factory Quartet double-album (FACT 24 - £20), the Palatine box-set (FACT 400 - £40 to £100), particularly the vinyl and CD sets and two curios that don't feature in the RC book of dreams. The first is the 4 x 12" promo pack which has no number but comes loosely-housed in a PVC sleeve with each track's BPMs helpfully printed on it, plus four white-label copies of Pleasure Crew's I Could Be So Good For You (FAC 169), Fadela's N'Sel Fik (FAC 197 - worth a tenner on its own), The Hood's Salvation (FAC 182) and Meatmouth's Meatmouth Is Murder (FAC 196). I'd estimate a £15 price-tag, partly for at least two of the enclosed records but also for the attractive Johnson Panas sleeve. The second is Martin (FACD 325), a collection of Hannett's finest production work including Joy Division, U2 and A Certain Ratio etc.. I'd pitch this at £15 to £20 all day long for the CD and vinyl.

All of which is peanuts when compared to A Factory Sample. FAC 2 was the first release on the label, came packaged in expensive polythene outers, bolstered by some natty stickers and four sides of music. No wonder it's valued from around the £200 mark. Without the stickers, it's probably worth £100 - £125 and with a scruffy sleeve minus the polythene, around half that again.

The Wake

Before jumping the sinking Factory ferry and high-tailing it to the Sarah label, Glasgow's The Wake released some of the most beautiful songs to ever grace the label. Vinyl copies of debut-album Harmony (FACT 60) and gorgeous (and delayed) follow-up Here Comes Everybody (FACT 130) command around £20 - £25 each, although the former has just been exquisitely reissued as a double-vinyl version on Factory Benelux which may or may not have an effect on prices. The band's singles aren't too hard to come by although the 7" of Talk About The Past (FAC 88) is trickier to track down (£8).

Stockholm Monsters

This under-rated outfit feature in this article due to their two earlier singles, Fairy Tales (FAC 41) and Happy Ever After (FAC 58), both capable of reaching £15 in top condition. There are two different-coloured sleeves for Fairy Tales, a burgundy and a green one, both as easy (or as hard) to find as each other. The band's only album, Alma Mater (FACT 80) is worth £10 of anyone's money, while their superb Partyline 12" (FAC 146) might scrape a few quid less (a travesty) with 7" test pressings doubling the price.

The best of the rest

In no particular order are just some of the other least likely (and most probable) rarities worth seeking out.
The braille sleeved Electricity (FAC 6) by OMD - £60
The only Distractions single on Factory (FAC 12) - £15
The first (and only) reggae 12" by X-O-Dus (FAC 11) - £15
That infamous Sex Pistols cassette (with gold tape, pouch and card) (FACT 30) - £20 - £50
The one and only ESG 7" (FAC 34) - £30
The majestic Nightshift by The Names (FAC 29) - £15
The white vinyl John Dowie 7" with feather (!) (FAC 19) - £15
The two Dutch masters by Minnypops, Secret Story (FAC 57) and Dolphin's Spurt (FAC 31) - £12
The cassette version of Pigs and Battleships by Quando Quango (FAC 110c) - £18
The rare as hen's teeth CD promo and invite of The Other Two's Loved It (FACD 251) - £25 to £40
The first James single Jimone (FAC 78) - £12
The stand-alone Thick Pigeon album (FACT 85) - £40
The sleazy Crawling Chaos 7" Sex Machine (FAC 17) - £20
and the under-rated Chicken Rhythms by Northside on vinyl (FACT 310) - £12

Thanks to Record Collector and Discogs for prices.

Part 3 will feature rarities recorded by Factory artists and issued on Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crepuscule.

Section 25 Dark Light tour

2013-02-14T14:59:00.000+00:00

Section 25 have added a Manchester date to their UK mini-tour to coincide with the release of their new album out on Factory Benelux, Dark Light [FBN 145 CD]. The new date is at Gullivers on Oldham Street in Manchester 11 May.

Support in Leicester and Bury comes from X.O.Dus and Kevin Hewick (more Kevin Hewick gigs at kevinhewick.co.uk.

Full itinerary

Sat 23 Feb - The Musician, 42 Crafton St West, Leicester LE1 2DE [tickets £8.00 adv, £10.00 on the door or via www.wegottickets.com]
Sat 9 Mar - MET Arts Centre, Derby Hall, Market St, Bury BL9 0BW
Sat 23 Mar - London, Water Rats, 328 Grays Inn Rd, Kings Cross, London WC1X 8BZ [£6.00, www.symptomaticpresents.com, WeGotTickets.com]
Sat 11 May - Manchester, Gullivers, 109 Oldham St, Manchester M41 1LW

SXXV, X.O.Dus, Kevin Hewick live in Preston

2012-10-31T21:52:00.000+00:00

24 November sees a special ex-FAC night at The Continental Bar in Preston featuring Section 25, X.O.Dus and Kevin Hewick.

The evening will feature a presentation of 'selected highlights from Shadowplayers' from 18:00-19:45.

Then, after a short break to clear the seating, the live music will start at 20:15 with sets from Kevin Hewick, followed by X.O.Dus and, finally, Section 25.

Tickets are available now at 8.00 GBP advance from The Continental Bar (Tel: 01772 499 425), Action Records Preston (Tel: 01772 884 772), Preston Tourist information (Te: 01772 253 731) and online from wegottickets.com, seetickets.com and ticketline.co.uk.

Facebook event page

The Return of the Russell Club

2012-10-19T22:10:00.000+01:00

Alan Wise (via the official Facebook event page): "The Return of the Russell.. for one night only at the factory princess st will be on Sunday Nov 25th Doors 8pm bands 9 and 11 pm for half an hour each x o Dus and one other tbc. Price £10 with free patties from salmon, All VIP passes still valid if any. Need artwork "Mummy style" from return of the Russell in 1982.. This nostalgic event will be £10 for everyone, inc me that did not keep their Russell/factory VIP pass and Penny Henry will be checking them assisted by Yankie Bill and Tex.. Ivan unfortunately was shot dead years ago but well have a drink for him. Dj tbc will be i and I Blacka Bullitt aka Tony West, and danny and hewan and others... Plenty of reggae style and Ska Records.laid back live bands.And some Dub Reggae for wayne worm...Anyone too poor for a tenner ticket well someone else will get it for you... ill get waynes. RETURN OF THE RUSSELL One night only"

Wise Moves 35th Annual Ball
presents
For One Night Only
The Return of the Russell Club
Appearing live: X.O.Dus
Sunday 25th November 2012 from 8pm
Factory 251 at 118 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 7EN

Factory bands gig @ Eric's, Liverpool cancelled

2012-10-11T09:33:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, Friday's gig featuring X.O.Dus, Section 25 and Kevin Hewick at Eric's in Liverpool has been cancelled. Please contact the venue or your ticket reseller for info on refunds.

The good news is that we now have full details of another gig with X.O.Dus, this time at FAC 251 The Factory on Sunday 25 November. Their appearance is part of a wider night under the title "The Return of the Russell Club" which is being promoted by Alan Wise. Tickets are only 10.00 GBP.

X.O.Dus, SXXV & Kevin Hewick live

2012-10-09T21:47:00.000+01:00

A reminder of upcoming gigs by gigs featuring the original Factory bands X.O.Dus, Section 25 and Kevin Hewick, most imminently at Eric's in Liverpool this coming Friday with tickets only 8 quid.

Itinerary

12 Oct - Eric's, Liverpool [Buy tickets via Ticketweb]
25 Oct - Band On The Wall, Manchester - Buy tickets
24 Nov - New Continental, Preston
23 Feb 2013 - The Musician, Leicester

X.O.Dus, Section 25 and Kevin Hewick live

2012-07-23T13:01:00.000+01:00

The list of gigs featuring the original Factory bands X.O.Dus, Section 25 and Kevin Hewick continues to expand with new shows confirmed in Preston in November and, slightly further ahead, Leicester in February.

Itinerary

12 Oct - Eric's, Liverpool (ticket details to follow)
25 Oct - Band On The Wall, Manchester - Buy tickets
24 Nov - New Continental, Preston
23 Feb 2013 - The Musician, Leicester

Meanwhile, don't forget that X.O.Dus continue their 'From Oblivion To Obscurity' comeback tour with an appearance at Rocking Against The Racists at The Tavern, Church St Blackpool on 4 Aug 2012 from 12 noon to 5pm

Oblivion to Obscurity - X.O.Dus Live 2012

2012-07-16T12:51:00.000+01:00

X.O.Dus continue their 'From Oblivion To Obscurity' comeback tour with an appearance at Rocking Against The Racists at The Tavern, Church St Blackpool on 4 Aug 2012 from 12 noon to 5pm.

Admission is £5 or £3 with Rebellion Wristband with all profits going to anti-racism groups.

Tickets available from www.toxicevents.net.

SXXV X.O.Dus BOTW double-header

2012-05-24T21:02:00.000+01:00

X.O.Dus continue their comeback trail as they co-headline with Section 25 at the Band on the Wall [->] on 25 October 2012. Tickets priced 10.00 advance are on sale now.

Meanwhile, the previously-announced X.O.Dus 6 July comeback show at Fort Perch Rock will be filmed for a future dvd.

X-O-Dus set for summer live dates

2012-04-28T20:20:00.000+01:00

Manchester reggae band X-O-Dus, best known for the Dennis Bovell produced single FAC 11 English Black Boys and currently with a similarly-titled album out on LTM are set to return to the stage this summer.

A warm-up gig at Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton, Wirral, on 6 July 2012 is confirmed and will be the band's first gig for 30 years. More dates will hopefully follow and we will let you know as soon as we have details.

English Black Boys [LTMCD 2568]

2012-02-04T10:39:00.000+00:00

LTM has announced details of an X-O-Dus compilation album which features the Dennis Bovell-produced 1980 single FAC 11 'English Black Boys'.

X-O-Dus were discovered by Rob Gretton who invited them to record an extended 12" dub single (replete with Saville-designed sleeve) which had 'See Them A Come' on the b-side. The group disbanded in 1981 without releasing an album so this digitally remastered archive collection with the single plus various unreleased demos is most welcome.

Watch this space for an X-O-Dus competition.

Tracklisting

1. See Them A' Come
2. English Black Boys
3. If You Want My Lovin
4. Take It From Me
5. Society
6. Leaders
7. Imagine
8. We Can Feel It
9. Dance
10. Underwater Dance
11. Narrow Road

--

Artist: X-O-DUS
Title: "English Black Boys”
Cat No: LTMCD 2568 (11 tracks)
Format: CD and download
Released: 2 April 2012
Barcode: 502 4545 6348 22

More info: LTM X-O-Dus biography

Dennis Bovell Dub Band @ Band on the Wall

2010-02-23T11:36:00.000+00:00

Legendary UK dubmaster (ex-X-O-Dus) Dennis Bovell brings his Dub Band to the Band on the Wall in Manchester on Friday 12 March 2010 as part of a UK mini-tour.

March 2010

5 - The Albany, London
11 - The Butter Market, Shrewsbury
12 - Band on the Wall, Manchester [+ late night reggae party with Tappa Benz til 3am]
13 - Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria
14 - The Cluny, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

"UK reggae maestro Dennis Bovell is producer, composer, re-mixer, bandleader - and the heaviest bassist in town, pumping out the deepest of body-shaking dub grooves. From the days of his seminal band Matumbi and the radical days of punk, Dennis continues to be a massive presence - he's worked with the likes of Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, The Slits and Linton Kwesi Johnson - and live, the Dub Band's rock-solid horns and rhythm section never fail to move and groove."

More info Dennis Bovell on MySpace

X-O-Dus

2009-04-25T13:11:00.000+01:00

X-O-Dus will have a CD out on Ozit Morpheus Records later this year featuring seven unreleased songs which were to have been included on a Factory album in 1982. The content will be much more representative of what the band were doing at the time than Fac 11 English Black Boys (which will also be included and which itself was recently reissued on the Factory Records box set).

X-O-Dus are also working on new material which they hope to have out pre-Christmas, also on Ozit.

Thanks to Mart Dunlop for info.

The Master Tapes

2008-12-07T10:08:00.000+00:00

If you're an avid or casual follower of the Cerysmatic Factory Message Board, the discovery of a cache of original Factory Records master tapes by artists such as The Wendys, Northside, Section 25, X-O-Dus and Cath Carroll by Oli Wilson whilst clearing his dad's Loft won't have escaped your attention.

A number of the artists in question (the full list also includes Hopper, Fadela, The Railway Children and Thick Pigeon) have already posted on the thread or been in contact with Cerysmatic and/or Oli regarding the find.

In his message, Oli describes what's happened "When clearing my dads loft out I found lots of original master tapes from Factory Records releases over the years. I intend to return these to their rightful owners (the artist) or preferably I would like to put them into an archive in Manchester (whether this is Museum of Science and Industry or somewhere else I dont know yet)."

"I would rather store them as so far they have been kept in great condition by my old man and it would be great to keep them that way... have a feeling that if they aren't kept like that they would just gather dust and rot away in a studio!!!"

That the tapes have been lovingly looked after for all these years is not a surprise given their custodian. Of course, under Factory's infamous "no contract" policy, all the artists owned their own music and Factory "owned nothing".

It would be difficult to begrudge the reunion of the tapes with their rightful owners (particularly if rare and unreleased, or even un-re-released) material exists. However, the donation of such historically significant material to an institution such as MoSI has a nice ring to it. Perhaps there is scope for both to happen.

Now... where's Fadela!?