Stephen Hague; -I never worked with him with New Order, but with OMD. -He was very keen on editing, and methodical approaches to construction... almost the absolute POLAR opposite of Hannett!
In the Youtube clip, Hannett is being interviewed by Wilson almost as a "third party" producer... as if they didn't KNOW one another. -Hannett plainly isn't comfortable with this 'deception' or 'acting' that way, since -as
this clip shows- Martin was a partner in the company. -In the 'real' clip at the top of the thread, Hannett says something along the lines of "Is this a television broadcast" with a definite 'so I'm supposed to pretend that I don't really know you?' vibe to it...
Tony Wilson was engaged in what would most definitely be considered a 'conflict of interest'. -Reporting on local music, yet OWNING a record company. When there was little decent, interesting new music being generated in Manchester and the label roster was a little thin, he organised a "battle of the bands", with the first prize being a one-year contract with Factory records. In the movie, they mention that he picked up 'the Happy Mondays' and signed them. -What they DIDN'T make clear was WHY he signed them. -They didn't win; -they came LAST... and they were awful. -Since the first-placed band was pretty dull (it was in fact the usual fairly dull selection of bands which one often encounters at such things, with no "gems" to be discovered) Tony's enormous vanity decided for him that he would take the last-placed band (who were pretty universally agreed to be awful) and MAKE them into stars. -Tony was out to prove to the world that HE was the 'Svengali'. He felt that he was sufficiently powerful to 'create' stars. -For a couple of years, watching arts programs on television in the Northwest of England was a dismally depressing experience. Tony Wilson was promoting 'Happy Mondays' to the exclusion of almost everything else... and they were terrible. For goodness' sake... one member of the band ("Bez") couldn't play any instrument, nor could he sing... yet he was onstage for every gig with an un-miked set of maracas... because he was able to supply the rest of the band's (increasing) demand for hard drugs.
Perversely, I came to enjoy (Happy Mondays lead singer) Sean Ryder's following project "Black Grape"... but I'm probably better off never having to have dealt with them (
after the Happy Mondays, at least) on a personality basis... -To say that he could be "a bit of a handful" would be a considerable understatement.
But I love that clip for what it demonstrates of the Hannett/Wilson dynamic. At the end there, Hannett won't look Wilson in the eye, because he feels so uncomfortable. -Later on, Hannett would pull a gun on Wilson. -So too apparently would Sean Ryder.
One of the most telling Tony Wilson interviews was with British labor politician Tony Benn. Tony Benn had been known as "Sir Anthony Wedgwood Benn" but had -over the course of several years- shortened his name because he felt that it 'alienated' him from the working-class people whom he wished to represent. He was -among a lifetime of considerable historical involvements- a tireless champion of "Concorde", flying on test flights, on its maiden flight, and eventually on its final flight. -Tony Wilson landed the interview.
Tony Wilson at around this time had felt that his name wasn't sufficiently "classy", and so had taken to 'elevating' himself by insisting that he at first be called "Anthony Wilson" and then later on "Anthony H. Wilson". -It was at this time when he interviewed Tony Benn. -In the interview, Tony Benn discovered that he had deliberately 'lengthened' his name, and pronounced him (on television) to be an absolute fool. '-You've no idea how much time you waste just signing a thousand things a day!' he joked, but his distaste for someone who claimed to be a 'man of the people', making 'working class' music (during the heavily Conservative, "north-south-divide" years of Thatcher and Reagan) would affect such an air of "superiority" and lengthen his name as an affectation. Wilson later eventually dropped the whole thing.
On the occasion referred to in the 24H.P.P movie when the guns came out at the
Haçienda nightclub and things finally came to a head, I was in the studio with Peter Hook's band "revenge" (New Order were on a hiatus, with the band members exploring various solo endeavours) and Peter's missus was inside the Haçienda. -Taking shelter inside the club, while guns were being waved, the police were outside surrounding the club, with all the doors sealed, and shots being fired inside, she called their home phone to see if he was home yet, and could he do anything to get her the hell OUT of there, kind of thing!
However when Hooky got home (we had worked very late into the night), she was already back home safe and sound, but there was this
incredible answering machine message which she had left. -The following morning he brought the tape in, and we transferred it, eventually including it at the end of the EP which we were working on, as a sort of 'hidden bonus track'. We edited out the swearing and a couple of names etc, but it still stands there as a document of history, on the Gun World Porn' EP. (The 'Gun' part of the title now having taken on a particular significance!)
Keith