Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl: The Story of Tony and Lindsay Wilson

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In memory of Wilson, a poem was written by Mike Garry and broadcast on the BBC. [30] Further reading [ edit ] I’d heard of them as they were the young pretenders around Manchester at that time. I had seen ’em as well and thought they were okay. I was in this period of going out all the time and having a good time and they were always there. We were like the old guard that they aspired to be. I always think it’s important when something new happens in music. I think it’s always important that there is some kind of stylistic statement that is in some way offensive to the generation that has gone before. Whether that is wearing straight trousers when everyone is wearing flares, or wearing huge flares at a time when that was considered anathema. It was really quite amazing going to the Ally Pally show and seeing really young kids wearing these huge Joe Bloggs flares. I felt like I was dressed like an accountant compared to these kids. I definitely felt the generation gap.

Here, for the first time, Lindsay tells the full story of her and Tony's marriage, divorce, and subsequent lifelong connection, giving a candid and moving account of two lives lived in the midst of musical and cultural revolution; of two people who went their separate ways but never truly separated.

On The Go

That was the main thing that irked me about the book (and it happens throughout the second half of the book). Whatever fractions there were in the band came to a head in March 1995, when Reni announced he was leaving – the reasons for which have never been fully explained. Former Simply Red drummer Robbie Maddix replaced him, and the band soldiered on. Curtis was so conflicted as to be in mental torture. It was not all Deborah chasing him, although she did show a dogged tenacity, turning up at a psychiatric hospital when Curtis was driven there after their separation, and furiously phoning Annik to tell her what she thought of her. Curtis too seemed to find it hard to make a break - he returned to their shared home when he left Wilson's house where he was recuperating after an overdose shortly before he killed himself; and when he killed himself on the eve of Joy Division's American tour, he allegedly left a note for Deborah saying that when he returned, he wanted to live as a family again, with her and Natalie. In 1980, honourable working class men just didn't up and leave their families. Plus who knows whether he was terrified that if he divorced Deborah, he would never see Natalie again. Many women use their children as weapons, and the devastation wrought by this can eat a person up. Yet even the lyrics of Love Will Tear Us Apart suggest he still felt affection for Deborah - ' But there's still this appeal/That we've kept through our lives.' Although there's also an acceptance that the relationship is over: ' Just that something so good/Just can't function no more.' Mani was a really warm, wonderful human being. Funny guy, he thought a lot about music, had a lot of opinions.

If this book is so understanding and reveals information never seen before about its subject, then what bothers me about it? The early years of Factory Records did so much to influence the city and the UK’s contemporary creative industries, and this exhibition explores why its unique development could only have happened in Manchester at this time and involving this group of people. Reade had returned to Factory Records in 1984, to run the Overseas Licensing Department. Once manager, she put together a strategy to hasten productivity. After a short non-productive period, the band regrouped and reorganised. [5] Vocalist Beverley McDonald departed and promptly began contributing to Quando Quango's LP Pigs and Battleships. [6]There were people alluding to the fact that Reni was involved with the wrong type of stuff, if you know what I mean, and went seriously off the rails, but knowing what a professional he was… you should have seen him – this guy was driven. In the studio you couldn’t get Reni to stop playing the drums. This was a guy who truly believed in what he was doing, and knew that he was one of the best drummers. [So] for him to see this thing fall apart about him, and the fallout between John and Ian – it’s no wonder he went off the rails. You interviewed the people who knew him such as his former wives; his former colleagues from the Granada Television, Factory Records and Hacienda eras; and his children. Was there a common thing that all of your interviewees brought up about Wilson for this book? In a world where rituals and ceremonies are handed to us from the Establishment and the powers that be, [through Situationism], you can create your own ceremonies, rituals and situations. You can create your own version of reality. The Situationists sort of prepared those theories and suggested that you don't have to believe in the one God or the one economic system. And this really inspired Wilson as a poet, dreamer, thinker and academic as well as a broadcaster. As a broadcaster, his first job more or less was writing scripts for the main news in this country, which in a sense is being involved with those rituals and ceremonies. So he's there, on one hand, confirming the rituals for national television, But he's also thinking, “Well, what about if they are not necessarily those that I can make my own up?” And that's definitely something that he would have taken from Situationism, which also was very glamorous and coincided with the revolutions that were going on in the world in 1968: student revolutions and the political turmoil. Martin, Daniel (9 October 2008). "Tony Wilson's spirit lives on at In the City". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 November 2018. Collins, Simon (9 February 2007). "Music showcase postponed after founder in surgery drama". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007 . Retrieved 10 August 2007.