So cool

The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, cult author Irvine Welsh, comedian Steve Coogan and members of New Order were amongst the figures who today (June 22) completed a 24-hour "conversation" in memory of the late Manchester impresario, Tony Wilson.

Broadcasters Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie - the former NME writer - were amongst the 24 key speakers over the 24 hours shared their creative expertise and experience with the hand-picked audience.

I'm so happy

On IFC right now- 'Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story'


Immediately following- '24 Hour Party People'

Saville and Smith

PAUL SMITH has teamed up with graphic designer and record industry supremo Peter Saville to launch a limited edition T-shirt in
honour of the eagerly-anticipated film Control - a biopic of Joy Division's
enigmatic front man Ian Curtis, by Anton Corbijn.

It's a fitting tribute from one of the UK's top designers and the acclaimed artist, who provided the graphics for the band's albums before Curtis' tragic suicide at the age of 23.

"As a big fan of Joy Division and Peter Saville, I was thrilled to work on a T-shirt for the release of the film Control," Smith tells us. "It is a fantastic British movie; a moving story and great cast."

Starring Sam Riley and Samantha Morton, Control won the Michael Powell award for best new British feature at the Edinburgh international film festival - where all the cast and crew wore the collaborative tribute T-Shirt.

The design, which references Joy Division's 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures, will be available at Paul Smith stores and via www.paulsmith.co.uk from September. (August 29 2007, AM)

Lazyitis- Happy Mondays

Well, I'm a mess now

and not a hot one. These shots from Tony's funeral made me cry, especially the one of Oliver Wilson and Hooky. And for some reason, the one of Vini Reilly. And Rowetta.

Shaun looks positively dapper in his suit. Well done, Reverend Ryder.....

Too cool

Manchester never knew how much it would miss Tony Wilson. Yesterday, beneath a grey northern sky, the city's sense of loss for the man who had been the life and soul of its party for so many years was clear.

Family and friends of the man known as "Mr Manchester" attended a private funeral ceremony at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, known as the Hidden Gem, in the city centre.

Fans gathered outside the church to pay their final respects to the founder of Factory Records and the Haçienda nightclub.

A roll call of famous Mancunians turned out to remember Wilson, a champion of the city, who died earlier this month, aged 57, after a prolonged battle with kidney cancer. They included the Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder and New Order and Joy Division bassist Peter Hook, whose bands were key to the Factory Records success story.

Peter Saville, who co-founded the iconic record label with Wilson, gave a reading during the mass. So too did Richard Madeley, who worked alongside Wilson at Granada Television, and arrived at the service with his wife Judy Finnigan.

After the service, which included the hymns "Hail Queen of Heaven" and "To Be A Pilgrim", six pallbearers, including Wilson's son, carried the coffin out of the church to the sound of the Happy Monday's track "Bob's Your Uncle".

Well said

from Steve Coogan's tribute to Tony Wilson-

"In the late 70s there were quite a lot of arty, lower middle class, catholic Manchester grammar school boys. Some of them tried to form bands; others (me) just bought records and listened to them. Tony was the apotheosis of those baby boomers who wanted to reach beyond their background and find the poetry in this post-industrial landscape. He gave confidence and legitimacy to an army of haltingly insecure men. Put simply, he showed it wasn't poofy to wear nice clothes and use long words. But above all he was a true civic champion, who found excitement and creativity on his own doorstep. Under his stewardship, Manchester became and still is an alternative metropolis. That is his legacy.

Dammit

Tony Wilson, co-founder of Factory Records, has died at the age of 57.

Born Anthony H. Wilson on February 20, 1950 in Salford, England, he went on to become a renowned broadcast journalist, band manager, record label executive and night club owner.

As the Factory Records boss, he was responsible for signing legendary bands including Joy Division and New Order to his label. Also, as owner of the renowned Hacienda nightclub in Manchester, he played a key role in the Madchester scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s that mixed indie rock and dance music and included artists such as Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.

The Hacienda, which hosted Madonna's first UK television appearance in 1983, was forced to close in the late 1990s as it was losing money allegedly because its patrons were taking ecstasy rather than buying drinks at the club.

Wilson reportedly became involved in the Manchester music scene in the 1970s when hosting the culture and music programme 'So It Goes' on Granada
Television.

After covering a Sex Pistols performance at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, he described the experience as "nothing short of an epiphany" and booked the band for one of the first television broadcasts of British punk rock.

These aspects of Wilson's life were later chronicled in the semi-fictional 2002 feature film '24 Hour Party People', in which he was portrayed by British actor Steve Coogan.

More recently, Wilson was involved in In The City, a yearly music festival and conference that takes place in Manchester and New York City, which he co-founded with his partner Yvette Livesey.

In 2005 he launched F4, the fourth incarnation of the Factory Records label. Earlier this year, the music mogul was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery to have one of his kidneys removed.

via

Sweet Christ

Thomas, Sergio and my absolute favorite director. I am going to die.

Kasabian are apparently being wooed by Hollywood - it seems a top Tinseltown director wants the Leicester lads to revive the rock opera for the big screen.

Filmmaker Michael Winterbottom is said to be a big fan of the group, which is fronted by Tom Meighan and Sergio Pizzorno, and apparently thinks they would be the perfect choice to star in their own piece, which could rival classic 70s music flicks such as Tommy.

An insider told the Daily Star: "Michael is a huge fan of the lads since early on.

Digital

Yes, this is New Order playing "Digital," the Joy Division song they haven't done in years. Yes, that is my favorite actor, John "24 Hour Party People; Life On Mars" singing alongside Bernard. The person he portrayed in 'Party People.' And my first crush, Peter Hook. I need to lay down now.

This does not sound good

Anthony Wilson, the man behind some of Manchester's most well-known bands including Joy Division, New Order and the Happy Mondays, has been diagnosed with cancer and has undergone emergency surgery to remove a kidney, he revealed yesterday. The 56-year-old underwent emergency surgery last month and will begin chemotherapy treatment at the Christie hospital in Withington next week.

Mr Wilson is largely responsible for shaping Manchester's hugely popular music scene and was the founder of the Hacienda nightclub and Factory records. He was impersonated by Steve Coogan in the semi-fictional film 24 Hour Party People. The cancer was diagnosed during a routine visit to his family doctor after he had felt ill for some time.

Party People

This is totally cool- a listing of articles on 24 Hour Party People.

What Winterbottom’s film seems to be examining among other things is the inevitable tensions between the creation of a youth culture which is dependent upon naivety combined with lashings of energy and enthusiasm and the workings of industry and business. Here, as we see, Factory Records and the Hacienda Club cannot sell out. There is quite literally nothing to sell, instead the idealism is eroded and eventually heavily compromised by the real forces of chaos and anarchy in society the ‘lumpen’ criminal classes.

There is no such thing as a utopian 24 Hour Party in which the workings of the system can somehow be ignored in some utopian space. The criminal classes eventually come to control the door and the massive drug fuelled scene in the Hacienda. The drug scene itself can be seen as a part of the reaction of young people to a ‘no future’ type’ of a culture in which the living is done for today not tomorrow.

via BBC America

Give me an E!

The Happy Mondays, Oct 05, originally uploaded by barney britton.

Bez sez, "Dance, you bastards!"

Martin Hannett turns on the holiday lights

Oh wait, I'm sorry, Andy Serkis turned on the holiday lights on Regent Street, not the late, great Joy Division/ Happy Mondays producer Hannett. Sir Ian McKellen was there, too.

Most people would have gone for the obvious Gollum/Gandalf joke, but hell, I'm not going to miss a chance to bring up my favorite movie ever, 24 Hour Party People.

What is wrong with this picture?

People's Choice Awards nominations. The stupid. It burns.

Group: Black Eyed Peas, Nickelback, Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Pop song: "Hips Don't Lie," Shakira; "Promiscuous," Nelly Furtado; "Stupid Girls," Pink.

I ask you, where the FUCK is Gnarls Barkley in either of these categories? NICKLEBACK? Are you JOKING me?

This brings to mind one of my favorite quotes from possibly my favorite movie ever, 24 Hour Party People:

"You know what the public is in favor of? Public executions."