ABOUT THIS ITEM

Strut present an essential new retrospective of Factory Records, the seminal Manchester club-turned-record label set up by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. Compiled by Bill Brewster of djhistory.com, the album places the spotlight on some of the label’s early dancefloor-based work across key 12” mixes and rarities, from the unmistakeable productions of Martin Hannett to more unheralded backroom work by New Order’s Bernard Sumner and A Certain Ratio drummer Donald Johnson, under their BeMusic and DoJo monikers.

The album traces early experiments from Blurt’s avant garde mutant punk-funk to the fertile post-Joy Division period as the label’s unique, coruscating post-punk sound took shape through seminal bands like A Certain Ratio and Section 25. The album also expressly documents Factory’s strong links and cross-pollination with New York’s 1980s club culture, as New Order joined forces with producer Arthur Baker, fresh from his pioneering electro work with Afrika Bambaataa, and acts like Quando Quango and Sweet Sensation’s Marcel King enlisted NY remixer Mark Kamins for tough-edged club treatments. Factory bands including Quando Quango would also play live at some of the city’s seminal nightspots, including the Paradise Garage. The compilation also touches on some of the wider directions explored by Factory during its early years – Durutti Column’s melancholic beauty, the Latin-jazz and jazz-funk of Swamp Children, Kalima and Tony Henry’s electro-funk as 52nd Street and a track from the label’s only reggae single, the Dennis Bovell-produced ‘See Them A’Come’ by X-O-Dus. This is the music that would provide the blueprint for the Manchester scene of the late 80s and Factory’s heady later years – the Happy Mondays, James, Northside and the rest.

FAC. DANCE is compiled and annotated by Bill Brewster of djhistory.com and features rare artist photos alongside original label artwork by Peter Saville. The album is produced in association with James Nice at LTM Records.

CD 1:
1. Section 25 - Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix) (8:08)
2. A Certain Ratio - Wild Party (4:16)
3. Quando Quango - Love Tempo (7:46)
4. 52nd Street - Express (5:02)
5. Swamp Children - Little Voices (7:17)
6. Biting Tongues - Boss Toyota Trouble (5:34)
7. The Durutti Column - For Belgian Friends (5:22)
8. Royal Family & The Poor - Art On 45 (4:46)
9. A Certain Ratio - Knife Slits Water (12-inch Version) (9:44)
10. Section 25 - Dirty Disco (5:18)
11. Blurt - Puppeteer (3:20)
12. X-O-Dus - See Them A' Come (8.26)

CD 2:
1. Shark Vegas - Pretenders Of Love (5:11)
2. 52nd Street - Cool As Ice (Jellybean Mix) (7:26)
3. Streetlife - Act On Instinct (Hot Swedish Mix) (5:33)
4. The Hood - Salvation! (Nitromix) (12:10)
5. Abecedarians - Smiling Monarchs (6:45)
6. Minny Pops - Time (3:43)
7. Quando Quango - Atom Rock (New York Remix) (7:30)
8. Marcel King - Reach For Love (New York Remix) (5:29)
9. 52nd Street - Look Into My Eyes (6:54)
10. Quando Quango - Genius (6:24)
11. Swamp Children - You’ve Got Me Beat (4:54)
12. The Durutti Column - Madeleine (3:01)

Vinyl Tracklisting:
A1. Section 25 - Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix) (8:08)
A2. A Certain Ratio - Wild Party (4:16)
A3. Royal Family & The Poor - Art On 45 (4:46)
B1. Quando Quango - Atom Rock (New York Remix) (7:30)
B2. 52nd Street - Cool As Ice (Jellybean Mix) (7:26)
B3. Blurt - Puppeteer (3:20)
C1. Swamp Children - You’ve Got Me Beat (4:54)
C2. X-O-Dus - See Them A'Come (8.26)
C3. The Durutti Column - For Belgian Friends (5:22)
D1. Shark Vegas - Pretenders Of Love (5:11)
D2. Marcel King - Reach For Love (New York Remix) (5:29)
D3. Abecedarians - Smiling Monarchs (6:45)