To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Factory, Manchester's most well known record label, Rhino records release of 'Factory Records: Communications 1978-92'. Founded in 1978 when former Granada TV presenter Tony Wilson teamed up with Alan Erasmus, an unemployed actor and band manager, soon to be joined by maverick producer Martin Hannett, 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 the acts who had performed there; 'A Factory Sample' - and Factory Records was born.
The first album on the label was Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures', which produced the hit single 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. Lead singer Ian Curtis tragically committed suicide, but 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.
Factory was however much more than just it's headline acts. 'Communications 1978-92' celebrates the label from the first release 'A Factory Sample' through an extremely diverse roster of acts from the cutting edge post punk of A Certain Ratio, Cabaret Voltaire, The Railway Children, OMD, James and Joy Division to obscurities such as Section 25, Biting Tongues, Crispy Ambulance, Miaow and Swamp Children via early dance culture - ESG and 52nd Street, to the full flowering of the 'Madchester scene', ending fittingly with the last Factory release 'Sunshine and Love' by Happy Mondays.
Disc 1 1978-81
1.01. Digital (Joy Division) 2:51
1.02. Baader Meinhof (Cabaret Voltaire) 3:23
1.03. All Night Party (A Certain Ratio) 3:15
1.04. Electricity (Factory Version) (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) ) 3:45
1.05. She's Lost Control (Joy Division) 4:54
1.06. Time Goes By So Slow (Distractions, The) 3:21
1.07. Transmission (Joy Division) 3:36
1.08. Sketch For Summer (Durutti Column, The) 2:58
1.09. English Black Boys (X-O-Dus) 4:46
1.10. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division) 3:26
1.11. Shack Up (A Certain Ratio) 3:14
1.12. Girls Don't Count (Section 25) 4:28
1.13. Sex Machine (Crawling Chaos) 5:39
1.14. Flight (A Certain Ratio) 6:04
1.15. Nightshift (Names, The) 3:37
1.16. Ceremony (Original Version) (New Order) 4:37
1.17. Dolphin's Spurt (Minny Pops) 2:51
1.18. It's Hard To Be An Egg (John Dowie) 3:09
1.19. Deaf (Crispy Ambulance) 3:57
1.20. Dirty Disco (Section 25) 5:19
Disc 2 1981-84
2.01. Everything's Gone Green (New Order) 5:34
2.02. Watching The Hydroplanes (Tunnelvision (2)) 3:52
2.03. Messidor (Durutti Column, The) 2:31
2.04. Knife Slits Water (LP Version) (A Certain Ratio) 7:36
2.05. Art On 45 (Royal Family And The Poor) 4:49
2.06. Taste What's Rhythm (Swamp Children) 6:06
2.07. Temptation (New Order) 8:58
2.08. Cool As Ice (52nd Street) 7:48
2.09. Blue Monday (New Order) 7:29
2.10. Yashar (John Robie Remix) (Cabaret Voltaire) John Robie [ Remix ] 7:31
2.11. Love Tempo (Quando Quango) 7:55
2.12. Talk About The Past (Wake, The) 6:25
Disc 3 1983-87
3.01. Confusion (New Order) 8:13
3.02. Reach For Love (Marcel King) 5:27
3.03. Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix) (Section 25) 8:10
3.04. All At Once (Stockholm Monsters) 2:57
3.05. Tell Me (Life (3)) 3:10
3.06. Without Mercy (Duet) (Durutti Column, The) 2:33
3.07. Hymn From A Village (James) 2:53
3.08. Trickery (Kalima) 4:28
3.09. Sounds Like Something Dirty (A Certain Ratio) 6:56
3.10. Genius (Quando Quango) 6:25
3.11. Freaky Dancin' (Happy Mondays) 3:45
3.12. When It All Comes Down (Miaow) 3:30
3.13. Brighter (Railway Children, The) 4:55
3.14. Compressor (Biting Tongues) 4:52
3.15. True Faith (New Order) 5:54
3.16. 24 Hour Party People (Happy Mondays) 4:38
Disc 4 1988-92
4.01. Fine Time (New Order) 4:45
4.02. W.F.L. (Think About The Future) (Happy Mondays) 7:12
4.03. Seven Reasons (Revenge) 4:09
4.04. Hallelujah (Club Mix) (Happy Mondays) 6:29
4.05. Getting Away With It (Electronic) 5:16
4.06. Step On (Happy Mondays) 5:18
4.07. Shall We Take A Trip (Northside (2)) 4:24
4.08. World In Motion (New Order (England New Order) ) 4:32
4.09. Kinky Afro (Happy Mondays) 3:59
4.10. Home (Durutti Column, The) 5:39
4.11. Get The Message (DNA Remix) (Electronic) DNA [ Remix ] 5:27
4.12. Take 5 (Northside (2)) 4:12
4.13. Moves Like You (Remix) (Cath Carroll) 6:33
4.14. Tasty Fish (Other Two, The) 3:51
4.15. Sunshine And Love (Lionrock Remix) (Happy Mondays) Lionrock [ Remix ] 7:19