Tony Wilson is the first to be the focus of our new 'Icons of Greater Manchester' series
Anthony Howard Wilson (known by many as Tony Wilson) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager and a journalist for Granada Television and the BBC.
Tony Wilson was behind some of Greater Manchester's most successful bands. He was one of the five co-founders of Factory Records and the founder and manager of the Haçienda nightclub. Wilson was known as "Mr Manchester", due to his immense work in promoting the culture of Manchester throughout his career.
Read more - History of The Haçienda
His involvement in popular music stemmed from hosting Granada's culture and music programme So It Goes. Wilson, who intensely disliked the music scene of the mid-1970s which was dominated by such genres as progressive rock and arena rock, saw the Sex Pistols at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall, in June 1976, an experience which he described as an epiphany.
He booked them for the last episode of the first series, probably the first television showing of their revolutionary British strand of punk rock.
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He was the manager of many bands, including A Certain Ratio and the Durutti Column, and was part owner and manager of Factory Records, home of Happy Mondays, Joy Division and New Order.
He founded the Haçienda nightclub and Dry Bar, together forming a central part of the music and cultural scene of Manchester.
Tony made very little money from Factory Records or the Haçienda, despite the enormous popularity and cultural significance of both endeavours.Both Factory Records and the Haçienda came to an abrupt end in the late 1990s.
Tony Wilson videos
The video below is a rare interview with Tony Wilson on 'Tonight With Jonathan Ross', Channel 4, 08/02/91. The YouTuber who uploaded the video apologised for the poor quality of the video.
This is an interview from the 24 Hour Party People DVD (Disc 2).
Other interests
He was a huge fan of Manchester United. Not long after he passed away, Tony's life finished heavily in an edition of the United We Stand fanzine. A few years ago, their editor Any Mitten uploaded this tribute on the United We Stand forum.
The start of the tribute states:
Where to start with Tony Wilson? Much has been written about a man who had so much to answer for since he passed away. The obituaries and tributes have been wide ranging, but while many spoke of his involvement and influence in Manchester’s musical and cultural industry, few focussed on another great love in Tony’s life: Manchester United.
It’s a weird one for us because we knew Tony. We first requested an interview with him in 1998. We wrote him a letter and a few days later he called us from Miami to say that it would be a great pleasure. A few weeks later I headed to his Factory offices expecting a half hour interview. It turned into a three hour chat."
“I was born in Salford in 1950 when the Port of Manchester was still really busy,” he said. “Old Trafford was just down the road and from the age of nine this little old lady who lived nearby would take me to matches. At first they were reserve games – I saw and heard Wilf McGuiness break his leg which ended his career.
“In my teenage years I went to De La Salle School and had an LMTB in the Stretford End. I went to university where I studied English at Cambridge before working for ITN in London for a couple of years. I came home and saw matches a lot but I never expected to move home permanently until I saw a job at Granada. Even then I only expected to stay for a couple of years before moving back south, but every time I was about to move something better came along in Manchester and I had another excuse to stay.
“We formed Factory records in 1978 with Joy Division, OMD and A Certain Ratio; three bands who we knew were great and we had to prove it to the world. As with all our bands, this took time. It took six years for anyone to take notice of The Happy Mondays and a lot of time for people to notice Joy Division and New Order."
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