As you probably already know, Factory Records founder Tony Wilson passed away from a heart attack last Friday. He was only fifty-seven, but had been battling cancer for many years. Famous for discovering bands like Joy Division and the Happy Mondays, he was a crucial figure in the Manchester music scene and in the history of popular music the world over.

After graduating from Jesus College, Cambridge, the young Wilson became a news reporter first for ITN, and then for Granada Television in his native Manchester. It was on this station that he hosted the groundbreaking music and culture program So It Goes, which famously gave the Sex Pistols their first ever television appearance in 1976. He also featured "under the radar" artists like Patti Smith, the Clash, the Stranglers, and Siouxsie and the Banshees before anyone had really heard of them. How fucking cool is that?

A clash with his superiors over letting the incorrigible young Iggy Pop say the word "fuck" left his music show canceled, but this pushed him to search out other outlets for his musical acumen. He started "Factory Night" at the Russel Club in Hume, then later Factory Records and the Hacienda Club in Manchester as a way to continue showcasing innovative music to the club-going public.

Wilson's label made an indelible mark on music history. Combining the gloominess of Manchester with the explosiveness of punk and dance music, the label's debut LP Unknown Pleasures made music history by introducing the world to a little band called Joy Division.

Stephen Morris of New Order eulogized Wilson on Newsnight:

There would be no Joy Division or New Order without Tony...he really believed in us and he was smart enough to start a label and put our records out. He was so enthusiastic, he was always 'We'll just go ahead and do it and figure out why we did it afterwards'. It was his spirit of enthusiasm that steamrollered things through and it's why we put up with him for so long [laughs]. You could have an argument with Tony and walk out hating him and the next time you saw him it was all forgotten. You just loved him.

I'm also quite partial to Morris' description of him in a 2002 documentary:

He's a cambridge educated gobshite who runs off at the mouth at the drop of a hat quoting as many philosophers and obscure French, Italian artists...and will give you a theory about absolutely anything, which you won't be able to understand.

But it's the clip of him talking to a reporter that made me fall in love with him:

Reporter: How do you answer the charge that you're a fascist? [Joy Division took their name from a historical novel about concentration camps]
Tony Wilson: Have you never heard of situationalism or postmodernism? Do you know nothing about the free play of signs and signifiers? [lots of fast British talking]

This dude knew his shit. It's no wonder they made a movie about him!

He also collaborated with partners to plan the "In the City" festival, a yearly music conference that serves as the UK's answer to South by Southwest. The festival's fate is now uncertain, but judging by the number of people he's inspired to make and discover new music, I have a feeling someone will be there to take up the reins.

The world will miss you, Tony! I hope you're boozing it up and dance, dance, dance, dance, dancing to the radio in heaven, or wherever it is that postmodernists go when they die.

jquincy

Dallas, TX

August 2005

AUG 15, 2007 12:29 AM

no, i didn't know about this. damn it. bummer. double bummer.

HipsterDad

Marietta, GA

October 2005

AUG 15, 2007 12:39 AM

Tony was one of a kind, and music will never be quite as fun without his penchant for hyperbole.

GeorgeLiquor

Seattle, WA

June 2007

AUG 15, 2007 02:32 AM

Thats sad.

Without him, no one would ever have the words "love with tear us apart..again.." branded into their minds.

wtk10025

New York, NY

November 2006

AUG 15, 2007 02:36 AM

Sad news. Hadn't heard this either. Very sad news.

dawg2

United Kingdom

September 2005

AUG 15, 2007 03:19 AM

the town hall flags have been flying at half mast here since the week-end.
Wilson changed the appearance of Manchester as well as it's sound - not bad going.

i was behind him in a local video shop once. he didn't have his card - the counter girl asked for a form of id. about 5 of us customers said in unison - 'but that's tony wilson'. she let him take the video. it was terrahawks.
which kind of deflates the story.

TheFuckOffKid

NEWSWIRE

Australia

AUG 15, 2007 03:49 AM

JumpStreet

Davenport, FL

January 2004

AUG 15, 2007 04:11 AM

Makes me wanna bust out my copy of "24 Hour Party People" tonight.
R.I.P. Tony Wilson . . . you were ahead of your time.

aeronj

I'm lost

February 2007

AUG 15, 2007 04:38 AM

shame,

didnt like the fella in the slightest, he hated liverpool and made it known. But he did a lot for music (honist). couldn't care less to be truthful. respects to his loved ones but not to him, he was a arragant tit. met him a few times to, lived up to my impressions of him

laters tone. Manchester wont be the same without ya mate.

Jez

United Kingdom

April 2006

AUG 15, 2007 04:50 AM

Yeah, this made me really sad. RIP Tony. Thankyou for everything.

LustEye

Reston, VA

February 2007

AUG 15, 2007 04:59 AM

He will be greatly missed and Highly praised in our Music History. Thanks Tony, for all the hard work that you've done.