With the release of 24 Hour Party People in 2002 Tony Wilson became a household name in the minds of the people in the know. The film became a biography of Wilson who is best known for managing such seminal bands as Happy Mondays and Joy Division but due to contracts not being up to legal snuff, Wilson was never able to profit much. But since the movies release Wilson has had a tough time due to a bout with cancer and has now put aside managing bands and concentrated on other projects. Most notably In the City a yearly festival and music industry conference which is having its premiere in New York City this year.
Please check out the website for In the City
Daniel Robert Epstein: Youve been going through some tough stuff. How are you doing?
Tony Wilson: Im recovering perfectly. I have a schedule to keep, which is I need to get to Indian Wells by the end of the month to get one of my bands onstage at Coachella.
DRE: So its not slowing you down that much?
Tony: I got out of hospital three weeks ago and although the experience has been a nightmare, the real problem was that my body had eaten itself, which is the result of lying in bed for two months from all the operations. Due to the chemotherapy, I couldnt eat for the first month because I didnt have an appetite and then the second month, they kept giving me pathogen to counteract the side effects of the chemo. Pathogen is opium based so I found myself not eating even more. So my body ate itself. First it eats all the glucose in your body, then all the fat and finally it eats the muscles. Because I wasnt moving my legs, my body very sensibly decided to eat my leg muscle so when I got out three weeks ago, I couldnt walk.
DRE: Oh my God.
Tony: That was a bit peculiar. However Im now walking using a walking stick and I think the chemo worked pretty good. The problem is that in Manchester, my hometown, because Im a TV presenter I am a known wanker and having cancer has made everyone get very soppy and tell me they love me. So thats the unpleasant side effect of all this.
DRE: People have been treating you nicely, is that what it is?
Tony: Everyones been really ridiculous. There was a gig against cancer the other night and I didnt go precisely that reason. I got a phone call from Ian McKellen saying How are you Tony and are you coming? and No Ian, Im grateful but Im not coming because of this bloody soppiness.
DRE: You want to be treated as you are used to.
Tony: Yeah, exactly. Back in 1975, Emmylou Harris came into our TV studio one afternoon and I asked her if she would sing a song. I asked could you sing this particular Gram Parsons song? and Emmylou said, Im sorry, I cant. I have to sing my new single. I said dont worry. So that night, I go to her gig and theres 2000 people and its a wonderful gig and were rapt with attention and theres raucous applaud. When the applause died down Emmylou said, Im now going to sing a song for a young man who asked to me to sing this song this afternoon but I couldnt and his name is Tony Wilson. I was appalled when she said that because 2000 people leapt up and started screaming wanker and the poor girl was utterly sorry. Anyway, thats how we all behave in Manchester and Im much more used to that. Suddenly everyone feels sorry for me because they think Im dying but Im not, so its all a bit difficult.
DRE: Does Yvette still call you a wanker?
Tony: She still calls me a wanker, absolutely. Of course, she also had cancer early on last year. It started last Easter when our cat died from cancer. Then she got breast cancer last summer and I got this piece of shit last December. Shes now in remission and I have a very good feeling that this bloody toxic crap that poured into me for two weeks has worked so Im feeling quite positive.
DRE: When did these In The City events start?
Tony: The original Manchester event started in 1992. After about four years in Manchester, we then went out to a few other cities, like Glasgow and Dublin and Liverpool but the industry likes coming to Manchester so we then returned to Manchester four times. We did it every October since then.
DRE: What was your original intention with it?
Tony: Id gone to a music seminar in the summer of 1990 and then we were walking across the tarmac to the plane at Leeds Airport and Yvette said Why isnt one of these in Britain? and I said, Ive no idea. Then she asked me, If I started one in Manchester, would you help me? and thats where it comes from.
DRE: Is everything that you were hoping to come of it been happening?
Tony: Oh God, yes. It provides an intellectual base. I suppose it serves my interests which is, Im fascinated by rock and roll and I like talking about it. It is most famous for its success of introducing new bands.
DRE: Is the New York one going to be any different from the stuff that happened in the UK?
Tony: Its going to be more current. Also some of the specialties that we do, like The ITC Hypothetical which is everyone is fond of. Then one of the things will be brought into the convention format is celebrity interviews. The celebrity interviews are always fascinating
DRE: Are you still repping bands?
Tony: No, Ive given up on it because Ive been doing it since I got into the industry when I was 29 years old. Even more than me my late partner Rob Gretton was obsessed, with trying to make something come out of the black part of Manchester. We must have spent 200 grand and it fucks up every time. Despite knowing all the pitfalls I spent 30,000 pounds of two backers money a few years ago and the exact same fucking thing happened.
DRE: Why is it so difficult?
Tony: Because they have a completely unprofessional air about them. The rappers are fucking impossible.
DRE: Even more so than the people youve know over the years?
Tony: Yes. Its so sad, thats why we fight against it. The first ever black group to appear on Top of the Pop was called Sweet Sensation and the song was called Sad Sweet Dreamer and that was in the 1970s. In 1983, Rob had found the lead singer of that group, Marcel King, sleeping in the back of the car somewhere because he had no home. We did a single with Marcel and that came to nothing. Its a long nightmare and it just doesnt work.
DRE: I read that you were hoping that new music revolution was going to happen in 2002. What was it going to be?
Tony: I dont know what it was going to be and certainly I got my timing wrong. What happened was is that there were some metal groups, like the Lostprophets, around 2002, that did well but there was no culture to it. Whats very strange now, I am very obsessed with Enter Shikari. Bizarrely there is absolutely a culture with them, a whole youth culture. But it came four years later than my anticipated dates. So In The City is my main musical activity now. Ive given up.
DRE: I read that Control [the film biography of Ian Curtis] has wrapped.
Tony: Yes but I had a pretty good row with [Control director] Anton Corbijn just when they were finishing filming because I suddenly realized that I was getting pretty obsessed with bands like Fallout Boy and Panic! At the Disco. It occurred to me that we should ask those bands do a covers of Joy Division and that would introduce tons of new kids to Joy Division. That is my only interest in this and not because I own a part of any of those songs. My only interest is getting more people in this wonderful music. I tried to explain but what I hadnt realized was that Anton was shooting a video for The Killers and The Killers hate emo. So it didnt go down very well.
DRE: Have you and Anton made up since then?
Tony: Yeah, were okay. We didnt fall out, we just didnt see eye to eye on the music content.
DRE: How has the perception of you changed in America since 24 Hour Party People?
Tony: I think the perception of me in America is bizarre because of the movie. The movie was triumphant because it was funny. Also because whenever film people touch our business they fuck it up. Val Kilmer was in London a couple of years ago and we had dinner. I think his interest was that since The Doors film didnt get it quite right he asked me how we got it right in the movie. I just told him that was all Michael Winterbottom.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Please check out the website for In the City
Daniel Robert Epstein: Youve been going through some tough stuff. How are you doing?
Tony Wilson: Im recovering perfectly. I have a schedule to keep, which is I need to get to Indian Wells by the end of the month to get one of my bands onstage at Coachella.
DRE: So its not slowing you down that much?
Tony: I got out of hospital three weeks ago and although the experience has been a nightmare, the real problem was that my body had eaten itself, which is the result of lying in bed for two months from all the operations. Due to the chemotherapy, I couldnt eat for the first month because I didnt have an appetite and then the second month, they kept giving me pathogen to counteract the side effects of the chemo. Pathogen is opium based so I found myself not eating even more. So my body ate itself. First it eats all the glucose in your body, then all the fat and finally it eats the muscles. Because I wasnt moving my legs, my body very sensibly decided to eat my leg muscle so when I got out three weeks ago, I couldnt walk.
DRE: Oh my God.
Tony: That was a bit peculiar. However Im now walking using a walking stick and I think the chemo worked pretty good. The problem is that in Manchester, my hometown, because Im a TV presenter I am a known wanker and having cancer has made everyone get very soppy and tell me they love me. So thats the unpleasant side effect of all this.
DRE: People have been treating you nicely, is that what it is?
Tony: Everyones been really ridiculous. There was a gig against cancer the other night and I didnt go precisely that reason. I got a phone call from Ian McKellen saying How are you Tony and are you coming? and No Ian, Im grateful but Im not coming because of this bloody soppiness.
DRE: You want to be treated as you are used to.
Tony: Yeah, exactly. Back in 1975, Emmylou Harris came into our TV studio one afternoon and I asked her if she would sing a song. I asked could you sing this particular Gram Parsons song? and Emmylou said, Im sorry, I cant. I have to sing my new single. I said dont worry. So that night, I go to her gig and theres 2000 people and its a wonderful gig and were rapt with attention and theres raucous applaud. When the applause died down Emmylou said, Im now going to sing a song for a young man who asked to me to sing this song this afternoon but I couldnt and his name is Tony Wilson. I was appalled when she said that because 2000 people leapt up and started screaming wanker and the poor girl was utterly sorry. Anyway, thats how we all behave in Manchester and Im much more used to that. Suddenly everyone feels sorry for me because they think Im dying but Im not, so its all a bit difficult.
DRE: Does Yvette still call you a wanker?
Tony: She still calls me a wanker, absolutely. Of course, she also had cancer early on last year. It started last Easter when our cat died from cancer. Then she got breast cancer last summer and I got this piece of shit last December. Shes now in remission and I have a very good feeling that this bloody toxic crap that poured into me for two weeks has worked so Im feeling quite positive.
DRE: When did these In The City events start?
Tony: The original Manchester event started in 1992. After about four years in Manchester, we then went out to a few other cities, like Glasgow and Dublin and Liverpool but the industry likes coming to Manchester so we then returned to Manchester four times. We did it every October since then.
DRE: What was your original intention with it?
Tony: Id gone to a music seminar in the summer of 1990 and then we were walking across the tarmac to the plane at Leeds Airport and Yvette said Why isnt one of these in Britain? and I said, Ive no idea. Then she asked me, If I started one in Manchester, would you help me? and thats where it comes from.
DRE: Is everything that you were hoping to come of it been happening?
Tony: Oh God, yes. It provides an intellectual base. I suppose it serves my interests which is, Im fascinated by rock and roll and I like talking about it. It is most famous for its success of introducing new bands.
DRE: Is the New York one going to be any different from the stuff that happened in the UK?
Tony: Its going to be more current. Also some of the specialties that we do, like The ITC Hypothetical which is everyone is fond of. Then one of the things will be brought into the convention format is celebrity interviews. The celebrity interviews are always fascinating
DRE: Are you still repping bands?
Tony: No, Ive given up on it because Ive been doing it since I got into the industry when I was 29 years old. Even more than me my late partner Rob Gretton was obsessed, with trying to make something come out of the black part of Manchester. We must have spent 200 grand and it fucks up every time. Despite knowing all the pitfalls I spent 30,000 pounds of two backers money a few years ago and the exact same fucking thing happened.
DRE: Why is it so difficult?
Tony: Because they have a completely unprofessional air about them. The rappers are fucking impossible.
DRE: Even more so than the people youve know over the years?
Tony: Yes. Its so sad, thats why we fight against it. The first ever black group to appear on Top of the Pop was called Sweet Sensation and the song was called Sad Sweet Dreamer and that was in the 1970s. In 1983, Rob had found the lead singer of that group, Marcel King, sleeping in the back of the car somewhere because he had no home. We did a single with Marcel and that came to nothing. Its a long nightmare and it just doesnt work.
DRE: I read that you were hoping that new music revolution was going to happen in 2002. What was it going to be?
Tony: I dont know what it was going to be and certainly I got my timing wrong. What happened was is that there were some metal groups, like the Lostprophets, around 2002, that did well but there was no culture to it. Whats very strange now, I am very obsessed with Enter Shikari. Bizarrely there is absolutely a culture with them, a whole youth culture. But it came four years later than my anticipated dates. So In The City is my main musical activity now. Ive given up.
DRE: I read that Control [the film biography of Ian Curtis] has wrapped.
Tony: Yes but I had a pretty good row with [Control director] Anton Corbijn just when they were finishing filming because I suddenly realized that I was getting pretty obsessed with bands like Fallout Boy and Panic! At the Disco. It occurred to me that we should ask those bands do a covers of Joy Division and that would introduce tons of new kids to Joy Division. That is my only interest in this and not because I own a part of any of those songs. My only interest is getting more people in this wonderful music. I tried to explain but what I hadnt realized was that Anton was shooting a video for The Killers and The Killers hate emo. So it didnt go down very well.
DRE: Have you and Anton made up since then?
Tony: Yeah, were okay. We didnt fall out, we just didnt see eye to eye on the music content.
DRE: How has the perception of you changed in America since 24 Hour Party People?
Tony: I think the perception of me in America is bizarre because of the movie. The movie was triumphant because it was funny. Also because whenever film people touch our business they fuck it up. Val Kilmer was in London a couple of years ago and we had dinner. I think his interest was that since The Doors film didnt get it quite right he asked me how we got it right in the movie. I just told him that was all Michael Winterbottom.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
mattsmuse:
stop the bloody bickering ... if it wasn't for the genius of steve coogan tony wilson would just be a wanker, instead of a wanker with a pretty interesting interview on SG
absolutelyzero:
R.I.P. Tony! Thanks for all those great Factory Records bands! 