I know it was mentioned in another thread, but I thought his death deserved a thread of its own.
Manchester's Tony Wilson died on Friday at the age of 57.
Paul Morley gives a fantastic eulogy/obituary in The Guardian.
Sometimes I loved the fact that there was no one quite like him, that he could be at any given time Jerry Springer and/or Malcolm McLaren, Melvyn Bragg and/or Andrew Loog Oldham, a fiercely smart hybrid of bullshitting hustler, flashy showman, aesthetic adventurer, mean factory boss, self-deprecating chancer, intellectual celebrity, loyal friend, insatiable publicity seeker. How could you not love this freewheeling, freethinking bundle of contradictions, even as he drove you up the wall with his non-stop need for adventure and his loathing for mental and moral inertia?
There was so much of him, and so many of him, from the slick, charming television host to the seditious impresario, from the surreal activist to the baroque loudmouth. This was what people had trouble with: there was no precedent for such a combination of unlikely driven personalities to be so compressed into one mind and one body. Ultimately people tended to suspect it was all about his ego. His ego, though, was part of his genius, and his genius consisted of the way he could flatten everything in front of him with sheer force of personality, and sweetly, sternly persuade the world to become what he wanted it to become. A place where talent and imagination and ideas could thrive, and make the world not just better, but more beautiful
as a mancunian myself i just hope the legacy tony left behind is carried on by others, especially the annual "in the city" music conference. (who needs london ?)
the manchester music scene is thriving as always - & long may it continue.
tony wilson was 1 of a kind - irreplaceable.
as a mark of respect the day he died the flag at manchester town hall was lowered to half mast - that says a lot about how much he was respected in our city.
i recommend to anyone who hasnt seen it to watch the film "24 hour party people" - steve coogans portrayal of wilson is superb - wilson even said so himself.
its a shame that lots of people will probably now invent stories of how they met the great man - or were at the hacienda at its peak - i did neither - but tony was indeed "mr manchester" & he meant something different to everyone who like me grew up through the madchester era.
there will be hundreds of eulogies from people - but i believe in letting the music he helped create speak for itself.
manchester - you're twisting my melon man - STEP ON !
PointBlank
New York, NY
November 2004
AUG 12, 2007 12:58 PM