Watch BBC4's documentary on Factory Records ft Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, more

Jun 18, 2023

If you love 24 Hour Party People, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biopic of Tony Wilson and Factory Records, here’s a nice companion piece. Hat tip to Mantra of the Cosmos, the new band featuring Shaun and Bez of Happy Mondays (and Andy Bell of Ride and Zak Starkey), for bringing to our attention this equally entertaining and slightly more factual (but still funny) 2007 documentary about the iconic UK indie label, Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays, that was made by BBC4.

As the title suggests, the documentary takes us from the label’s formation by Wilson, who was a host at Granada Television, to release Joy Division albums through the label’s rise, their club with New Order, The Hacienda (that got its own BBC4 documentary), The Durutti Column, A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays, and more through its demise in the mid-’80s. Narrated by John Simm (who played New Order/Joy Division’s Bernard Sumner in 24 Hour Party People), it features interviews with Wilson (who died a month before this film aired), New Order, Happy Mondays, Factory graphic designer Peter Saville, and more. Watch below.

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Power, Corruption & Lies is a perfect record, and none of the songs were released as singles -- "Blue Monday" was tacked onto the U.S. CD release -- so every song could theoretically fit on this list. There are moments of sadness and desolation, but there are also songs of unabashed joy. In much the same spirit as "Age of Consent," "The Village" bounces along like the first day of spring with Sumner singing "Our love is like the flowers / The rain, the sea and the hours." The mid-section instrumental -- with guitars, synthesizers and drum machines joining forces -- remains one of New Order's most magical moments.

This is the big concession to the "no singles" rule on this list. While "Thieves Like Us" went to #18 in the UK in 1984, it does not have the stature of "Bizarre Love Triangle," "Temptation," "Blue Monday," "Sub-Culture," "True Faith" or even LP tracks like "Age of Consent" or "Love Vigilantes." But it is one of New Order's best, most deeply emotive songs -- it's Peter Hook's favorite (you can see his full Top 10 below) -- that needs all six minutes and 36 seconds to work its magic. Bernard Sumner's vocals doesn't even come in till two-and-a-half minutes into the song, long after we've been seduced by the song's NYC hip-hop inspired rhythm section and majestic washes of synths. While the song works well as an instrumental -- it plays over the "making the dress" montage in Pretty in Pink -- Sumner gives a great delivery with a whole lot of "Loves," in his signature, fragile style.

An ode to Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western scores, specifically the pocket watch scene from A Few Dollars More, "Elegia" opens side two of 1985's highly underrated Low-Life. While the five-minute instrumental is carefully paced, exploding into full Sergio Leone glory in the last minute, the original 17-minute version is even better. "Dylan Jones - then editor at id magazine --asked us if we’d like to do some music for a short 15-20 min art film," Stephen Morris says. "We went into a studio in Wembley and did a marathon all night session. The film never happened, but we liked 'Elegia' so much it got edited down to fit on the LP." As Morris says, "Hooky's bass melodies on 'Elegia' are majestic."

"Elegia" is one of three New Order tracks to appear in Pretty in Pink ("Thieves Like Us" and "Shellshock," which appears on the soundtrack album, are the others), and you may have also heard it in Stranger Things, and the trailer for video game "Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain."