In reflection of installing our curated window display in our 8 Berwick Street store, on display until the end of July, which centres around our FAC 03 poster.
Our story as Underground began in 1981 Manchester. We started as a rare trainer store, endeavouring to cater to the demand of the city’s subcultural youth. At this point, it was a bubbling hotpot of culture: punk, post-punk, madchester, acidhouse, rave, ska, 2Tone- and we worked tirelessly to deliver them the same shoes their idols wore that were difficult to find.
Prior to this, up until the late seventies, the rest of civilisation perceived Manchester as just another dreary, unremarkable, working-class city in the north of England. Nobody could have predicted the explosion of music, culture and art that, for some years, placed Manchester as the cultural capital of the world. Nobody, you would believe, except for Tony Wilson.
In the late seventies, Tony Wilson was a local celebrity of sorts in Manchester. A TV presenter on Granada Television, his programme So It Goes became infamous for being one of the first mainstream broadcasts to pick up on the ever-escalating punk movement. One of the more famous episodes was the Sex Pistols TV debut. Arguments of his telepathy or that he was a proprietor of a secret crystal ball could be made fairly at this point.
It was this programme in fact that first brought Joy Division’s Ian Curtis to Tony’s attention. Preceding this, the Sex Pistols allowed for the two to unknowingly cross paths at The Electric Circus in 1976 when the Anarchy Tour rolled into Manchester. Attending- a fabled audience of forty-two people, some eventually maturing into the likes of Mick Hucknall, Buzzocks, and Joy Division. In a 1976 issue of Sounds, Pete Silverton described the phenomenon, the lowering of the aspirational bar the Sex Pistols had affected: The sentiments were echoed by most[ly] every kid I spoke to- they were certainly all in he process of forming bands. But it was not until May 77 at a club called Rafters in London that the two essentially met. Mark Johnson in his book An Ideal for Living described how Ian angrily confronted Tony with You bastard! You put Buzzcocks and Sex Pistols and Magazine on the telly, what about us then. Pretty hostile first impressions, but again, Tony, psychically or not, knew when to take a chance.
It was around then that Tony and four others had founded Factory Records and the club that preceded their later venture, the Hacienda. Joy Division went on to be headliners of the fourth Friday night of the Factory Club, and many times more from that point. That was just the start of a sadly short but awe-inspiring relationship together, but this story of Tony’s clairvoyance was sparked by a poster close to Underground’s heart.
Designed by the legendary Peter Saville, (whose futuristic work pair perfectly with Tony’s remarkable grasp of time), this is a genuine example of one of 250 copies of Factory Records second poster release, known as FAC 3. Made for a show at the Factory Club where Joy Division would star on the bill only four months after their first show there, this poster has been with Underground since our very inception.
The name FAC 3 refers to a catalogue number, and not one given in the usual manner, with the past already written and hindsight a tool. By some bizarre, incredible foresight, Tony Wilson commenced cataloguing and numbering everything he thought significant to Factory Records. This poster being the third item he branded as significant.
The catalogue itself was almost as iconic as Factory Records. Numbers, not necessarily in chronological order, were allocated to albums, posters, and even places. Items ending 2 often denoted Happy Monday releases, and 3 for Joy Division or New Order. Prominent releases went from FAC to FACT, and given prominent numbers. Joy Division’s Closer was numbered FACT 25, and the Hacienda club was FAC 51 for example. The catalogue includes hundreds of items, and things were allocated codes long after Tony Wilson’s death.
But how did he know? This man saw glitter where most saw rubbish; he saw significance and decades ahead in everything that surrounded him. He pegged Manchester for the buzzing, creative mecca our company grew up in, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Happy Mondays and Oasis in tow.
One interesting note I chanced across today was from Dr. Jennifer Bickerdike’s book of essays, Joy Devotion: The Importance of Ian Curtis and Fan Culture. Mark Brodie-Way writes in his essay, City Limits that Wilson was writing the legend of the Factory and Manchester as he went along. So whether you believe in Tony Wilson having either super-human divination powers, or that he was an expert manufacturer and story-teller, it would be hard to write off as anything less than a legend. So much of a legend in fact that his coffin received its own catalogue number, FAC 501.
Our window is available to view until the end of this month at: 8 Berwick Street, London, W1F0PH.
Fans bustled outside the shop in deep trepidation of the act which they were about to witness. Tickets to the event were limited and exclusive, giving a handful of fans the opportunity to witness the evening’s events. With the store quickly becoming packed out, it wasn’t soon until the shop held the same atmosphere as some of the country’s leading music venues.
Walking out to a crowd who silent in anticipation, Talk Show weren’t ones to let down: the evening started with the band warming up with ‘Trouble’ with Swann’s violent lyricism paired with an almost militaristic sound of harsh guitar rhythms and drumbeats. It wasn’t long until the whole crowd was jumping, bouncing, and dancing along with the band as they played both deep cuts of old music and selections from their debut EP ‘These People’. Swann’s charmingly boisterous act was something that took first-time listeners by surprise, with the lead singer bringing as much ferocious energy as he would to a full–sized venue to the 50-capacity store.
Despite the heavy and dark nature of the band’s lyricism and soundscape, this was juxtaposed by Swann’s jovial nature when interacting with the crowd, almost basking in the undivided attention that this brought. As the set continued fans were laughing, screaming, cheering, and dancing in pure catharsis. The night wasn’t a one-man-show however, with George, Chloe, and Thomas each bringing the same level of energy to the performance. With Chloe’s frantic drumming, George’s bouncy guitar playing with the penultimate song being ‘Underworld’ the energy of the venue was at its peak, before them ending the set on their most popular release ‘Fast and Loud’, with the audience being in complete awe at the performance that was put on.
Ending with ecstatic cheering and the band’s own complete rapture at their reception, Talk Show stuck around to greet fans and chat to friends and family. Starting in October, the band are set to embark on their biggest UK headline tour to date, with an appearance at London’s 600 capacity venue Lafayette. The next month is going to be staggering for the rising post-punk rockers.
Listen to Talk Show HERE
Check out Sixty Sixty Sounds HERE
Underground Soundwave presents an ongoing series of reports on emerging and established bands with close-up Q&As, new release reviews and gig reports with a special emphasis on supporting diversity in music, women in music, independent labels and venues and the local music scene.
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