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Loudersoft joins millions of music fans in mourning at the loss of Tony Wilson, the man who founded Factory Records and the Hacienda Nightclub. The BBC is reporting that he passed away from complications relating to cancer at the age of 57. Among the notable careers Mr. Wilson helped to launch are those of Joy Division, New Order, and Happy Mondays.
BBC journalist Kristan Deconinck sought advice from him in the early 1980s on how to launch an independent record label shortly after Wilson had started Factory records.
“He couldn’t have been more helpful and more patient,” Kristan said.
“He inspired me - and countless others - to have a go if you believed in something.
“That in itself is a great legacy, apart from the vision he had with his label, his shows, his attitude - his contribution to a new culture.
“When I later met him, I found him far more amenable than scurrilous rumours had led me to believe and my esteem for the guy never diminished.”
Tony’s visionary genius was loosely detailed in the film 24 Hour Party People but I think never did justice to the true legacy he has left behind. The Manchester music scene and truly the world of British music has lost a unique and precious benefactor today.
1Stewart on Aug 12, 2007 at 10:13 am:
Tony aka [Anthony H] Wilson was indeed a tremendous champion for good music and the Manchester scene in particular but he could also be a dickhead. In 1979 I was on the door [entry £1] at the old West Indian Centre on Carmoor Road, Manchester at an Anti-Nazi League fundraiser. The headline band were Manchester legends The Naughty Boys with support from The Worms, whose leader Wayne seemed to have caught Tony’s ear [or eyes]. Tony arrived during the Worms’ set and asked me how long much longer they’d be playing. I told him I didn’t know and he paid the entrance and went in during what turned out to be their last song. He was back at the end of the song highly agitated and demanding his entrance money back – a measly pound! I just said to him “You need a pound?” and he left sheepishly…………
2E.J. on Aug 12, 2007 at 12:10 pm:
The very fact that you remember him and that you were able to form an opinion about him from your experience says a lot about who Tony was. I think he would be thrilled to see tributes like yours posted about because according to what I’ve read, he, himself, would admit that he occasioned to be a total dickhead.