Comments on: "I'm a minor player in my own life story."

"I'm a minor player in my own life story."

Webbster — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:40:16 -0800

Anthony H. Wilson: 20th February 1950 - 10th August 2007

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:45:15 -0800

And with that, the party has finally ended. RIP.

By: NoMich

NoMich — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:49:17 -0800

Oh man, that sucks. Time was, in the '80s of course, I bought anything on the Factory label. .

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:52:44 -0800

Rest in peace, Tony. If 24 Hour Party People was even remotely true he lived a hell of a lot more interesting and driven life than most of us could muster.

By: AwkwardPause

AwkwardPause — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:53:46 -0800

By: AwkwardPause

AwkwardPause — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:54:12 -0800

Blue Friday.

By: NoMich

NoMich — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:54:21 -0800

Youtube: Tony Wilson, Punk, Factory Records, Joy Division

By: mzanatta

mzanatta — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:59:15 -0800

By: greycap

greycap — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:01:47 -0800

By: dodgygeezer

dodgygeezer — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:06:36 -0800

Holy shit, that's terrible. Pete Waterman lives and Tony Wilson dies. I demand a stewards enquiry.

By: beaucoupkevin

beaucoupkevin — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:06:57 -0800

I'll be watching 24 Hours Party People and Shadowplayers tonight. I attempted to do my own tribute, but I worry I gushed too much.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:09:47 -0800

Crap. Perfect first comment, AZ. . and also !

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:11:02 -0800

By: Slap Factory

Slap Factory — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:11:03 -0800

A lot of people know that Tony Wilson was an formidable presence and man about town, but very few people realize that he was also one of the better breakdancers in London during a short period in the 1980s. That guy would spin on his head like he was a gyroscope, land in a full split, and then kick himself up into a standing position while doing the robot. Let's see Pete Waterman try something like that. He just couldn't pull it off. It would be impossible.

By: parmanparman

parmanparman — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:12:57 -0800

Tony Wilson's commentary track on 24 Hour Party People is possibly the most intelligent on any disc, anywhere. I never got the chance to meet Tony when I was in England, but I was constantly informed by others of the tremendous and continuing influence he had on rock music and Mancs everywhere. He will be missed, so it goes.

By: General Zubon

General Zubon — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:19:48 -0800

If you plan on watching 24 Hour Party People again in remembrance then I'd suggest watching it with the Tony Wilson commentary track on. His thoughts on the film are (IMO) just as entertaining as the movie itself and will definitely give you a fuller feeling for the essence of Mr. Wilson. My favorite moment in said commentary: how riled up he gets about the Factory office set in the film because they have gold records on the wall. "We would never do that! That's so London!" (paraphrasing) .

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:39:09 -0800

That's all over. You'll never see the hacienda. It doesn't exist.

By: gwildar

gwildar — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:49:07 -0800

By: essexjan

essexjan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:23:37 -0800

His contribution to the cultural life of Britain cannot be underestimated.

By: MrMustard

MrMustard — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:27:47 -0800

This is a joke thread, right?

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:28:16 -0800

Wow, I had no idea he even had cancer.

By: holgate

holgate — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:28:56 -0800

A brilliant Tony Wilson thread from 2002. RIP, too fucking young.

By: punilux

punilux — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:34:55 -0800

A real visionary. He and John Peel were a huge influence on the British music scene, and both are sorely missed. .

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:38:32 -0800

By: retronic

retronic — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:53:31 -0800

By: es_de_bah

es_de_bah — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:56:08 -0800

so it goes

By: maudlin

maudlin — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:58:31 -0800

No fucking way. He should have lived on as an old man full of marvelous lies. Fuck.

By: Grangousier

Grangousier — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:01:15 -0800

We seem to be running out of people like Wilson, who are more interested in making things happen than being the star, although he was a kind of star, himself. .

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:05:26 -0800

By: maudlin

maudlin — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:06:20 -0800

Shit. Here's an interview with Pitchfork from June 2007, when he was over here for the In the City of New York conference. Tony Wilson: I do feel inside myself that [the chemotherapy] worked and that I'm going to be all right. In fact, I've been working quite hard ever since [I got out of the hospital], so I'm feeling good. I'm feeling nearly back to normal.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:10:39 -0800

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:11:17 -0800

My goodness. Um. .

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:13:02 -0800

Damn. So this means that we have to look forward to a whole waves of deaths of the (for lack of a better word) heroes of our generation? Now I know how the boomers feel, watching their peers die one by one...

By: scody

scody — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:31:32 -0800

Damn. Too young, too soon.

By: mykescipark

mykescipark — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:36:00 -0800

No!!! . . .

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:59:21 -0800

I'd been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand... Thanks for Factory records. Good Bye. .

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:04:42 -0800

I've NOT I'd.

By: brautigan

brautigan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:39:25 -0800

Goddamn. God and Tony Wilson. Is Heaven big enough for the both of them?! RIP.

By: thivaia

thivaia — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:21:44 -0800

Goddamn. God and Tony Wilson. Is Heaven big enough for the both of them?! Doubt it. .

By: Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:31:20 -0800

I'll be watching 24 Hours Party People and Shadowplayers tonight. I attempted to do my own tribute, but I worry I gushed too much. I recommend Control, also. Obviously mostly about Ian Curtis, but the Tony Wilson character has a reasonably large part (and Tony himself co-produced the film). RIP. (Sticks on Happy Mondays' 24 Hour Party People).

By: gcbv

gcbv — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:31:38 -0800

By: Kinbote

Kinbote — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:51:24 -0800

A life well lived: FAC452.

By: zeoslap

zeoslap — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:57:17 -0800

Why did Tony Wilson need to rely on the NHS to pay for his drugs? Wasn't he rich?

By: scody

scody — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:38:13 -0800

Why did Tony Wilson need to rely on the NHS to pay for his drugs? Wasn't he rich? No, in fact, he wasn't rich at all, which of course seems surprising considering his extraordinary influence on popular culture. Factory Records was (in)famous for never being a money-making operation, the Hacienda eventually went bankrupt, etc. Shaun Ryder (of Happy Mondays) and others had to raise the funds for him. (Fookin' least they could do...)

By: milquetoast

milquetoast — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:51:12 -0800

What a pigfuck of a way to start a Friday night. I am now playing Joy Division way too fucking loud.

By: General Zubon

General Zubon — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:15:39 -0800

Tony Wilson, big god: a nice blog entry from Momus.

By: MrMerlot

MrMerlot — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:15:56 -0800

I always liked how proud a Northerner he was. How he made a such a stance to keep Factory Records in Manchester.

By: MrMerlot

MrMerlot — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:19:56 -0800

It's a shame the recent Hacienda trainers were not used to raise money for him. He could have used the money to fund his cancer treatment. Apparently the Mondays and other bands had been funding him.

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:56:08 -0800

The man was a joy and now the joy is gone and the waiting begins. God bless you, Tony.

By: bunnytricks

bunnytricks — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 01:51:08 -0800

Over a year ago, I started listening to Substance by New Order in the car. Not tiring of it in the first month, I decided to see if I could go a year listening to that single album as a test of rock endurance. The year flew by with ease. Today I declared Peter Hook the victor and popped in something else, and Tony Wilson up and dies. So it goes.

By: davehat

davehat — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 04:48:04 -0800

. Manchester won't quite be the same without him. I always sort of imagined that Tony would somehow manage to out wit the big C.

By: MrMerlot

MrMerlot — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 04:54:23 -0800

He joins fellow founders of Factory Records Alan Erasmus, Martin Hannet and Rob Gretton in the grave. All four of them died early.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 05:55:47 -0800

For a long time, Tony Wilson really got up my nose. Liverpool and Manchester are rival cities, and when Tony was a cub presenter on Granada Reports, he'd take every opportunity he could to make sly digs at his cultural superiors, thirty miles down the East Lancashire Road. Eventually though, he grew out of it, and we forgave him. By the time he was presenting So It Goes, we still regarded him as a clot, but a loveable one. Tony did more to create Manchester's reputation than any other single person I can think of -- though, of course, the man was actually originally from Salford, and Salford people generally hate to be thought of as Mancunians. Nathan McGough's a Liverpudlian though. I can remember regularly seeing him coming out of his dad's house on Rodney Street and skateboarding down Bold Street like it was yesterday. He must have been 15 or so at the time. I could never figure out how he went from being skateboarding teenager to music magnate overnight, but I assumed Tony had something to do with it. RIP, you Mancunian cunt.

By: maus

maus — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 07:42:03 -0800

it's too early for word recognition, and i thought for a moment that this was about robert anton wilson. i thought to myself, with little surprise, 'oh. so he's died twice this year.'

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 08:41:51 -0800

Um - are we too sad to say: "Miguel!!!!" ?

By: General Zubon

General Zubon — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 09:44:10 -0800

Lefsetz Remembers Tony Wilson

By: niceness

niceness — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:32:57 -0800

I normally don't go for the RIP threads - but everybody has one that hits home and this is a real fucking shame.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:52:19 -0800

He still should have signed the Smiths. RIP, Tony... and thanks.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:04:45 -0800

Ach, I wonder if this is why the hipsters at last night's show kept playing Joy Division as filler music (it was a jazz/drone show, and it was a little incongruous). On the other hand, I doubt they knew who he was (I AM OLD MAN GRUMP). Total shame.

By: joeclark

joeclark — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:22:56 -0800

OMFG

By: shoepal

shoepal — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:10:35 -0800

By: sgt.serenity

sgt.serenity — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:10:49 -0800

rip

By: psmealey

psmealey — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:15:26 -0800

Watching that video just now, I cannot help but wonder if Wilson's legacy would have been enhanced if, in the process of discovering the Happy Mondays, he undiscovered the abysmal Shaun Ryder.

By: flashboy

flashboy — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:46:30 -0800

He was right about Mick Hucknall. .

By: brautigan

brautigan — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:36:33 -0800

Shaun Ryder is a genius. And Tony knew it.

By: ob

ob — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:00:10 -0800

By: purephase

purephase — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:30:05 -0800

24 Hour Party People is on Showcase tonight. Tony, thanks for all the good times. You will be missed. .

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:45:58 -0800

This news upset me far more than I would have expected. Wilson was a total opportunist and had success entirely based on luck: the best band on Factory were Durruti Column who sold a good 12 copies of every album - New Order (monstrous piss-heads all) turned into a huge globe eating engine of cash New Order (monstrous piss-heads all) were used ruthlessly to finance the single worst live music venue in north-west England (I remember how awed we were when the International opened in the mid-eighties and we got to see smaller scale bands in a place that had acoustics that actually let us hear the music). Then it turned into the shrine of Madchester and all of of sudden a space designed to look like a parking lot filled with with people who just wanted a place filled with bass-lines. All through this TW ran on as though it were all planned. The extraordinarily weird idea that Liverpool and Manchester were so close geographically that they should share an evening news program let him play mind games against The One True Enemy even in his day job. I think I met him once at the Hacienda. Or I may just have had a long chat with his picture. Hard to say really. and in a way it doesn't matter. He was a Grade A asshole. I will miss him a lot and I am hugely sad he died so young.

By: grubby

grubby — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 03:03:44 -0800

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:25:43 -0800

"Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches"

By: Remy

Remy — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:17:33 -0800

By: blag

blag — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:58:58 -0800

Safe journey, mate.

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:59:07 -0800

I was shocked that at a recent MeFi meetup a huge swathe of the attendees had no idea who The Happy Mondays were. Influential doesn't even cut it. So, . to you Anthony Wilson, and even though you were a Mancunian Twat, you'll be sorely missed.

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:19:59 -0800

From the Momus link:

Sure, Blue Monday's lozenge-cut sleeve cost so much to print that the label actually lost more money the more copies they printed. But even that isn't bad business. It's an investment in mystique, and a bold statement that lavish elegance counts more than profit. "Some make money, others make history," is how Tony put it.

an investment in mystique Read that again - it's how Wilson and Bill Drummond and every other genuinely good record label boss works. flashboy - being right about Mick H is my personal definition of being human

By: Shinkicker

Shinkicker — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:24:45 -0800

This is the first time that I've discovered the death of a hero on MeFi. A great man - amazing how he combined being a local news reporter with being such a prime mover. Open to abuse in some ways, but the North West was very lucky to have someone with the enthusiasm and integrity to carry it off.