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Anthony "Tony" Wilson
Tony Wilson presents So It Goes in 1976
Born	10 February 1950 Salford, Lancashire, England
Died	10 August 2007 (aged 57) Withington, Manchester, England
Nationality	British
Known for	Factory Records, Madchester impresario, The Haçienda nightclub
Education	BA in English (University of Cambridge)
Employer	Granada TV BBC North West
Occupation	Journalist, TV presenter

Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC.

Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson, was the music mogul behind some of Manchester's most successful bands. He was the founder and manager of The Haçienda nightclub, and was one of the five co-founders of Factory records. Wilson was also known as Mr Manchester,^[1][2] dubbed as such for his work in promoting the greater cultural status of Manchester throughout his career.

Early life

Wilson was born 20 February 1950 in Hope Hospital, Salford, Lancashire, England.^[3] After passing his Eleven plus exam, Wilson attended the De La Salle Christian Brothers' Grammar School in Weaste Lane, Weaste, Salford. He developed a love of literature and language, ignited by a performance of Hamlet at Stratford upon Avon.^[4] Wilson started his professional career in 1968 at the age of 17, working as an English and Drama teacher at Blue Coat School in Oldham.^[5] He later graduated with a degree in English from Jesus College, Cambridge.^[3]

Broadcasting career

After his graduation in 1971, Wilson began as a trainee news reporter for ITN, before returning to Manchester in 1973, when he secured a post at Granada Television. He went on to present Granada's culture, music and events programme "So It Goes". Through the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the main anchors on Granada Reports, the regional evening news programme, where he worked with Richard and Judy among other figures. He continued in this line of work even at the height of Factory's success.

In the 1980s Wilson hosted "The Other Side of Midnight", another Granada weekly regional culture slot, covering music, literature, and the arts in general. Its Sunday night slot made it one of the UK's first experiments in late night weekend TV. He reported for ITV's celebrated current affairs series "World In Action" in the early 1980s and also hosted Channel 4's " After Dark", the UK's first open-ended late night chat show, in which he chaired a loose discussion in a darkened studio between intellectuals and celebrities of various descriptions in various stages of inebriation. He hosted the short-lived TV Quiz shows "Topranko!" and MTV Europe's "Remote Control" in the 1990s and Manchester United themed quiz, Masterfan for MUTV.

In 2006 he became regional political presenter for the BBC's Politics Show. He presented a weekly radio show on Xfm Manchester (Sunday Roast), and a show on BBC Radio Manchester. In October he joined Blur Guitarist Alex James (musician), Blue Peter Presenter Konnie Huq and unknown Emily Rose to present the 21st century version of the iconic 80's programme "The Tube (Radio Series)" for Channel 4 Radio which ran until 2nd March 2007.

Music career

Wilson's involvement in popular music stemmed from hosting Granada's culture and music programme "So It Goes". Wilson saw the Sex Pistols at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, in June 1976, an experience which he described as "nothing short of an epiphany" ^[6]. He booked them for the last episode of the first series, probably the first television showing of the then-revolutionary British strand of punk rock.

He founded the 'Factory' night at the Russell Club in Hulme. He later founded the record label Factory Records and the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester.

He was the manager of many bands, including A Certain Ratio and The Durutti Column, and was part owner and manager of Factory Records, home of the Happy Mondays and Joy Division (later New Order) - the band managed by friend and business partner Rob Gretton. He also founded and managed The Haçienda (FAC51) nightclub and Dry (FAC201) bar, together forming a central part of the music and cultural scene of Manchester. The scene was termed "Madchester".

He never made a fortune from Factory Records or the Haçienda, despite the enormous popularity and cultural significance of both endeavours. This is mainly due to the sky-high production costs and the fact that most of the punters at the Haçienda were more interested in the ecstacy rather than alcohol from the bar. Both came to an abrupt although not necessarily premature end in the late 1990s.

A semi-fictionalised version of his life and of the surrounding era was made into the 2002 film, 24 Hour Party People, which stars the comedian Steve Coogan as Wilson. After the film was produced, Wilson wrote a novelization based on the screenplay, despite being described on the movie soundtrack album cover as a "twat". He played a minor role in the 2005 film A Cock and Bull Story, in which his character interviews Steve Coogan (playing himself). In the forthcoming Ian Curtis biopic Control, Wilson is played by Craig Parkinson.

Wilson was a partner in the yearly In The City music festival and industry conference, and also F4 Records, the fourth imprint of Factory Records, set up to be an online distributor for Wilson's long term protégé Vini Reilly, of The Durutti Column. F4 also released music by Manchester based bands RaW-T and The Young Offenders Institute.

Politics

Wilson was an outspoken supporter of regionalism. In 2003, along with others including Ruth Turner (political advisor), he started a campaign for North West England to be allowed a referendum on the creation of a regional assembly, called the Necessary Group after a line in the United States Declaration of Independence. Although his campaign was successful, with the Government announcing that a vote would take place, this was later abandoned when North East England voted against the introduction of a regional tier of government. Wilson later spoke at several political events on this subject. He was also known for using Situationist ideas.

Relationships

Wilson was married twice, first to Lindsay Reade and then to Hilary, with whom he had a son, Oliver, and a daughter, Isabel. In 1990 he started a relationship with Yvette Livesey, former Miss England, which continued until his death.

Illness

After developing renal cancer, Wilson's doctors recommended he take the drug Sunitinib (aka Sutent), the £3,500 per month cost of which was not funded by the Manchester Primary Care Trust. He was turned down by the NHS, while patients being treated alongside him at the Christie Hospital and living just a few miles away in Cheshire received funding for the therapy.

A number of Wilson's music industry friends, including the Happy Mondays former manager Nathan McGough and their current manager, Elliot Rashman, formed a fund to help pay for Wilson's medical treatment. ^[7]

Wilson said: "This (Sutent) is my only real option. It is not a cure but can hold the cancer back, so I will probably be on it until I die ... When they said I would have to pay £3,500 for the drugs each month, I thought where am I going to find the money? I'm the one person in this industry who famously has never made any money ... I used to say some people make money and some make history - which is very funny until you find you can't afford to keep yourself alive ... I've never paid for private healthcare because I'm a socialist. Now I find you can get tummy tucks and cosmetic surgery on the NHS but not the drugs I need to stay alive. It is a scandal." (BBC report).

Death

In early 2007 an emergency surgery was performed to remove one of his kidneys.^[8] This forced the postponement of plans to create a southern hemisphere version of the In The City festival.^[9] Despite the surgery the cancer progressed, and a course of chemotherapy was not effective. Wilson died of a heart attack which was unrelated to his condition, in Manchester's Christie Hospital on Friday, 10 August, 2007 aged 57.^{[MEN Obituary]|[10]]][11]}

Following news of his death, the Union Flag on Manchester Town Hall was lowered to half mast as a mark of respect.^[12]

As with everything else in the Factory empire, Tony Wilson's coffin was also given a Factory catalogue number - FAC 501. This will be the last Factory catalogue number.^[13]

References

External links

• Story of his death
• Tony Wilson biography.
• Tony Wilson hosting "After Dark" on television
• Return to the Hacienda - BBC News article, dated Friday, April 5, 2002
• Fourth Time Lucky - Spike Magazine interview with Tony Wilson about F4, the latest incarnation of Factory Records
• Tony Wilson's "love letter" to the National Health Service
• Anthony H Wilson - Excerpts from the Interview with Eyewitness in Manchester 30 April 1998
• Oliver Wood's Factory Page.
• The Other Side of Midnight
• Obituary and Public Tributes
• "Anthony Wilson: The Last Interview" by Gareth Grundy, The Q Daily, August 13, 2007.
• Tony Wilson at the Internet Movie Database