With a very refreshing emerging scene of avant-garde and experimental music in Manchester with its roots on the birth of punk rock in the mid 70’s, Tony Wilson decided to take matters to his own hands, teaming up with then actor Alan Erasmus to the creation of a new and independent record label: Factory Records.
Factory itself could represent an artistic manifest, due to its originality and artistic style, Factory not only was the godfather the beginning of post-punk in the UK, but also made popular different music styles such as acid house, dance music, and indie rock in general.
Other people who composed the creative team in the label also contributed to its unique and original artistic style, Peter Saville was a household graphic designer for Factory, designing posters and numerous iconic albums covers that still are remembered to this day.
Martin Hannett was a producer and audio engineer, producing most of the Factory records, and making a huge contribution to the signature sound of the bands and artists that would come out of the label.
Factory, as mentioned before, was based in Manchester, embracing most of the emerging artist from the city, and not only that, but Tony Wilson decided to open the Haçienda, a concert venue which also functioned as a headquarters for the bands and artists who signed with the label to present their music in a live environment, making home to what would be later known as the “Madchester” scene.
Amidst the “Madchester” scene, there were numerous bands signed to the label, such as The Happy Mondays, as matter of fact, the term was coined by Tony himself.
The label also signed other bands that would produce genre defining albums such as Joy Division, that would pave the molds to what would be known as post-punk with the release of Unknown Pleasures in 1979.
Factory used a highly creative way to catalogue their products with the “FAC Numbers”, which included anything related to the label: albums, singles, posters, and even the Haçienda itself.
Due to the fact that Factory, Tony Wilson, and the Madchester scene had a huge influence in British pop music, many documentaries, movies, and books can be found to document the story, among its most famous iterations, is the movie 24 Four Party People.
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