Factory was founded in 1978 when former Granada TV presenter Tony Wilson teamed up with Alan Erasmus, an unemployed actor and band manager. The two soon became three when they were joined by producer Martin Hannett, already a bit famous for producing novelty hit 'Jilted John'.
The Factory name was first used for a club featuring local bands including The Durutti Column, Cabaret Voltaire and Joy Division. The founder members of the label decided to release an EP of music by acts who'd played there and so Factory Records was born.
The first album on the label was Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures', which gave us the hit single 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. Sadly less than a year after the album was released lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide and the rest of the band renamed themselves New Order.
In 1981 Factory and New Order converted a former yacht showroom into The Hacienda nightclub and, to complete the achievement, had Bernard Manning perform the official opening.
The next big thing for the label was the Happy Mondays, who hit the charts with tracks like 'Kinky Afro' and 'Step On'. They had other bands on their books too though - remember Biting Tongues, Crispy Ambulance, Miaow or Swamp Children?
Factory was known for the way it catalogued its assets - all their records had catalogue numbers being with FAC, but everything else connected to the label came under the same system. So the poster advertising the nightclub was FAC1, the Hacienda's cat was FAC191, the office sellotape FAC136 and a bet between two of the partners was even given the number FAC253.
The label continued to enjoy a very successful few years opening a bar and a shop in Manchester, but by 1992 it's finances weren't looking good. Things came to an end in November that year.
Factory Records: official site
