An Evening of Unknown Pleasures with Peter Hook
Last night, in Norwich, I got to spend an evening in the company of Peter Hook, Howard Marks and about 200 other guests! 
Upon entering the venue, the stage was set up with two armchairs surrounded by loads of memorabilia. On display were a selection of guitars, original artwork, posters, paintings, a couple of Hooky’s leather jackets and a couple of display cases with various bits of smaller things (see photos below). Hanging above the stage were two inflatable Factory balloons with the famous logo emblazoned on them.
We were invited to walk on stage and peruse all of this fascinating stuff first hand, take pictures and linger pretty much as long as we liked. Pretty unprecedented, totally appreciated and fantastically well observed by all those that attended.
The show itself opened with a short compilation of films, video clips and pictures, many of which were previously unseen. And then Howard Marks took to the stage, introducing himself in that awesome, deep Welsh baritone voice of his. Think what you like about this man, he has the same engaging qualities as his fellow countrymen Burton & Hopkins. And then Peter took to the stage, promptly sat down in front of his Trace Elliot stack and knocked out two numbers. The first, “Elegia“, an instrumental from the Low Life album by New Order and the second, the famous “never released” track, “The Happy One“, much loved by Hooky, Tony Wilson and fans alike….
And then, the two chaps sat down and started to chat. You’d think that there may have been some scripting or pre-rehearsed stuff at this point, but the conversation seemed pretty off the cuff, talking about Norwich and previous visits (Howard once stood here for MP in 1997 in both city constituencies!). And then it swiftly moved on to answering questions from the audience which we had submitted in writing earlier.
I shan’t bore you with all the details, but suffice to say, it was frank, honest and open discussion about Joy Division, New Order, Factory, The Hacienda, Manchester and Hooky’s contemporaries.
After a brief interval (much welcomed as the seats were bloody awful!) the guys returned to the stage, answering more questions, involving the audience much more and wrapping up with a final performance of “Dark Starr“, a track from the new FreeBass EP, “Two Worlds Collide” featuring Howard on vocals. A truly cracking piece!
And then it was over. Hooky then re-emerged to willingly oblige the very long queue of fans with autographs and photos, as did Howard.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening and I have to say that whilst many people say you should never meet your heroes, chatting with Peter after the show, he was so incredibly friendly, accommodating and genuine. Some people think that he speaks too much these days, that he trades of the past too much, but the impression O got of this man last night was that he really enjoys what he does and is genuinely grateful for everything that has happened to him. He openly admits how fortunate he has been and he is incredibly willing to give whatever he can back to the fans that have granted him this good fortune.
The Distractions – 1995 Demos
Ask 100 people if they know who The Distractions were and your survey would say, “EH UHHH”. To this day, I have only met four people who remember them. Three of them are musical journo’s or musicians from that era, the other, bizarrely, a work colleague from Hull!
The Distractions were a new wave band. I say new wave because they emerged during the new wave era in the late 1970′s but it would be more accurate to describe them as a pure pop band. They initially signed to Factory Records and were highly respected on the circuit in Manchester, but that was really about as far as it went. They managed half a dozen singles, only one of which on the afore-mentioned Factory label, and one classic album, Nobody’s Perfect. They disbanded in 1981 and vanished into obscurity. Mike Finney, lead singer and one half of the main writing duo in the band, went on to work with the Art Of Noise, amongst others.
Their most memorable song was the brilliant “Time Goes By So Slow”, a brilliant piece of nostalgic pop, with quirky Mancunian references. It can be found HERE on the Factory compilation, Factory Records: Communications 1978-1992 via Spotify.
Rumour has it that their album may get a re-release soon, and that there might be a reunion of sorts. Mike Finney and Steve Perrin have already started working together again and a new website has sprung up to ensure some kind of online memorial for the band.
And it’s from that site that a collection of aborted demos has sprung, from 1995. The website describes it thus:
In 1995 Mike Finney and Steve Perrin, two of the founder members of The Distractions, joined forces once again under their former banner. Mike takes up the story: “In 1995, Steve and me got together with Nick Garside (Manc producer), on bass, Bernard Van Den Berg ( Distractions after Alec left, then Secret Seven) on Drums, Kevin Durkin (ex Direct Hits, who we knew from TJM records at the beginning, and Escape Committee) on guitar (bass on Good Girls) and played half a dozen gigs in and around Manchester and Liverpool. All these songs were in the set, with many other new songs, but only Still It Doesn’t Ring and It Doesn’t Bother Me from the old stuff. We were tempted to do Looking For A Ghost for an encore, but settled for Valerie and a few Lou Reed songs, which is in keeping with what we would have done originally.
Good Girls Don’t Get To Paris was written in 1979, but unrecorded until 1995 at Chiswick Reach (Joe Meek’s Studio where Telstar and My Generation were recorded). The other 4 tunes were recorded at Manchester’s Out of the Blue Studio in 1995 (This was the original ‘Madchester’ studio, owned by Nick Garside).”
For your delectation we present the original mixes of these five otherwise unheard Distractions songs. As you’ll hear, there had been no slipping of standards over the 15 years that Messrs Perrin and Finney had been apart. Black Velvet, in particular, is a stone-cold 24-carat classic Distractions song, as well as being almost twice as long as anything else in their repertoire.
And so I invite you to indulge. Experience the sounds of a band that could’ve been the next big thing in 1979 but weren’t and for no real reason. It just didn’t happen. Maybe it was because new wave initially was all grey overcoats and doom and gloom (think Joy Division) and The Distractions were just too full of the joys of life!?
There’s even a Facebook fan page, run by my friend from Hull, and some of it’s 55 members include the band too!!
Revel in their hidden magnificence 
Tony Wilson’s personal record collection for sale!
In one of those “once in a lifetime” opportunities, a portion of the late, great Tony Wilson‘s record collection has come up for sale on eBay! Tony Wilson is probably best known for being co-founder of Factory Records and the Haçienda nightclub.
Contained for sale are some absolute gems that I’m sure will achieve vast sums of cash.
Here is a copy of Joy Division’s Transmission/Novelty – FAC 13, signed by Ian Curtis!
Click here to browse what is currently on offer and there is more to come apparently!
Peter Hook to play Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ live in its entirety!
Peter Hook to play Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ live in its entirety
Bassist to perform seminal album in Manchester on the 30th anniversary of Ian Curtis’ death
Peter Hook has announced plans to perform Joy Division’s debut album live in its entirety to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of late singer Ian Curtis.
The ex-New Order bassist will be joined by a host of guests at the newly refurbished former Factory Records site FAC51 in Manchester on May 18, the same day Curtis hung himself in the kitchen of his home in Macclesfield.
Before that, Hook will showcase previously-unseen Joy Division and New Order footage as part of a new show set to tour the UK in April.
Billed ‘An Evening Of Unknown Pleasures’, the nights will see Hook give talks on his past bands and Factory Records along with the footage, plus live music. Fans will be able to quiz the bassist as part of the evening.
I’m there!!
Factory: The Story Of The Record Label by Mick Middles
A little while back, I finished reading “Factory: The Story Of The Record Label” by Mick Middles and I have to say, I haven’t read such a rich, detailed and thorough account of a music scene as this and yet it still remains a personal account too.
Mick used many of his own recordings made at the time in his capacity as a journalist for such tomes as the NME. This gives much authority to the tales recounted, and this is reassuring as many of the tales told about Factory, Tony Wilson, Joy Division, New Order and everything else about the Manchester music scene that kicked off in 1976 and went on to be the heavyweight force it is today, are coloured by time, chemicals and the effect of chinese whispers
Mick speaks to all the movers and shakers, those alive at the time of writing, and this edition of the book featured an update to take into account the passing of the late, great co-founder of Factory, Tony Wilson.
All the staple stories are here but with Mick’s take on events instead of the myth, supported by his journalistic evidence. And this book really does cover everything. Quite often I found myself rediscovering many Manchester acts that I had forgotten about such as The Distractions & X-O-Dus. Thankfully, Spotify came to the rescue on a number of occasions
This is a great book for any music lover, especially those of my generation who remember the new wave movement that kicked off the whole thing, through the turbulent Joy Division/New Order times, through to Madchester and the Hacienda and on to the now well established Mancunian acts such as Elbow.
I spoke to Mick very briefly online the other week and thanked him heartily for this book for which he was most grateful. It is worth also checking out his other books about the era, especially his book on Ian Curtis, “Torn Apart”, written in conjunction with Lindsey Reade, Tony Wilson’s ex-wife.
Links:
Essential Spotify listening for Factory found here.
Excellent unofficial Factory fansite, CerysmaticFactory.
New club, FAC251, founded by Peter Hook, and site full of Hacienda stuff.
Unknown Pleasures: An Evening with Peter Hook
I mentioned a while back that I had intended on getting tickets to Unknown Pleasures: An Evening with Peter Hook and I did!
It takes place on April 30th and will be compered by the legendary Howard Marks as well as featuring an exhibition beforehand, so this is shaping up to be a top night.
I am in the middle of reading Pete’s book, “The Hacienda: How Not To Run A Club”, which is a unique insight into the whole Madchester era.
Expect a detailed post after the event
And if you’re up Manchester way, be sure to check out Pete’s new club, FAC251, which opened recently and promises to be more stable and successful, if not as influential, as the original FAC51 on Whitworth St.
New Order/Peter Hook – The Happy One (aka Spot the synths!)
Just lately I have been re-immersing myself in the whole world that is Joy Division/New Order/Factory Records/etc.. in fact, anything from that golden age of musical renaissance that was the New Wave revolution of circa 1979. This has involved re-purchasing Joy Division back catalogue, books, documentaries and films, as well as scouring the interwebs for anything remotely JD/NO related. I’ve even bought myself a ticket to go see Peter Hook give a talk on his life & times as bassist with the aforementioned bands as well as being part owner of the legendary yet doomed Hacienda night club in Manchester.
Anyway, whilst pootling about the web tonight, I came across the following video that, albeit in poor quality, shows us the legend that is Tony Wilson (co-founder of Factory) presenting a segment on a show (The Other Side Of Midnight) that has Peter Hook playing a track called “The Happy One” live, along with a bunch of synth geekery behind him. See if you can spot anything that I haven’t already seen.
I can make out an E-MU Emulator EII, a Roland D-50, Apple Macintosh SE/30, Yamaha TX-816 & Akai S900
