Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records

by James Nice

ISBN: 9780571395408

Published: 2025-10-09

A revised and expanded edition of the long out-of-print history of Factory Records, the legendary record label that launched Joy Division, New Order, and Happy Mondays. Featuring a foreword by Jon Savage. "Definitive and comprehensive, this is the actual story of Factory Records" - Peter Saville In 1978, a "Factory for Sale" sign gave Alan Erasmus and Tony Wilson a name for their fledgling Manchester club night. Though they couldn' t have known it at the time, this was the launch of one of the most significant musical and cultural legacies of the late twentieth century. The club's electrifying live scene soon translated to vinyl, and Factory Records went on to become the most innovative and celebrated record label of the next thirty years. Always breaking new musical ground, Factory introduced the listening public to bands such as Joy Division, whose Unknown Pleasures was the label's first album release, New Order, Durutti Column and Happy Mondays. Propelled onwards by the...