FAC 9 : THE FACTORY FLICK

I haven’t forgotten about this planned short series on the contents of the Use Hearing Protection : Factory Records 1978-79 box set, albeit there hasn’t been a posting since 29 July.  It’s the fact that Joy Division are so heavily involved in what would be the final two parts, and are still in the ICA World Cup, that has made me hold things back.

FAC 9 was a film/event on 13 September 1979 at Scala Cinema in the King’s Cross area of London.  A Factory information sheet at the time provided this info:-

FAC 9; Matrix number for films made on factory records money; the first three are by Charles Salem, accomplished and super ‘8’ stock, and featuring minimalist tendencies as far as the budget is concerned, and celluloid nod in the direction of the aesthetics of ’75. The normal budget for a three-minute film will be in the region of ten pounds; normal equipment being a cheap camera and a cassette player to furnish the desired soundtrack; sync being achieved by careful synchronous pressing of buttons. To cope with the new commodity relations defined by this ‘you only have to know three chords’ approach to Hollywood, the Scala have installed for today an 8mm projector. These films are offered in the hope that other people will begin squirting off 8mm as visual refractions of their favourite music or other obsessions, and further arenas will invest in (cheap) 8mm projectors. Super.

FILM 1; “Red Dress” LUDUS

Animations to accompany track by Ludus, a Manchester four-piece band who work out of the New Hormones stable. Vocals by Linder, lady responsible for ‘The Secret Public’ and Orgasm addict ironing/nude.

FILM 2; “Factory flick” JOY DIVISION/CITY FUN

Amplification of article by Liz Naylor in the Manchester fanzine, ‘City Fun’, entitled ‘No City Fun’. Music is by the last thing to come out of Manchester that got its pic on the front of N.M.E., Joy Division, three tracks being taken from their “Unknown Pleasures” album. FACT 10. c.f. Londoners; if you don’t know who the last gentleman in the film is………….. you SOON will.

FILM 3: “All Night Party” A CERTAIN RATIO

Visuals for a classic modern single which sold shit, but no accounting for the assholes in the press FAC 5. ‘Being in love means never having to say sorry to Claude Lelouch.’

Films 1 to 3 were made by Charles Salem for Factory, Film one being also done under the aegis of New Horwones; you see they have this lawyer……….

FILM 4: “Joy Division” JOY DIVISION

This film by Malcolm Whitehead was also made on super 8, but this time with stripe sound put on via his projector, syncing it took him seven months. For those with a geographical turn of mind, the concert footage was shot in the Bowden Vale youth club, Altrincham. A film made cause he liked the band/more than anything else, and likes cameras; he is more surprised that it’s being shown in this flash London cinema than you are.

ALSO SHOWING: Wonderful promotional films (what were the above???)

P.S. Will Devo ever be hip again?

AND IN THE BAR:

A small home videotape of a variety of modern music items screened by Granada Television in the North-West (yes, Manchester, like) in 1976 and 1977. Many of the items were only shown in the North West, and act here (as a disincentive to leave the bar as deep background ; the kind of TV stuff that young Mancunians were watching back in the days when anarchy really meant anarchy.. T?shirts. Since these are home taped videos shown for collectors interest as opposed to gain of any sort, it is emphasized that any writers/critics/hacks chancing upon them should not mention having seen them; and that in general they should be taken in the spirit they are intended; homage to the already golden age………..

Love, the Factory.

The Use Hearing Protection box set included a DVD copy of the No City Fun film as detailed above.  It’s a fascinating artefact of the era when cars were (relatively) fewer on the streets, when most folk rented their televisions, and when magazines or publications took a minimalist approach to graphic design. It was an age of brutalist architecture, of orange and white double-decker buses, and developers had yet to get their hands on every spare piece of vacant or derelict land.

mp3: Joy Division – Disorder

It was never a secret but as has been indicated above, FAC 10, which will be the final part of this short series, is Unknown Pleasures….but that’s for another day.

JC