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.
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.
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.
A new exhibition at Museum of Science & Industry reveals the prominent role of women in the Factory story – including Lindsay Reade (centre) and Lesley Gilbert (right)
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.
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).
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.
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…
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Use Hearing Protection: The early years of Factory Records is open now – running right through to 3 January 2022.
An after-hours celebration of Manchester’s music scene will also take place on 23 September.
Manchester crowned one of the world’s best cities for music lovers
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been crowned one of the world’s best cities for music lovers, even beating out New York along the way.
If there’s one thing Manchester is known and loved for over anything else, it’s music.
From Oasis and Joy Division, to Happy Mondays, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The 1975, and even more modern-day acts, there’s no end to the amount of talented artists this city has produced or been home to over the years, all contributing to Manchester being one of the most prestigious music cities there is.
The city’s live music scene has always been thriving, and that continues right through to this very day, as you’ll see big-name musicians including Manchester as a destination in their UK tour schedules more often than not.
This summer is all set to be a sensational celebration of sound, as not only is an immersive art trail, Music for the Senses, taking over the city from this week, but this year’s annual Manchester Day will be music-themed too, marking one of the biggest years for Manchester music in a long time.
Manchester has been named one of the best cities in the world for music lovers / Credit: Manchester City Council | Eldhose Kuryian (via Unsplash)
Oh, and there’s also the small matter of Oasis reforming for a UK tour, including a run of gigs at Heaton Park this month.
So it’s no surprise that Manchester has been named one of the best cities in the world for music lovers, especially as the IFPI Global Music Report has revealed that the UK has the third largest music market globally – with the music industry’s contribution to the UK economy being £6.7 billion on average.
Taking this recent report into consideration, the experts over at SeatPick have collated data to uncover the best UK cities for music lovers, analysing factors such as the number of concerts, homegrown talents, music businesses, and the total number of music venues, to reveal each city’s overall music score out of 10.
Coming in at second place with a music scene score of 8.97/10 is Manchester.
2025 is all set to be a sensational summer of sound in our city / Credit: Supplied
“Manchester remains one of the UK’s most iconic music cities and with 1,204 concerts between 2025-2026, 116 live music venues, and 380 homegrown acts, the city’s live music offering is as strong as ever,” SeatPick said of its findings.
“2025 is shaping up to be a historic year for Manchester, with Oasis reuniting for the first time in over a decade, with a massive comeback show at Heaton Park – the very spot where they played their last hometown gig in 2009.”
While Manchester may have missed out on the UK’s top spot, with that title going to London, in the global rankings, our city has claimed an impressive sixth place, beating out New York’s influential music scene.
Liverpool and Leeds are two of the other northern cities in the UK’s top 10, taking fifth and sixth place respectively.
“Cities which have a larger number of music businesses are key in creating the perfect city for music fans, as this impacts the city’s cultural, economic, and social vibrancy,” explained Gilad Zilberman, who is the CEO of SeatPick.
“A thriving music scene within a city means it can provide more artistic expression, support a wider range of genres, and enrich the cultural landscape, as well as attracting creative talent.”
Featured Image – Alex Bracken (via Unsplash)
Music
British rock and mod icon Paul Weller stars in advert for new Oasis x Bohemians football kit
Danny Jones
The music and football shirt crossovers just keep coming thick and fast – and that’s just Oasis alone, as Bohemians FC have released a new collaboration with the legendary Britpop band, looping in none other than Paul Weller for the grand unveiling.
Bohemians share a strong connection with the Gallagher brothers due to their Irish roots, as do Manchester and the ‘Emerald Isle’ in general.
However, it doesn’t get much bigger than Oasis and with the Live ’25 reunion shows now just days away (we can hardly believe it either), Bohemians have decided to hop on the bandwagon too and steal some of that ‘band with the three stripes’ buzz for themselves.
Not to be too keen, but can we have 10 of them, please?…
Is this another instant hit? We’d say so, yeah.
Shot by Jamie Goldrick to the sound of cult favourite Definitely Maybe track, ‘Married with Children’, the Oasis x Bohemians kit reveal video was filmed at Cross Guns Snooker Hall: the oldest snooker club in Dublin City, which still remains an important community cornerstone.
As well as starring UK rock and mod culture icon, Paul Weller, perhaps the best bit about the FAI Cup shirt and this whole partnership is the charitable element behind it.
Just like with their Fontaines shirt, which helped supply medical aid across Palestine, the limited edition jersey will help generate crucial money for two key causes.
The first of which is the domestic non-profit organisation, Music Generation Ireland, the country’s national music education programme, which helps children and young people access vocal and instrumental tuition locally.
Secondly, funds will also be diverted to the Irish Community Care Manchester, located along Stockport Road in Levenshulme – further strengthening the mutual support between us Mancs and our cousins across the water.
You can get a close look at the Oasis x Bohemians kit design down below.
A closer look at our 2025 FAI Cup Shirt, a very special partnership with Oasis.
— Bohemian Football Club (@bfcdublin) July 1, 2025
The special edition and highly exclusive shirt is already available, with stock already disappearing rapidly thanks to Bohs die-hards, Oasis fans and footy kit connosieurs alike.
With the Burnage boys getting their seismic comeback shows underway with two nights at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff this Friday and Saturday (4-5 July), before heading for a double bill at Croke Park in Dublin this August, the excitement across the globe is already palpable.
Every single teaser trailer and social media post sends fans bananas, and god knows what the scenes are going to be like when they finally head to Heaton Park for the run of five homecoming nights.