A renowned independent label from Manchester, Factory was owned by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus; it was named after their nightclub. The label had an interesting roster of artists, but it is probably best known for Joy Division / New Order, and Happy Mondays. It also released the first Orchestral Maneouvres in the Dark single. Factory began issuing records in 1979; producer Martin Hannett and graphics designer Peter Saville were an important part of the team in the early years, and helped to build up the company's distinctive identity. In 1980 Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' (FAC-23) went into the Top 20; a year later Hannett left. Wilson and Erasmus opened a new club, the Hacienda, in 1982, but lost considerable amounts of money on it. New Order's huge international hit 'Blue Monday' in 1983, and the arrival of Happy Mondays in 1984, provided a boost to Factory's fortunes, but bankruptcy struck in 1992. Wilson made periodic attempts to revive the label, its last incarnation being F4 Records; these were curtailed when, sadly, he died of cancer, in 2007.
Factory used any number of different label designs, but the second one shown above, which appears by courtesy of Robert Bowes, would seem to have been the standard one in the late '70s. The company had a wonderfully weird catalogue-numbering system: they awarded numbers not only to records but to works of art, places, and even - an admirable touch - to the Hacienda Club's cat. Needless to say, I shan't attempt to list them all here; though somebody, somewhere, has doubtless done so. The last catalogue number of all was awarded, fittingly, to Tony Wilson's coffin. The list below covers only those items which were 7" singles and were issued in the 1970s.
(http:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_Records)
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.