Today we lost Tony Wilson, the journalist and music lover, who in 1978 put passion before good sense and started putting on punk shows in Manchester that later birthed the Factory Records label. With partners, Wilson and Factory supported the music of Joy Division, Durutti Column, Cabaret Voltaire, A Certain Ratio, OMD, New Order, Section 25, Crispy Ambulance, Quando Quango, Happy Mondays and many more as well as the wonderful visual art of Peter Saville.
On a personal note, I can thank/blame him for my misspent life as a musical hanger-on. Without equivocation or hyperbole, I write this today from a label and distributor that simply would not exist without the heavy influence and trailblazing of Factory Records.
At home, our meticulously cataloged and maintained LP collection still has exceptions for Joy Division and New Order, which are both filed by FAC number and not album title—and so they shall stay.
Good bye Tony. I hope your final days were not filled with too much pain, but were instead overflowing with the music that you loved and the presence of people who loved and admired you.
"Watching love grow forever."
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Be nice!