Factory Records wasn’t simply a record-label, per se. Fuelled by the
conceptual beliefs of founders Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, and graphic
designer Peter Saville, Factory was founded more as a ‘laboratory
experiment in popular art’ than anything else. Never signing any of
their artists to contracts, Factory had the feel of a multi-disciplinary
collective long before the corporate world got hooked on
‘diversification’.
As well as giving the world Joy Division, Factory opened a nightclub,
the infamous Haçienda. They turned every record into mini artworks,
packaging them as elaborate artefacts. And they gave everything they
ever did a catalogue number, from their first flyer, to Haçienda
house-wines, a lawsuit filed against the label by producer Martin
Hannett and even a dental bill for New Order’s manager Rob Gretton!
No comments:
Post a Comment