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

UK Song Map Open Edition by Dorothy

2019-12-12T08:02:00.001+00:00

If you're stuck for Christmas present ideas for the music fan in your house then the UK Song Map is a great choice. This is a map of the United Kingdom made up entirely from the titles of over 1,400 songs. Factory is represented by the 'Madchester Rave On' EP (ok, not a song title) by Happy Mondays and 'Winter Hill' by A Certain Ratio.

More info and buying instructions at: wearedorothy.com [-->]

See also: Factory Records Christmas Cards

Happy Mondays - The Early EPs Review

2019-11-07T07:00:00.000+00:00

Maybe I'm flying in the face of conventional wisdom but the early years of Happy Mondays' lengthy career have always been my favourite. I'm not one of those who obsess about a band having a limited underground following and selling just a handful of records until they become mainstream and then accuse them of selling out.

I genuinely believe there is something really special about the run of releases by Little Hulton's finest from 1985 to 1989 (up to the 'Madchester Rave On' EP) where you hear a band and their lyricist experimenting (not just with pharmaceuticals) whilst growing in confidence which set them apart from other indie bands at the time and still keeps them sounding fresh today.

This remastered, limited, coloured vinyl box set release featuring the 12" releases in their colourful Central Station sleeves from 1985's debut 'Forty Five' EP through to 1987's call to arms '24 Hour Party People' highlights this best.

In Shaun Ryder's 'Wrote For Luck' book containing selected lyrics he practically dismisses the first two of these, saying "some of our early recordings shouldn't have made it on to vinyl really, 'Kuff Dam' and 'Tart Tart' were the first tracks we managed to record in the studio that I felt truly captured the sense and potential of the Mondays".

I can understand his view to a point but I would make the case for 'Forty Five' and 'Freaky Dancin'.

The Mike Pickering (post Quango Quango, pre M People) produced 'Forty Five EP', featuring 'Delightful', 'This Feeling' and 'Oasis' was released in late 1985.

When you look at some of the 'C86' bands and the scene created by the NME which they were actively promoting with their 22-track cassette 6 months later, any of the songs on this EP could quite easily have held its own against them and honestly would have probably fit better... it's perhaps fortunate however that this didn't happen though as it could have stalled the group's career before it really began.

What you do hear is a band, with emerging talented musicians, with elements of label mates James and Shaun borrowing lines for the first time with Oasis liberating lines from Les Reed and Gordon Mills, previously made famous by Tom Jones.

Personally I have a soft spot for the 2nd single 'Freaky Dancin' after hearing it at DeVille’s in Manchester. It would have been early in 1987 and one of the first nights out I'd had in the City Centre. I'd have only been 17 at the time and for some reason we though the infamous indie club with the bucking bronco in the connected 'Lazy Lil's' would be a good place to hang out...

At the time I'd been listening to John Peel sporadically really getting into a lot of the aforementioned C86 scene such as The Bodines, Mighty Lemon Drops, Wedding Present and only been to a couple of gigs; The Primitives and the Soup Dragons both at Manchester International on Anson Road, Longsight. I suspect anyone reading this will be familiar with the legacy of the club so I won't go into detail, although I will tell you I bought a copy of Dave Haslam's 'Debris' fanzine on my second visit which had a flexi-disc attached featuring Inspiral Carpets.

Anyway, the Bernard Sumner-produced track really impressed me as there was a shambolic confidence to it which I don't think ever copied. Whilst it had elements of the jangly guitar bands of that era, there is something fresh about it too. It isn't a full-on aural attack like some tunes of the era, it has space in it and it breathes.

What's more, it made people dance. (Well, shuffle a little quicker).

Worth noting, and mentioning it's great that the B-side 'The Egg (Mix)' which has a wonderful swagger about it is being reassessed due to this release and the accompanying promo video/clip to promote it

The 3rd single, 'Tart Tart' sees the band move up another notch with production by the legendary John Cale (I'm not sure why I'm saying that as I'm confident most people reading will know that already).

Whilst musically the style hadn't changed but the vocals appeared higher in the mix and clearer.

The first two verses are apparently about Martin Hannett, this then leads on to verses about Paul Ryder, before closing with the songs title character, an amphetamine dealer from Chorlton who had befriended Shaun and Bez but sadly passed away suddenly.

This was followed by the debut album, 'Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)' a month later.

By the time the 4th single, 'Twenty Hour Party People' came out in late 1987, indie dance had become a thing and was crossing over from the pages of the NME to Smash Hits, with MARRS' 'Pump Up The Volume' spending a couple of weeks at No 1 in the Official UK Top 40. The Mondays themselves though were still quite underground but it’s clear something was about to happen.

Despite being a live favourite, I don't think the song every really reached the public conscious and received the acclaim it deserved until the release of the film of the same name 15 years later.

It's interesting to note that despite the hedonistic lifestyle attributed to the band since the early days, the releases on this box were all before ecstasy had hit Manchester with the tracks fuelled by heroin, weed and speed...

Not quite days of innocence, but a great snapshot of the birth of an era.

- review by Iain Key for Cerysmatic Factory

See also: Central Station Design, Happy Mondays

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Happy Mondays - The Early EPs (London, 2019)

FAC 129 - Forty Five EP 12" - Green Vinyl
FAC 142 - Freak Dancin' 12" - Orange Vinyl
FAC 176 - Tart Tart 12" - Blue Vinyl
FAC 192 - Twenty Four Hour Party People 12" - Yellow Vinyl

Happy Mondays 'The Egg' new video by Pete Fowler

2019-10-06T12:56:00.002+01:00

To accompany the newly-announced 'Early EPs' vinyl boxset, Happy Mondays commissioned a new video by Pete Fowler for 'The Egg'. This is now available on YouTube and features audio that has been remastered from the original archive analogue tapes:

The 'Early EPs' is available to pre-order now [->].

Happy Mondays - The Early EPs coloured vinyl boxset

2019-10-06T12:55:00.001+01:00

Happy Mondays release the 'Early EPs' 4x12" Coloured Vinyl Boxset Collection on 25 October 2019. A companion digital download is also available and, if you order via the official Happy Mondays store, there's also a limited edition A4 print by Pete Fowler which is based on his new video for 'The Egg'.

'The Early EPs' compiles Happy Mondays' first four 12" singles/EPs in special transparent coloured vinyl as follows: the 'Forty Five EP' (Fac 129, 1985, transparent green vinyl), 'Freaky Dancin/The Egg EP' (Fac 142, 1986, transparent orange vinyl), 'Tart Tart EP' (Fac 176, 1987, transparent blue vinyl), and '24 Hour Party People' (Fac 192, 1987, transparent yellow vinyl).

The recordings have been remastered from the original archived master tapes. The artwork has been redrawn and digitised by original designers Central Station Design with the boxset cover itself being a new 24 Hour Party People Bez-themed affair.

Tracklisting

Forty Five EP

A1: Delightful
B1: This Feeling
B2: Oasis

Freaky Dancin/The Egg EP

A1: Freaky Dancin' (Live)
B1: The Egg (Mix)
B2: Freaky Dancin'

Tart Tart EP

A1: Tart Tart
B1: Little Matchstick Owen

24 Hour Party People EP

A: 24 Hour Party People
B1: Yahoo
B2: Wah Wah (Think Tank)

The 'Early EPs' is available to pre-order now via happymondays.ffm.to/EarlyEPs.

Wrote for Luck - a selected Happy Mondays bibliography

2019-09-10T06:30:00.000+01:00

The recent announcement that a movie is to be made based on Shaun Ryder's Twisting My Melon autobiography has prompted the following compilation of all things literary and indeed Happy Mondays...

An early entry in the biographical stakes was 'Shaun Ryder: Happy Mondays, Black Grape and Other Traumas' by Mick Middles published in April 1997.

Three years later, Bez put his unique twist on the autobiography genre with 'Freaky Dancin' Me and the Mondays' which was published in September 2000 by Pan. There's a been one or two reprints since then but the original with the Central Station Design cover is the one to look out for.

John Warburton brought us 'Hallelujah!: The extraordinary story of Shaun Ryder and Happy Mondays' in May 2003 via Virgin Books.

Currently pushing for the title of best all-round Mondays biography is Simon Spence's 'Happy Mondays: Excess All Areas: The definitive biography' published in June 2015 by Aurum Press. This currently radiates in the luxury of a 4.9/5 rating on Amazon.

It's back to Shaun Ryder for the last two entries in our short Happy Mondays reading round-up.

'What Planet Am I On?' by Shaun Ryder from 2014 is essentially a tie-in to Shaun's stint presenting 'Shaun Ryder on UFOs'.

Finally, bringing things right up to date, 'Wrote for Luck - Selected Lyrics' by Shaun Ryder (Faber and Faber, 2019) collects together the very best of this generation's Keats's lyrics in one handy brightly coloured hardback.

(Enough Happy Mondays books already, Ed.)

'Twisting My Melon' Shaun Ryder biopic announced

2019-09-06T22:56:00.002+01:00

Jack O'Connell (Skins) is in advanced stages of negotiations to play Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder in new biopic Twisting My Melon based on Ryder's autobiography of the same title.

The independent AGC Studios will fully finance and co-produce Twisting My Melon their CEO Stuart Ford announced on Friday 6 September 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Jack O’Connell to star as @Happy_Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder (@officialswr) in musical biopic for AGC Studios (exclusive) #TIFF19 https://t.co/2AJT8pJFAD pic.twitter.com/8r7Ns9imWl
— Screen International (@Screendaily) September 6, 2019

Jason Isaacs (The OA, Hotel Mumbai) is being lined up to play Derek "Horseman" Ryder with Holliday Grainger (Patrick Melrose) as Ryder's girlfriend and Maxine Peake as his mother.

Matt Greenhalgh (the writer of Control) co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Knott and William Ash and will direct and produce the film.

The film is scheduled to go into production in January 2020.

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Synopsis

"Brother. Son. Poet. Film Star. Rock 'n' Roll Legend. Since childhood, all Shaun Ryder ever wanted to do was play in a rock band like his father, a local working-class guitar hero dubbed the "Horseman". Soon his drive and one-of-a-kind songwriting skills catapulted him to front man of Happy Mondays, the iconic 90s British rock band that would come to define a new cultural era. But success challenged Shaun and his relationship with his father in a riotous cautionary rock fable, set against a musical and cultural revolution whose impact can still be felt today."

Happy Mondays Greatest Hits Tour 2019

2019-08-27T07:30:00.000+01:00

Happy Mondays get back on the road following a summer of festival-filled live action with an autumn UK and Ireland tour which runs from late October until nearly Christmas. Tickets are on sale now and a few dates are already sold out. Jon Dasilva provides support on selected dates.

October

Wed 23, 19:00 - Ironworks Venue, Inverness
Thu 24, 19:00 - Music Hall, Aberdeen
Fri 25, 19:00 - Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline
Sat 26, 19:00 - O2 Academy Glasgow
Thu 31, 19:00 - Roundhouse, London

November

Fri 1, 19:00 - Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
Sat 2, 19:30 - Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Thu 7, 19:30 - Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Brighton
Fri 8, 19:00 - Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone
Sat 9, 19:30 - BH Live Active, Pyramids, Portsmouth
Fri 15, 18:30 - O2 Academy, Newcastle upon Tyne
Sat 16, 19:00 - The Baths Hall, Scunthorpe
Thu 21, 19:00 - Manchester Academy, Manchester
Fri 22, 18:30 - O2 Academy, Sheffield
Sat 23, 19:00 - O2 Academy, Bristol
Sat 23, 19:00 - O2 Academy, Bristol
Thu 28, 19:00 - O2 Academy, Oxford
Fri 29, 19:00 - The Great Hall, Cardiff SU, Cardiff
Sat 30, 18:30 - Rock City, Nottingham

December

Tue 3, 20:00 - Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Ireland
5 Thu, 20:00 - Vicar Street, Dublin, Ireland
Fri 6, 19:00 - Mountford Hall, Liverpool
Sat 7, 18:00 - O2 Academy, Leeds
Thu 12, 19:30 - UEA LCR, Norwich
Fri 13, 19:00 - Roadmender, Northampton
Sat 14, 19:00 - O2 Institute, Birmingham
Wed 18, 19:30 - The Cheese and Grain, Frome
Thu 19, 19:00 - O2 Academy, Bournemouth
Fri 20, 19:00 - G Live, Guildford
Sat 21, 18:30 - The Engine Shed, Lincoln

Buy Tickets: seetickets.com | alttickets.com

Trainspotting with cars!

2017-07-13T11:40:00.001+01:00

"THE MAD FUCKERS"

BY THE BAILEY BROTHERS

TRAINSPOTIN WITH CARS!

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Cover sheet for draft script of FACT 181 The Mad Fuckers, the abandoned Factory Records film project by the Bailey Brothers (Keith Jobling and Phil Shotton) known for their extensive body of work with Happy Mondays.

See also: Mad for it

Shades of indifference from Happy Mondays and Weeds

2017-06-22T16:42:00.002+01:00

HAPPY MONDAYS

* * *

WEEDS

* * *

Live at Corbieres Wine Cavern

Half Moon Street, St. Annes Square, Manchester

Sunday 27th October 1985 8 - late

Admission 50p BY INVITATION ONLY

"shades of indifference"

Original ticket invitation for a gig by Happy Mondays and Weeds at Corbieres in Manchester.

Factory Records founded here 1978

2017-06-17T14:09:00.000+01:00

A special blue plaque to celebrate BBC Music Day was unveiled by original partner and in-house designer Peter Saville at 86 Palatine Road, the old Factory Records HQ on Thursday 15 June. Bearing the inscription "Factory Records Founded Here (1978-1992) it is affixed just below a first floor window.

There were plenty of Factory Records folk present to honour the occasion including Shaun Ryder, Bez, Mark Day and Rowetta from Happy Mondays, Bruce Mitchell (the Gonzo Drum Master himself from The Durutti Column), Jez Kerr out of ACR, Hacienda designer Ben Kelly, DJ Graeme Park and the Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham was there too plus media coverage from BBC Manchester and North-West.

See the more pictures courtesy of Lawrence Cassidy at 86 Palatine Road Blue Plaque.

Listen to Alison Butterworth and Phil Trow talk about Factory Records and the blue plaque preparations on BBC iPlayer (geographical restrictions may apply).

We're going to Barbados (but not Miami)

2017-06-08T23:13:00.000+01:00

Happy Mondays famously went to Barbados to record their final Factory Records album, FACT 420 Yes Please! Stories abound of moped accidents and selling studio furniture to raise money to buy crack cocaine. And, of course, it is alleged that the costs of the trip were a major contributory factor in destabilising Factory financially to such an extent that it eventually folded. However, Factory's other commitments, especially in property following the development and opening of the New Factory HQ were also major reasons why it all came to an end.

In a 2000 interview with The Guardian, AHW said: "Although Factory was always a precarious pile of shite, everything had to go wrong. Happy Mondays had to discover crack cocaine in Barbados! New Order's album had to be two years late! Claire Leighton had to die, of a tablet bought in Stockport, but in the Hacienda! There had to be an international property collapse! Do you want me to go on?".

Shaun Ryder told The Independent in 1992 that Nathan McGough (ex-Mondays manager) called Yes Please! 'the most expensive indie album ever made' only that was in jest but it became a myth that the press perpetuated.

But how much money did Factory actually spend on the Barbados sessions? Book-keeping wasn't a Factory speciality but Tony Wilson had a definite penchant for making lists and below we have an advance cost forecast of the whole operation. It seems that six weeks in Barbados were originally planned to be followed up by a further six weeks in Miami. However, this second part, which was outlined at just of £74K never transpired but further recording time was required because no lyrics were recorded in Barbados. The album was eventually finished at a studio in Surrey.

The trip to Barbados itself was planned at just over £68K including flights. The handwritten note at the bottom estimates production costs (for the services of Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth) at $5K per track (about $60K in total) and an undisclosed percentage on top. The Surrey costs are not known but are not thought to have been excessive as they mostly only involved recording vocals. Certainly, when put into to context of the reported £2.5m that Factory was in debt at the time of going into receivership, the contribution of Yes Please! to this amount is not as large as it is often reported to be.

Transcript

(in handwriting: "Mondays")

RECORDING BUDGET

Barbados (6 WEEKS) £

Flight Man-Ldn-Jam-Miam-Ldn 7,236
Villas (8 people) $4,000 pw x 6 14,120
Studio $1,000 pd x42 24,705
Food 3,175
PDs 6 x 8 £20 pd 6,720
Freight 8,810
Wages 500
Ground transportation 2,823
Tape -

MIAMI (6 WEEKS)

Apartments 4 x 2 @ $3,400 pm 18,000
PDs £25pd x 8 x 42 8,400
Ground transportation 2,941
Studio $1,800 pd 44,470
Equipment (strings, repairs etc) 500

CONTINGENCY 6,978

TOTAL 149,378

NB Above does not include producers fees.

(in handwriting: "Estimated fee. $5000/track Don't know % yet")

Manchester North of England 2017

2017-06-02T08:31:00.000+01:00

James and The Railway Children featured on the original LP and cassette version back in 1988. Now, in 2017, Cherry Red Records and the Manchester District Music Archive promise us a souped-up 6-disc 17-year set with a veritable feast of Factory and Factoryesque material including 52nd Street, A Certain Ratio, The Adventure Babies, Albertos Y Lost Trios Paranoias, Biting Tongues, Crispy Ambulance, The Distractions, Durutti Column, Electronic, Frank Sidebottom, Happy Mondays, James, Jazz Defektors, Jilted John, John Cooper Clarke, Joy Division, Life, Ludus, Manicured Noise, Marcel King, Miaow, New Order, Northside, The Nosebleeds, Quando Quango, The Railway Children, Revenge, Section 25, Slaughter & The Dogs, Stockholm Monsters, Swamp Children, The Tiller Boys, The Weeds, X-O-Dus and Yargo.

The box set is expected later this year. The impressive tracklisting is still in the process of being confirmed but for more info check out the Facebook page.

A flavour of the label

2017-05-26T12:11:00.000+01:00

Factory was highly noted for the quality of its graphic design which featured on everything from badges to posters to the records themselves. Once you got past the outer sleeve of a record it didn't stop there though as these 12" and LP labels prove. Central Station's loud and brash design for Happy Mondays is in complete contrast with the Factory Classical branding developed by Peter Saville, Brett Wickens and others.

Central Station showed another side to their talents with the bright and bold FAC 228 for Karl Denver.

Meanwhile, the FAC 257 Getting Away With It label by Peter Saville Associates for Electronic retains only the typography from the sleeve artwork in a minimalist approach.

Happy Mondays Greatest Hits Tour

2017-05-22T07:00:00.000+01:00

Happy Mondays get back out on the road this November and December for the extensive and impressively-titled 30th Anniversary Twenty Four Hour Party People Greatest Hits Tour. Support on most (but not all) dates is from DJ Jon Dasilva.

November

14 - Bristol, O2 Academy
15 - Brighton, The Dome Concert Hall
16 - London, Roundhouse
17 - Cardiff, The Great Hall, Cardiff University
18 - Portsmouth, Pyramids Centre
22 - Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall
23 - Norwich, UEA
24 - Southend-On-Sea, Cliffs Pavilion
25 - Cambridge, Corn Exchange
28 - Preston, The Grand Hall, Preston Guild Hall
29 - Scunthorpe, The Baths Hall
30 - Carlisle, The Sands Centre

December

1 - Liverpool, Olympia
2 - Leeds, O2 Academy
6 - Birmingham, O2 Institute
7 - Lincoln, Engine Shed
8 - Newcastle, O2 Academy
9 - Nottingham, Rock City
13 - Manchester, Manchester Academy
14 - Conwy, The Arena, Venue Cymru, Llandudno
15 - Dublin, Vicar Street [Buy Tickets]
20 - Aberdeen, Beach Ballroom
21 - Inverness, Ironworks
22 - Kilmarnock, Grand Hall
23 - Glasgow, O2 Academy

Tickets (except Dublin - see individual date) available now via alttickets.com.

More details at Happy Mondays Facebook.

Shiiine On Factory All-Stars

2017-05-16T08:00:00.000+01:00

This year's Shiiine On Weekender at the Butlin's Minehead Arena from 10-13 November is shaping up to be a quite a bit of a FAC fest what with Happy Mondays being one of the three headliners and Peter Hook & The Light, A Certain Ratio, Space Monkeys, The Wendys and Time For Action. Plus there's a screening / Q&A of the Do You Own The Dancefloor? documentary film.

Tickets priced from 219 GBP (earlybird) are available now via www.shiiineonweekender.com.

Films made on Factory Records money (Part 1)

2017-05-15T07:30:00.000+01:00

The official info sheet for FAC 9 describes it as the matrix number for films made on Factory Records money. However, according to Ikon man Brian Nicholson, that is not strictly true because he knows for a fact that Ikon's Malcolm Whitehead paid for one of the short films shown at that event in 1979 at the Scala Cinema in London. In this exclusive two-part interview for Cerysmatic Factory which is finally seeing the light of day, Brian talks to Malcolm about The Factory Flick and Too Young To Know Too Wild To Care:

BRIAN NICHOLSON: How did the Scala Cinema show come about?

MALCOLM WHITEHEAD: I was still working full time at the airport and finishing off the Joy Division film. One of the downsides of working in isolation was that there was a tendency to discard things or not finish things. Tony had seen it, was impressed, as he had not realised that you could shoot sound on Super 8. One day he contacted me and said that he wanted to show the film at the Scala cinema in London (the original Scala on Charlotte Street not the one at King's Cross). I was making excuses, saying it wouldn't stand up to projection in a cinema. But I relented and so it forced me to finish the film. The event at the Scala was promoted by Stephen Woolley. It featured Don Lett's Super 8 Rankin or The Punk Rock Movie (can't remember which, though some of the footage from The Punk Rock Movie came from Rankin) and Charlie Salem's film The Factory Flick. When Tony and me eventually got there he realises that we've got to play a wildtrack for Charlie's film as it had no soundtrack. So me and Tony had to rush out and buy a copy of Unknown Pleasures to play as the soundtrack.

BN: What about the ACR and Ludus films?

MW: I just remember the Don Letts film, Charlie's film and my Joy Division film. They showed it 3 times during the day.

BN: Was Fac 9 just The Factory Flick?

MW: No Fac 9 was the event, the stuff Factory showed.

BN: Who else was there from Factory?

MW: There was just me and Tony. Paul Morley turned up later with his chums, I remember because his mates were taking the piss out of him when Rob Gretton mentioned his name in my film. Whether anyone else came later I'm not sure as I had to leave during the last showing to get the train back to Manchester as I was at work the next morning.

BN: What did you think when you saw it on the big screen?

MW: Absolutely gobsmacked. It was the first time I'd shown a film in public and to a packed house (though the first house wasn't that packed because it was too early in the day). The dark bits didn't look great. It was projected from the projection booth.

The main thing I learned on the day was Don Letts was a bit arsey. I was talking to the usher, who was a nice girl, he comes in, she asks him for his pass and he plays holy fuck "Don't you realise who I am?" all that sort of shite. "These are my films." And I gave him the Whitehead stare and he starts backing down. I said, "I don't know who you are, why should she? You've no need to talk to her like that."

Later on in the bar the girl came and asked for my autograph in front of him. I said why do you want my autograph? She said "You might be famous later on" and gave him a stare! So that was good, the first autograph I'd signed – the first of about four in my life! The first screening in a cinema and then when Tony and me went to the bar there was the first ever encounter with a Space Invaders machine. We both thought – what the hell is this? Me and Tony started playing like a right pair of Mary-Ellens. Not hitting anything for about the first 6 turns. Then Tony embarrassed me by buying, because it had just come out and it was cool, a Space Invaders T-shirt that they sold behind the bar! After that I came away from the machine and shortly afterwards I caught the next train home.

BN: Was your film shown at The Factory?

MW: No, the only other place it was projected in public was with Mark Reeder in Berlin. I can't believe that I actually sent the film, the original Super 8 film! It came back OK though.

BN: According to the Factory Shareholders Analysis from around that time we were to expect an "all speaking film by Mr Whitehead". What was this film?

MW: I had a couple of ideas. Tony mentioned Too Young to Know, Too Wild to Care to me but I'd also mentioned to him about doing a film of the Peterloo Massacre, set in the present day. Shot guerrilla style at the scene of the massacre in St Peter's Square and near the Midland Hotel, with the Hell's Angels as the Cheshire Yeomanry. I'd sorted a few bikers out and we were going to do it early one summer morning when the police had gone for a brew. I wanted to do it on the site. I was going to cross cut that with some rural shots near Dunham Hall. I shot some Super 8 test footage of the rural stuff but in the end it came to nothing. So, then it was going to be Too Young to Care.

BN: Did you see a script of TYTK?

MW: Yes, I saw a script but Tony wanted Ian to be in it but he wouldn't. Liz (Naylor) asked me to try and persuade him but he wasn't having any of it.

See also: Part 2: The Video Circus, FACTUS 5 and Below The Canal

--

See also FAC 9, FAC 20 at factoryrecords.org.

Chico's Kickin' Cancer 17 October

2014-10-13T19:07:00.000+01:00

Here's a reminder this Friday sees Happy Mondays headline a very special charity event to raise money for the Chico's Kickin' Cancer fund. Northern Uproar and Peter Hook are also on the bill.

Paul Ryder, Chico's father says "Tickets are going fast for the special fundraiser we're doing at The Palace Hotel in Manchester on Friday October 17th. We're playing a full set, plus there will be support from Northern Uproar and another band we're not allowed to name, plus DJ sets from Mani, Clint Boon and 808 State, plus some top secret celebrity special guests. We'll be auctioning a load of signed memorabilia, plus hosting the night is top LA comedian Tony Cascio. Don't miss out."

A limited number of "smart dress" £39 tickets are available now via chicoskickincancer.com.

Chico's Kickin' Cancer is at the Palace Hotel in Manchester on Friday 17 October 2014.

More info on Facebook.

Happy Mondays - Excess All Areas

2014-10-01T18:23:00.000+01:00

Biographer Simon Spence (The Stone Roses: War and Peace) tells the story of how Happy Mondays came to provide the soundtrack to Britain's last great youth movement - Madchester. Based on extensive interviews with the band and key associates and including 30 unseen photographs, many from the band's own private collection, he reveals the truth behind the mythic stories that ensured their outlaw reputation, and unravels the chaos that led to the group's ultimate implosion and the tragic collapse of Factory Records.

Excess all areas - a biography is out via Aurum Press on 30 October 2014 in hardback and e-book formats. It's available to pre-order now at Amazon.co.uk.

Check out the new website excessallareas.org.uk which features even more exclusive content.

FAC 51 The Hacienda/Happy Mondays live Manchester/London 2014

2014-08-06T18:10:00.000+01:00

Happy Mondays team up with the finest DJs from FAC 51 The Hacienda for a trio of dates in Blackburn, Manchester and London this October. The original line-up of the Mondays will perform a full live show backed up by Marshall Jefferson, Graeme Park, Jon Dasilva, Peter Hook and Herbie Saccani on the decks. Stereo MCs will also return to live performance at the Manchester date.

Expect spills and thrills and maybe the odd bellyache if things go well as Happy Mondays continue their live resurgence playing single, album tracks and rarities from their extensive back catalogue at King George's Hall in Blackburn on Friday 10 October, Manchester Albert Hall on Saturday 11 October and rounding off at the Forum in London's Kentish Town the following Saturday 18 October.

Tickets are on sale now or available soon via Skiddle.com.

October 2014

Fri 10 7.30pm - 3am - King George's Hall, Blackburn [Happy Mondays live, DJs Marshall Jefferson, Graeme Park, Jon Dasilva, Peter Hook, Herbie Saccani - Facebook Event]
Sat 11 9pm - 4am - The Albert Hall, Manchester [Happy Mondays live, Stereo MCs live, DJs Graeme Park, Jon Dasilva, Allister Whitehead, Peter Hook, Herbie Saccani - Facebook Event]
Sat 18 9pm - 4am - The Forum, Kentish Town, London [Happy Mondays Live. DJs Marshall Jefferson, Graeme Park, Jon Dasilva, Peter Hook, Herbie Saccani - Facebook Event]

There's also an exclusive early bird pre-sale for The Albert Hall, Manchester date which is being handled by Skiddle.com with tickets priced 25.00 GBP available from 09:00 BST Wednesday 6 August 2014 until 09:00 Friday 8 August 2014 after which tickets will go on general sale. A limited number of VIP tickets are also available for The Albert Hall date.

More info at fac51thehacienda.com.