Mr. Manchester

On the back of my last post about missing Manchester, I was saddened to learn that Tony Wilson has died. For those of you who haven't a clue who he was, you can read all the details here.

For those of you who can't be bothered to read the details, and I know you're out there, he was the mind behind Joy Division, New Order, Factory Records and the much missed Hacienda*. He was the man that created the "Madchester" scene and was the subject of the movie "24 Hour Party People". If you lived in Manchester during 70's and especially the late 80's and early 90's, you couldn't escape him. It was generally agreed by all that he was loudmouthed and arrogant, but there was no doubt that he loved his city, huge ego notwithstanding.

I was rather fond of him myself - I met him many times and he was always good for a laugh. He was extremely charismatic; he wore bespoke tailored suits, often in white, had floppy hair that he liked to flip back dramatically when he made a point, and really didn't care if you were glad to see him or not.

I was sitting with a group of workmates (that included Peter Hook from New Order) in the Granada TV bar one night when he swanned in and spotted us. "Hooky!" he cried and grandly swept over to our table. "Fecking c*nt"!" Hooky replied in a not-at-all-joking way. Tony didn't miss a beat, but continued to talk as if Hooky was glad to see him. The man had brass ones, for sure. As he left, Hooky said with obvious affection, "what a twat!".

R.I.P.


*The Hacienda is now a block of flats - such a waste of a good club.