Come November, it’ll be almost three decades since Factory Records folded. But someone forgot to turn the music off on the way out.
Wherever you go in Manchester, you’ll hear the label’s records playing. The city remains as proudly black and yellow as the day Hacienda designer Ben Kelly wrapped up the superclub’s pillars in bumblebee coats.
Even the famous FAC catalogue – an inventory to which each Factory Records item was assigned – is still alive and well; the 40th anniversary edition of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures receiving a number in 2019.
The world has changed in the 43 years since Factory was formed, and three of its five founders aren’t with us anymore. But the label – and its legacy – endures; gaining a new lease of life with every salvaged anecdote or long-lost artefact plucked from the archives.
Not even FAC’s instigators – Tony Wilson, Peter Saville, Alan Erasmus, Rob Gretton and Martin Harnett – could have predicted they’d leave such a permanent mark on Manchester. Although the ambition was there from the beginning.
ADVERTISEMENT
This quintet of movers and shakers did something different by taking the region’s industrial aesthetic and channelling it into art – and they brought aboard other people who thought like they did.
The artists that peddled the Factory sound were similarly open-minded, embracing trailblazing technology, instruments and techniques to produce a pioneering form of style and sound. It led to the label quickly acquiring its own unique look and feel – and any product befitting of ‘Factoryness’ was assigned a prestigious catalogue number.
ADVERTISEMENT
All of it was new, exciting, and wildly ahead of its time. And this extended to representation.
As a new exhibition at Museum of Science & Industry reveals, an embedded narrative runs through the Factory story: The prominent role of women.
Use Hearing Protection (UHP) – an exhibition chronicling the early days of Factory Records – currently houses the first 50 items of the FAC catalogue, including some items on display for the very first time.
ADVERTISEMENT
Discontent with simply scratching the surface, UHP delves deeper into the origin story of the label – analysing the backdrop from which ideologies were born and what it was like to live in Manchester in the 1970s and 80s.
Beyond the series of display cases paying homage to the era, UHP moves towards the realms of sociological study. And in doing so, it awards spotlight to the lesser-known figures of the Factory family and beyond – including the females that helped push the label’s status beyond ‘visionary’ and into ‘immortality’.
1978 was a time when opportunities for women in music were limited at best. Yet, as UHP reflects, Factory would not have come to fruition or thrived without several key female members.
Use Hearing Protection explores the landscape that Factory Records – and its pioneers – grew from.
Use Hearing Protection explores the landscape that Factory Records – and its pioneers – grew from.
Several “relatively unsung pioneers” in the Factory story receive renewed recognition at UHP, with sections dedicated to the likes of general manager Lesley Gilbert – an essential behind-the-scenes leader who “ran the Factory office”.
The exhibition also focuses on Lindsay Reade – Wilson’s former partner who helped get Factory off the ground with her input and savings. Reade was a crucial participant in the early part of the story and even wrote a book all about it – Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl (which is on sale at the Museum shop).
ADVERTISEMENT
Further tributes are paid to Gillian Gilbert, the talented keyboardist and guitarist for New Order, and artist Linder Sterling – whose conceptual work The Factory Egg Timer concept was assigned number FAC 8 in the Factory catalogue. Sterling would also form the group LUDUS – one of the first acts to perform at the Hacienda during the superclub’s opening year in 1982.
Another credited with contributing to the overall movement is Liz Naylor – a writer who worked on local music magazine City Fun and penned a film script titled Too Young to Know, Too Wild to Care (see FAC 20).
The exhibition itself has also been curated by a female: Archives Manager of the Science and Industry Museum Jan Hicks.
The Use Hearing Protection exhibition charts the early days of Factory and finishes in The Hacienda in 1982
Many of the instrumental figures throughout the history of Factory Records were women – from the label’s inception right up to its final days.
Indeed, shortly before label execs received the bill for Happy Mondays’ indulgent Barbados recording session of Yes Please! (a critical and commercial flop now best remembered for hammering the final nail in the coffin of Factory Records), great art was still being produced by women. A perfect case in point was Cath Carroll – whose England Made Me LP from 1991 is considered as one of the label’s least-known, best-received productions.
ADVERTISEMENT
Factory closed down forever in 1992 as the Madchester era fizzled out, with its flagship club The Hacienda following suit five years later.
But curiously, public interest in those heady days has only piqued. People are eager to remember a time when Manchester was centre of the universe.
And as for the group that made it happen? It was a little bigger and a lot more diverse than many might have thought…
—
Use Hearing Protection: The early years of Factory Records is open now – running right through to 3 January 2022.
ADVERTISEMENT
An after-hours celebration of Manchester’s music scene will also take place on 23 September.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie moves Manchester gig to AO Arena following Co-op Live cancellation
Danny Jones
Rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie has confirmed that his cancelled Co-op Live gig has now been moved to Manchester’s AO Arena this weekend.
After suddenly being lined up as the venue’s first official gig after the postponement of both Peter Kay and The Black Keys, the American hip-hop artists’ show ended up going the same as the others previously scheduled for the new arena and being pulled at the last minute.
With guests being turned away from the still-yet-to-open Co-op Live Arena just hours before the show was set to start, and Olivia Rodrigo fans being given the same unfortunate news ahead of her gig this Saturday, ABWDH has taken matters into his own hands.
Announcing the rescheduling of his concert on X, the 28-year-old artist confirmed that Wednesday night’s gig has now been relocated to Co-op’s main rival, the AO Arena.
Yesterday's canceled Manchester show has been Rescheduled for this Saturday at AO Arena! We won't give up that easy let's go!
The switch to the AO comes after A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie issued a statement admitting he was ‘heated’ about the situation.
Set to take place on Saturday, the artist – which just so happens to be his first name (yes, seriously) – had a simple message for his fans: “We won’t give up that easy, let’s go!”.
Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped the venue – which is set to become the UK’s biggest indoor entertainment venue and one of the largest in Europe when it finally does open – from announcing more events over the coming months and well into 2025.
Confirming the show on their social pages, the AO simply promised, “It’s going to be a brilliant night and we can’t wait to see you all here.”
We’re excited to welcome @ArtistHBTL and his fans to AO Arena this Saturday. 💛 It’s going to be a brilliant night and we can’t wait to see you all here. ⚡️ More ticket info will be available in due course. pic.twitter.com/Q9LKGU6RND
The AO Arena has hosted some of the biggest names in the entire world in the course of its existence and recently underwent a £50m refurbishment that included the launch of The Mezz.
Safe to say this presents an interesting twist in events when so many people have been pitting the two venues against one another.
Question marks have been hanging over whether more upcoming gigs, like Keane on Sunday 5 May, and then a five-night run of gigs from Take That will still be able to go ahead.
It remains to be seen whether other artists will follow suit in moving their shows should more cancellations/postponements be announced.
You can recap everything that’s happened so far down below:
‘Disappointed’ Olivia Rodrigo issues statement to Manchester fans after Co-op Live postpones gigs
Emily Sergeant
Olivia Rodrigo has issued a statement to her Manchester fans after her run of gigs at Co-op Live have been postponed.
The US singer-songwriter was due to perform two massive sold-out shows tomorrow and Saturday (3 and 4 May 2024) here in Manchester at the city’s newest venue, the now-troubled Co-op Live, as part of her GUTS world tour – but, due to what has been referred to as “ongoing venue-related technical issues”, these gigs are now the latest in a long line of postponements.
New dates will be announced as soon as they’re confirmed, Co-op Live assured ticket-holders.
Co-op Live said in a statement: “Due to an ongoing venue-related technical issue, the scheduled performances of Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS World Tour on 3rd and 4th May are being postponed. Ticket holders can either hold onto their tickets or obtain a refund from their point of purchase.
“We deeply apologise for the significant inconvenience this will cause for many.”
We deeply apologise for the significant inconvenience this will cause for many.
The Drivers License singer also took a moment to assure her presumably-disappointed attending fans that she too was “disappointed” by the situation.
In a statement shared to her 37.2 million followers on Instagram yesterday, Olivia wrote on her Story: “Hello! I’ve been having such a great time in Europe so far and I’m soooooo disappointed that we’re unable to perform in Manchester due to ongoing venue-related technical issues.”
The 21-year-old told Manchester fans that “we’re doing our best to reschedule” the shows.
Olivia Rodrigo has issued a statement to Manchester fans after Co-op Live postpones her gigs / Credit: Olivia Rodrigo (via Instagram) | The Manc Group
Her statement continued: “You can hold onto your tickets for further info or request a refund at your point of purchase. More info will be sent directly to ticketholders.
“I’m so bummed and I really hope to see you all soon.”
As previously mentioned, the massive arena was supposed to open for the first time to the public last night with a performance by US rapper, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, but it was called off at the eleventh hour and fans were turned away from the doors just minutes before they were meant to open.
Co-op Live has now confirmed that the reason for the cancellation was due to a piece of the HVAC (air conditioning) system having “separated from the ductwork”.
Because of this, rigorous testing on the rest of the system now needs to take place before fans can safely be welcomed inside.
The next expected show on the Co-op Live schedule is Keane on Sunday 5 May, before beloved Manchester boyband, Take That, play a massive run of shows from 7-11 May and extra dates on 11 and 12 June.