Shadowplayers

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Shadowplayers is the title of both a 2006 documentary film and a 2010 book by James Nice of LTM Recordings, tracing the detailed history of Factory Records and the Manchester post-punk music scene between 1978 and 1981.

Contents

Film

The documentary oral history film Shadowplayers (full title Shadowplayers – Factory Records & Manchester Post Punk 1978-81) was released on DVD [1] in May 2006.

The extended film features interviews with 22 key participants, including company director Anthony H. Wilson and designer Peter Saville, as well as a host of musicians including Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Simon Topping (A Certain Ratio), Vini Reilly (Durutti Column), Larry and Vin Cassidy (Section 25) and Howard Devoto (Buzzcocks/Magazine). [2] Other featured artists include members of Cabaret Voltaire, Crispy Ambulance, Biting Tongues, Minny Pops, The Names, Swamp Children, Thick Pigeon, and Killing Joke, as well as contributions from Richard Boon, Annik Honoré, Lindsay Reade, and Richard Jobson.

Shadowplayers runs for 2 hours and 15 minutes and is divided into 19 chapters, [3] covering subjects such as the Factory Club, sleeve art and graphic design, producer Martin Hannett, the riot at Joy Division's concert at The Derby Hall, Bury in April 1980, Factory Benelux and connections with Les Disques du Crépuscule and the Plan K venue in Brussels, the suicide of Ian Curtis, the beginnings of New Order, and the decline of post-punk culture after 1981. [4]

Based exclusively on first-person narrative, Shadowplayers features soundtrack music by Section 25 and New Order, as well as rare images and graphics, and a cover design based on the first Factory poster (Fac 1) by Peter Saville.

Book

Shadowplayers (subtitled The Rise and Fall of Factory Records) is a related music history book written by Nice and published by Aurum in May 2010. The book tells the story of Factory Records from its early beginnings up until its demise in 1992. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] The book was launched at the London record shop Rough Trade East by the author and included a short live performance by original Factory Records band Blurt and a speech by designer Peter Saville. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Order (band)</span> English band

New Order are an English band whose integration of post-punk with electronic and dance music made them one of the most acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s. The band was formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris. The members regrouped after the disbandment of their previous band Joy Division due to the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. They were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. They were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records and its nightclub The Haçienda, and they worked in long-term collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Factory Records</span> British record label

Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Wilson</span> British record producer, record owner and television presenter (1950–2007)

Anthony Howard Wilson was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager and impresario, and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Certain Ratio</span> English post-punk band

A Certain Ratio are an English post-punk band formed in Greater Manchester in 1977 by Peter Terrell (guitar), Simon Topping, Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson (drums), with Martha Tilson (vocals) joining soon after.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Saville (graphic designer)</span> British graphic designer (born 1955)

Peter Andrew Saville is an English art director and graphic designer. He designed many record sleeves for Factory Records, which he co-founded in 1978 alongside Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.

Section 25 are an English post-punk and electronic band, best known for the 1984 single "Looking from a Hilltop", associated with Manchester record label Factory Records.

Robert Leo Gretton was the manager of Joy Division and New Order. He was partner in and co-director of Factory Records and a founding partner of The Haçienda. For ten years until his death in 1999, Gretton ran his own label, Rob's Records.

Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label founded in Belgium in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee James Nice.

James Hayward is the pen name of James Nice, an English writer on military, modern art and post-punk musical history.

LTM Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1983, and best known for reissues of artists and music from 1978 to the present day, as well as modern classical and avant-garde composition. The label is based in Norfolk, England, and is curated by James Nice.

Crispy Ambulance are an English post-punk band, formed in Manchester in late-1977 by Keith Darbyshire (bass), Robert Davenport (guitar), Alan Hempsall (vocals), and Gary Madeley (drums). They had been inspired by the Sex Pistols' second gig in the Lesser Free Trade Hall, in addition to the bands Magazine and Hawkwind.

The Names are a Belgian post-punk band from Brussels, Belgium, formed in 1978 around bassist, vocalist and songwriter Michel Sordinia.

The following is a list of items with recorded Factory Records numbers. The list primarily consists of music releases but also includes promotional graphics, film, etc. However, the list was not confined to creative output. A party, a lawsuit and a cat appear on the list along with other miscellany.

Miranda Stanton, best known for her recordings as Stanton Miranda, Miranda Dali and Thick Pigeon, is a 1980s Factory Records artist from New York City. She achieved some notice for her single "Wheels Over Indian Trails" and her later cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division. She also guested on recordings by the Durutti Column. Her first band was CKM in New York with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, where she played drums.

Ultra is a Dutch post-punk movement that originated in Amsterdam in the early 1980s. The name "ultra" is a shortening of "ultramodernen". The movement had an avantgarde, experimental, and artistic aesthetic. Many of its participants were students in art schools. In contrast to other countries' post-punk movements, the Dutch experimented with, among other things, toy instruments, chainsaws and de-tuned guitars.

Minny Pops is a Dutch, Amsterdam-based new wave/electronic/art punk band, associated with the Ultra post-punk movement in the Netherlands and the Factory Records label in the UK.

New Hormones was a Manchester independent record label founded by Richard Boon and Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley. It was the first independent punk rock label in the UK.

The Royal Family and the Poor are a band from Liverpool, England, centred on multi-instrumentalist Mike Keane. After recording two singles and two albums for Factory Records in the 1980s, they continued to release music into the 21st century.

<i>Always Now</i> 1981 studio album by Section 25

Always Now is the debut studio album by Section 25. It was released in September 1981 through iconic Manchester record label Factory with the catalogue number FACT 45. The album was produced by Martin Hannett, best known for producing both of Joy Division's studio albums. Joy Division front man Ian Curtis has been credited as co-producing the record in parts before his death in May 1980. Recording took place in February 1981 at Britannia Row Studios in Islington, London, owned by Pink Floyd.

Ben Kelly is a British interior designer, who owns interior design firm Ben Kelly Design. He has also won awards for graphic design.

References

  1. ↑ Key, Iain (12 November 2020). "James Nice Interview - From Brussels (and Factory) With Love". Louder Than War. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  2. ↑ Chan, Seb (23 August 2006). "Shadowplayers – Factory Records & Manchester Post Punk 1978-81 (LTM-DVD) / Factory Records – The Complete Graphic Album (Thames & Hudson)". Cyclic Defrost. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  3. ↑ Verevis, Constantine (2008). "Disorder: Joy Division". Studies in Documentary Film. 2 (3): 233–246. doi:10.1386/sdf.2.3.233_1 . Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  4. ↑ O'Neill, Lauren (24 February 2022). "The essential British music documentaries you need to watch". Rolling Stone UK. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Nice, James (28 July 2013). "The Rise & Fall of Factory Records". Sabotage Times . Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  6. ↑ Sturges, Fiona (17 June 2010). "Shadowplayers: The rise and fall of Factory Records by James Nice". The Independent. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  7. ↑ Kennedy, Jake (31 July 2010). "Shadowplayers: The Rise & Fall Of Factory Records - Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records – James Nice". The Line of Best Fit. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  9. ↑ Harris, John (13 August 2010). "Document and Eyewitness by Neil Taylor and Shadowplayers by James Nice". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Shadowplayers: The Rise & Fall of Factory Records by James Nice". Cerysmaticfactory.info. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2014.


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