Blue Friday - RIP Tony Wilson

Hacienda impresario and founder of Factory Records, Tony Wilson, died in England Friday at the age of 57, after more than a year's worth of treatment for kidney cancer.

Immortalized in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, a semi-fictional account of his life and career, Wilson's colorful personality, smug wit, and keen appreciation for club music made him a kingpin of the Manchester scene that launched New Order and the Happy Mondays.

Wilson began and ended his career as a television presenter first with regional reporting for Granada television in the '70s and most recently with the BBC's 2006 Politics Show. An early champion of Joy Division, Wilson gave the band its first big break on his weekly slot, So It Goes, the first music show in England to televise punk and post-punk bands.

Joy Division and New Order drummer Stephen Morris told England's Newsnight Friday, "There would be no Joy Division or New Order without Tony. He really believed in us and he was smart enough to start a label and put our records out. He was so enthusiastic, he was always 'we'll just go ahead an do it and figure out why we did it afterwards.' It was his sense of enthusiasm that was so important. You could have an argument with Tony and walk out hating him and the next time you saw him it was all forgotten. You just love him."

Related links:
FactoryRecords.net
NewOrderOnline.com
24 Hour Party People on IMDB

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