New Order formed in 1980, following the death by suicide of Ian Curtis, singer in Joy Division. After Curtis’s death, the remaining members of Joy Division re-formed as New Order. The band’s first live performance was as a trio on 29 July 1980 at the Beach Club, Manchester. At the time, they had not yet decided on a name. In rehearsals, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris took turns on vocals until Sumner eventually took on the role of singer. Sumner, Hook and Morris wanted to complete the line-up with a fourth member, and keyboard player and guitarist Gillian Gilbert joined the band in October 1980. As Morris’s girlfriend, Gilbert was well known by the band, and had played live with Joy Division. Gilbert’s first live performance with New Order was on 25 October 1980 at The Squat venue in Manchester. Her first recorded appearance with the band was a re-recording of New Order’s first single, ‘Ceremony’, with Gilbert on guitar. The re-recorded version was released in September 1981. New Order incorporated dance rhythms and electronic instruments into their new wave sound and were one of the most influential bands of the 1980s. They became the star band on Factory Records. Their 1983 track ‘Blue Monday’ was the best-selling 12-inch single of all time. Between 1981 and 2015, New Order released ten studio albums and 42 singles. Initially, New Order continued in the vein of Joy Division by not releasing album tracks as singles. From 1985 and the release of Low-Life, however, the majority of the band’s singles have been tracks taken from albums. New Order temporarily disbanded in 1993 following the release of the album Republic and the financial collapse of Factory Records. Individual band members worked on their own projects – Sumner formed Electronic with Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, Hook formed Monaco, and Morris and Gilbert concentrated on The Other Two, the side project they started in 1990. New Order reunited in 1998 at the suggestion of their manager Rob Gretton, meeting up first to make sure that they all still got on. Gilbert left the band in 2001 to look after her children with Stephen Morris, and was replaced by Phil Cunningham on keyboards and guitar. Hook left New Order in 2007, following artistic differences with Sumner. Sumner put the band on a second hiatus in 2009, forming Bad Lieutenant with Cunningham. The 2011 New Order reunion saw Gilbert return on keyboards and Tom Chapman of Bad Lieutenant on bass. Hook sued New Order in November 2015 for a fair share in New Order’s royalties, a legal dispute that took almost two years to reach settlement. The band’s most recent studio album, Music Complete, was released in 2015. A recording of their live performance with Liam Gillick for the Manchester International Festival in 2017 was released the same year. The band toured extensively between 2018 and 2020.

Factory Records had begun as a series of club nights at the Russell Club in Hulme, Manchester. Tony Wilson one of the founders saw Factory as an engine for cultural change rather than a business. He and Alan Erasmus had started the Factory label in 1978 running it from office set up in the home of Alan situated on Palatine Road, whilst Tony was still a reporter working for Granada Television in Manchester. Early success with releases by A Certain Ratio and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were soon added to by other bands. Tony Wilson’s interest in allowing the artists freedom to create and perform how they wanted to at the time, soon meant other bands were interested in joining the label. It became apparent that a more formal structure was needed to run the music business and Factory (Communications) Ltd was formed from a shelf company called Canehand [Kanehand], as there was an urgent need to have a company established to satisfy several deals that were being agreed in 1980. The goodwill of the Factory label, which until then had been under the control of Tony Wilson were to be transferred across to Kanehand which would still initially be controlled by Tony Wilson until the company had been correctly set up in order not to be financially disadvantaged to be later joined by Alan Erasmus, Robert Gretton, Martin Hannett and Peter Saville. The shelf company, incorporated on the 24th October 1980 held an Extraordinary General Meeting held where it had been agreed to replace an existing clause to the Memorandum of Association which then allowed the business to carry on as manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers gramophone records, television recording equipment and also to carry on the business of music publishers and in this connection to enter into agreements and other arrangements and to employ authors and composers of and to purchase copyrights and other rights in musical and dramatic compositions of all kinds. The change of name was certified by the Registrar of Companies on the 13th November 1980 It had been hoped to have named the company Factory Records Limited but a search of records at Companies House revealed that the name The Factory Records had already been created by Micky Most, a music producer and entrepreneur, in September 1977. Tony Wilson was advised against acquiring the company as there might be skeletons in the cupboard, since it had not filed any annual returns since it had been formed. An earlier application for name of business registration suggests that Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus wanted the company to be known as Movement of the 24 January Publishing Music however, the Registry of Business Names returned the forms with a handwritten note, please chose another business name, the above not acceptable for our files. Factory, as it became known, became an established part of the Manchester music scene and attracted more artists to the label, who were attracted to the hands-off approach Tony Wilson believed in. As well as promoting artists Factory also became involved in the club scene with the opening of the Hacienda nightclub and a cafe-bar called the Dry Bar in 1989, both based in central Manchester. Shortly after this Factor acquired new premises on Princess Street, Manchester as its headquarters in 1990. The group by now was enjoying a great deal of success both in nationally and internationally. However, by the end of 1990 its financial position began to deteriorate seriously as the result of the new projects which required additional funding and the enforced closure of the Hacienda, during 1991, for three months resulting in the loss of much needed income. A restructuring of Factory was required to satisfy a number of creditors, owed money by Factory, for Factory this was a serious situation as it was on the brink of closure if no viable solution to find further funding could not be found. The implications would have a profound effect on Tony Wilson’s original desire to be an engine for cultural change rather than a business driven by money was in peril. The Nineties continued to be a bad period for Factory, it was still in a serious financial position, added to by heavy demands on financing the recording and production of albums. Factory eventually declared bankruptcy in 1992, the Hacienda continued as a nightclub until 1997 when it too closed ending the labels contribution to an earlier hoped for cultural shift by those involved in the original Factory.

The Durutti Column are a post-punk band, formed in Manchester in 1978. Tony Wilson, founder of Factory Records, was looking for bands to record and persuaded musician Viny Reilly to form a group. The Durutti Column contributed two tracks to the first release on Factory Records, A Factory Sample, alongside Joy Division, John Dowie and Cabaret Voltaire. The line-up of The Durutti Column changed over time, but has remained centred around Reilly and is often described as his solo project. The band's output has been marked by an interest in experimenting with technology.