FAC-2 Joy Division by Michael Eastwood

[Aside]

Joy Division
by Michael Eastwood

It was New Year 1979 when my elder brother - flush with cash from his city- centre admin job and spending freely on his first love: vinyl - dropped FAC-2 A Factory Sample in my lap. "Three bleedin' quid it cost me. Tony f#####' Wilson!".

I had no idea what effect the contents of this seven-inch bag would have on my next twenty-five years.

I got it straight away. Manchester. Factory. Factory Sample. Use Hearing Protection. This fifteen-year-old East Manchester working-class sore thumb had been struggling for some time to understand why certain pictures, objects, buildings, places, views and images had the capacity to fire off intense pleasurable feelings.

Bank notes and paper coin bags with a paper band round them. The Lufthansa timetable. The Deansgate flyover. Motorway signs. Office stationery. Pylons. The parabolic roof on Sunley Plaza. Letraset.

I was beginning to worry. I was actually thinking of discussing it with my mates! Now I didn't need to. Saville's packaging explained it all. My first lesson in vocabulary. Suddenly, it all made sense and, crucially, it was completely acceptable. There is a perfectly proportioned box in the autistic spectrum with a perfectly kerned label marked, sans serif: modernism.

What's more, inside the seven inch bag was a (Factory) sample of the soundtrack to modernism itself.

Joy Division taught us that things could be different; that the tired old classic cliché line-up of drums, bass, guitar, vocals actually contained immense power - if only they were stripped back down to their very basics; that drummers didn't have to play 'drums', bassists didn't have to play 'the bass', guitarists shouldn't play 'guitar', vocalists musn't sing 'songs', bands don't have to be 'band-like', managers could do whatever the fuck they wanted and certain producers could turn 2D into 3.

Spin 30 years forward and I ask Peter Hook, via email, to explain...

1. Is it true that John Brierley actually came up with the idea for 'Factory' to do a 'Record'? What were the circumstances?

Don't know ask him?

2. How were you approached to be included on FAC-2?

Through Rob probably, can't remember?

3. Did you submit pre-recorded work or create something 'original'?

Can't remember that either. Shit! I think they were our newest songs?

4. Were 'Digital' and 'Glass' specifically chosen - and recorded - for FAC-2, if so why?

See last answer

5. What was 'Cargo' like at that time?

Grotty, but very workman- like. The valve 2 inch which I inherited in Suite 16 sounded wonderful. It was very dark and felt very serious. It was the first time I'd been to Rochdale.

6. Were you given a budget?

No. If we were I didn’t know. The whole thing, I believe, was done in a day - recording and mix.

7. Was this the first time you worked with Martin Hannett?

Yes - first time.

8. Did the finished JD product convince you to use Hannett for the album?

FAC-2 Joy Division sticker

We weren't given an option - just told that was what was happening!

9. Who did the JD picture on the stickers that accompanied FAC-2, and what's it all about?

No idea?

10. Were you sent test pressings (a "pre-release" double 7" version in white paper sleeve and a small- scale mock-up of the final Peter Saville artwork)?

No. We helped to make the sleeves and were paid 50p per hundred. We were skint!

11. What did you think of the finished product - both aural and physical (i.e. packaging)?

I loved it. It was like we were in the big time! It was closely followed by Earcom 2 - the Bob Last record, so we were feeling like Big Time Charlie Potatoes! It was great!

12. Did you know - professionally and/or socially - any of the other (FAC2) bands at all at the time? Have you kept up with any of them in the years since?

I talked to Kevin Hewick a lot and we were very friendly with the Cabs, and the Duruttis come to think of it. Both Bernard and I played on Kevin's next record for Factory.

13. Was there any kind of 'launch' for FAC2? Were there any gigs to promote it?

Can't remember. I don’t think people did launches in them days - every gig was meant to promote it!

14. What did you think of the design of FAC2 in relation to what was available at the time?

I thought the design was fab. Loved it! It was exotic and northern, dark and mad!

15. Did the design of FAC2 influence the decision to use Peter Saville to do all subsequent JD/NO artwork?

No. He was onboard like Hannett, so it was taken for granted at the start he'd do them. We continued cos we liked his work and his uniqueness. Personally and workwise he is a character.