Factory Records' reputation and fortune were founded on two bands - Joy Division and New Order - and one single-minded and stubborn personality: its media friendly company director Anthony H. Wilson. At the height of its success in the late 1980s, the company reigned over the Manchester rave scene. ran its own club, the Hacienda, and had a string of hit records around the world. By 1992 the back catalogue had been sold off, New Order and Happy Mondays were in disarray, and the Hacienda was shut down by the police. Since then the story of Factory Records has become the stuff of myth and legend. A major new British film, Twenty-Four Hour Party People, revisits the heyday of the Hacienda, and stars Steve Coogan as Anthony H. Wilson alongside many of the artists and personalities who were around at the time. From Joy Division to New Order, acclaimed on its original publication in 1996, tells the real story of Factory's spectacular history. Drawing on exclusive interviews with the major players, Mick Middles provides a timely and fascinating look at the unique personalities and messy reality behind one of the UK's most influential and (at one time) commercially successful independent record companies.

Reviews

'A fascinating account... This contradictory melting pot of arch freakishness and local machismo is richly detailed' Q 'Informed and informative... a smart, well researched view of the Manchester music scene' Maxim