Movie of the Week: Who Is Tony Wilson?

Tony Wilson by Paul Wolfgang Webster

Who Is Tony Wilson? was made by Steven Lomas, and features contributions by Kevin Cummins, Dave Haslam and Martin Moscrop. Hat tip to Cerysmatic Factory for this one.

Friday Ephemera: Maxwells press release (1980)

That's some great list of upcoming shows. Trainspotters note: Joy Division is listed as playing in September. This is obviously after Ian Curtis killed himself, but before they selected their new name. New Order would play the show.

Movie of the Week: Umbrellas in The Sun - A Crepuscule / Factory Benelux Collection

Following the posting this week of Donald Johnson (A Certain Ratio)'s Stupefied Playlist, let's stick with the Factory Records vibe for the first MOTW for the weekend.

Here's Umbrellas In The Sun - an incredible collection of bands from the Crepuscule, Benelux & Factory loose family of labels. This collection wouldn't otherwise ever be possible without the hard & obsessive work of labels like LTM, so go buy a copy of this, or any of their DVD comps, now!

Umbrellas in the Sun borrows its title from the 1981 video compilation of the same name released by Belgian label, Les Disques du Crepuscule (TWI 099), and features selected clips from that project, as well as clips from A Factory Video (Fact 65), A Factory Complication (FBN 7) and A Factory Outing (Fact 71) plus previously unseen material. Featuring cover art by Crepuscule design director Benoit Hennebert, the DVD contains 23 rare clips filmed between 1979 and 1987 and runs for over 2 hours.  The definitive genre document!

Tracklist:

01. Antena - The Boy From Ipanema
02. A Certain Ratio - Back to the Start
03. Josef K - Sorry For Laughing
04. Cabaret Voltaire - Sluggin' Fer Jesus
05. Marine - A Propositio dei Napoli
06. Section 25 - New Horizon
07. The Names - Nightshift
08. Durutti Column - Marie-Louise Gardens
09. New Order - Everything's Gone Green (live)
10. Crispy Ambulance - The Presence
11. Minny Pops - Dolphins Spurt
12. Malaria! - White Sky/White Sea (live)
13. Tuxedomoon - Litebulb Overkill/Jinx (live)
14. Berntholer - My Suitor
15. Thick Pigeon - Wheels Over Indian Trails
16. Paul Haig - Heaven Sent (live)
17. Kalima - Trickery
18. Stockholm Monsters - Partyline
19. Swamp Children - You've Got Me Beat (live)
20. Kalima - The Smiling Hour
21. Quando Quango - Go Exciting (live)
22. Marine - Une Soiree Avec... (28 minute film)

Stupefied: The Donald Johnson Playlist

This week's Stupefied Playlist comes courtesy of A Certain Ratio's drummer, Donald Johnson, these days perhaps known better as DJ Dojo. For some background, I'll defer to the head of our Factory Records History Department, Professor John Cooper of Cerysmatic Factory. Take it away John:

Donald Johnson (or DoJo) is best known for being the funky drummer in Manchester band, A Certain Ratio, having joined their drummerless incarnation in August 1979 just after the release of their first single for Factory Records, 'All Night Party' (FAC 5). However, according to Mick Middles's excellent book From Joy Division to New Order: The Factory Story, DoJo's connections to the Factory family go back even earlier than that as he played in a band which was briefly called Lady with Vini Reilly who would later become the mainstay of avant garde classicists, The Durutti Column (stand by for Vini's playlist in coming weeks).

There is also a strong family musical tradition with Donald's brothers, Derek and Barry (who began their careers in soul band Sweet Sensation alongside the late great Marcel King), also going on to play in various Factory bands including Quando Quango and 52nd Street.

Donald's prowess on drums is undisputed, but throughout his career he has demonstrated many strings to his bow. Indeed, a popular feature of many A Certain Ratio gigs is him playing bass on 'Knife Slits Water' . You may also remember his "Liza with a Z" rap on 'Don't Drop Bombs' by Liza Minelli from her Pet Shop Boys-produced comeback album Results.

And there's his excellent production skills, often with New Order's Bernard Sumner under the BeMusic/DoJo moniker, for a variety of Factory acts including Quando Quango, Marcel King, 52nd Street, Surprize, Section 25, The Royal Family and The Poor, Kevin Hewick and Shark Vegas. By the way, Surpize's In Movimento album will soon be reissued by Factory Benelux.

These days, in between occasional ACR gigs, Donald might pop up for some Uncut Funk at a Manchester venue near you.

Follow Donald on Twitter 

and follow hashtags #FunkUpFriday and #FunkAcademy

Follow Donald on Spotify

A Certain Ratio - official website

Big thanks to both Donald & John at Cerysmatic!

Donald Johnson, left, with A Certain Ratio, in this great old Factory Record PR photo

01. ISLEY BROTHERS ~ Listen To the Music

02. COMMODORES ~ Machine Gun

03. DON BLACKMON ~ Hearts Desire

04. KOOL & THE GANG ~ More Funky Stuff

05. THE TIME ~ 777-9311

06. ROGER TROUTMAN ~ More Bounce To the Ounce

07. PRINCE ~ I Wanna Be Your Lover

08. PRINCE ~ Musicology (Live on the Jay Leno Show)

09. PRINCE ~ Release It

10. EARTH WIND & FIRE ~ Let's Groove Tonight

11. CAMEO ~ Candy

12. MCFADDEN & WHITEHEAD ~ Ain't No Stopping Us Now

13. TRYONE BRONSON ~ The Smurf

14. EDDIE KENDRICK'S ~ Keep On Trucking

15. O'JAYS ~ For The Love of Money

16. GRACE JONES ~ Slave To the Rhythm

17. GEORGE DUKE ~ Funkin' For the Thrill

18. THE JACKSON SISTERS ~ I Believe In Miracles

19. BOOTSY COLLINS ~ Jungle Bass

20. TOM BROWNE ~ Funkin' For Jamaica

Before and After: Shack Up

Before - Banbarra:

Banbarra on Amazon

After - A Certain Ratio:

A Certain Ration on Amazon

Part Time Punks

To follow up on the recent Part Time Punks all-dayer in La La town, visit Lyndsey LA Channel for some video footage of some of the bands. Good stuff - too bad about the sound quality! Thanks to Steve of Medium Medium for the link.

Medium Medium:


A Certain Ratio:


Pylon:


Visit Lyndsey LA Channel for more.

Here they come, la la la la la la la la

PART TIME PUNKS & THE ECHO present
THE 1ST-ANNUAL PART TIME PUNKS FESTIVAL
Sunday, November 16, 2008

Los Angeles will be the location of the world’s first-ever Post-Punk Festival (or at least the first since 1982 or whenever the last Futurama was held in the UK!). The day-long event will be held in conjoined venues, The Echo & The Echoplex, in Echo Park, Sunday, November 16, 2008 from 2pm – 2am.

Most excitingly, the Part Time Punks Festival will mark the first appearance of A CERTAIN RATIO in the United States since 1985! At the time, often dismissed as Joy Division clones (also on Factory Records), the band has since been recognized in the highest echelon of Post-Punk innovation, alongside Public Image Limited, Gang Of Four and The Slits for fusing Punk with dance rhythms – much of this credit probably due to the reissuing of the band’s back catalogue by Soul Jazz.

The Festival will also mark the first West Coast appearance of Pylon since they reformed last year to promote DFA’s releasing of their back catalogue (the label will be re-issuing Pylon’s second album, “Chomp” in time for the Festival).

The Festival will also provide the first West Coast appearance of The Nightingales since their reformation two years ago, the first-ever West Coast appearance of Vivian Girls AND the first performance by The Wild Stares since splitting in 1987 (who, if you don’t know, were Boston’s finest Post-Punk band from the early 80s, led by Steven Gregoropolous, now best known for his current band, Lavender Diamond).

The complete confirmed line-up is thus:
A Certain Ratio, Pylon, Love Is All, Vivian Girls, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Mika Miko, Savage Republic, Nervous Gender, Medium Medium, The Nightingales, The Urinals, The Wild Stares, Magic Bullets, The Muslims, Grimble Grumble, Warpaint, Softboiled Eggies, Nodzzz. . .

PLUS. . . GUEST DJs: David J (Bauhaus/Love & Rockets), Dave Newton (Mighty Lemon Drops), Brendan Mullen (“the guy who ran The Masque”) Chuck Warner (Messthetics/Hyped 2 Death) & Dan Selzer (Acute Records) & Kevin Pedersen (What’s Your Rupture?)

PLUS. . .the first-ever band-sanctioned public screening by Throbbing Gristle (videos, live performance & never-before-seen material) AND screenings of rare & unseen Post-Punk videos, films & live performances by Joy Division, New Order, Section 25, Cabaret Voltaire, Fad Gadget, Suburban Lawns, The Films Of Bruce Licher & Savage Republic AND the DVD-release-premiere of Decoder (featuring Genesis P-Orridge, William S. Burroughs, Christiane F and members of Psychic TV, Soft Cell, Talk Talk and Einsturzende Neubauten).

So why PART TIME PUNKS?

Well...where the hell else would it happen?
Probably nowhere in this country.
Perhaps not even the world. (Not since The Hacienda was bulldozed.)

So. A spot of history for you, of the more recent variety:

PART TIME PUNKS is the name of the club which happens every Sunday night at The Echo in Los Angeles. Started in May 2005 by DJ-partners Michael Stock and Benjamin White, the club celebrates/investigates the Post Punk period and its sub-categories (DIY, synthpunk, minimal synth, punkfunk, punky reggae, new wave/no wave and industrial) as well as occasional excursions into Indiepop and Shoegaze. Not only in the form of the music Michael and Benjamin spin for the dance floor (on vinyl only), but also the bands that Michael books to play.

The bands that have played the club have included a mix of classic Post-Punk bands (The Slits, ESG, Medium Medium, Nikki Sudden, Chrome, Nervous Gender, Savage Republic, Kid Congo Powers, Spectrum, Phil Wilson) and the best up-and-coming bands who are mining the Post-Punk world of obscurities for their inspiration (No Age, Mika Miko, Abe Vigoda, Ariel Pink, Love Is All, Tokyo Police Club, Tussle, Glass Candy, Chromatics, Cause Co-Motion, Indian Jewelry, New Bloods, The Strange Boys, Times New Viking, The Tough Alliance, The Go Team). Not to mention an impressive array of Guest DJs: Buzzcocks, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Alan McGee, Calvin Johnson, Ian Svenonious, Juan MacLean and Cut Chemist (the Sunday before last).

In short, PART TIME PUNKS has always been ahead of the curve in looking back. While punk is now retro and retro is standard fit, Post-Punk is just on the slender margin between history and pop-culture. It falls between the cracks – in the music world, in the film world, even in academia. While the word has definitely entered the vocabulary of most musically-minded kids and adults alike, most folks think it means "DFA" or, best case scenario, "Gang Of Four" or maybe "Joy Division,” when what Post-Punk really means was the most musically-diverse time in popular history: 1978-1984. Of course, Part Time Punks has always been about the mix of that period and those records AND the very bestest, newest bands who are basically mining those tracks for their influences--as opposed to yet another dancepunk rehash.