The global music industry has faced a serious loss…Anthony Wilson who was the Manchester Music Impresario died on 9^th August 2007. He was the magic maestro who had founded the Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub. Anthony was struck by a major heart attack on Thursday and succumbed to the cause dieing at the age of 57, at the Christine Hospital. Undoubtedly he was the one who had created the entire buzz and the hype of the “Madchester Popular Culture Boom” in the late 80s and the early 90s. But unfortunately this always smiling and enthusiastic man had been battling with kidney cancer since 2006.

He was the one who had introduced well-known bands like New Order, Joy Division, the Happy Mondays and James to a global audience. He even went on to pioneer designing and architecture with his record label, which acted as an extra impetus for Manchester’s larger than life transformation into a European culture center. All that seems so emancipating isn’t it!!

This man had created a new understanding of Manchester and he created an atmosphere where the young could dream and actually do something different. He was the catalyst that motivated them and the resonance of his Factory all got together to create extra-ordinary music. Wilson was also in the headlines last year when the NHS refused to pay for an expensive drug that was recommended by the doctors in case the chemotherapy failed. But saving the situation the members of the acts he had once supported came to his rescue and supported the treatment for Anthony.

Educated at the Cambridge he had started creating his part of the history way back in the 1970s. While hosting Granada TVs regional music show he had championed the punk. And then it continued with the founding of the Factory Records in 1978. The Joy Division who had later become the New Order took it on. Both of them breathed magic and created up a cult together and by the 80s had become a center for youth culture phenomenon. Soon they set up the iconic Hacienda Night Club, which grew to become the hub of the burgeoning dance and music scene. But the fortune was not long-lived. As the rights of legally acclaimed contracts were not signed with neither Happy Mondays nor the New Order hence a lot of cash was wasted in lavish packaging and soon the company faced a bankruptcy in 1992. Factory Records and Hacienda failed to turn a profit and Wilson never amassed a great fortune.

But in spite of all the pitfalls no one can deny the fact that Anthony was the man who had faith in working kids like Paul and Shaun Ryder as he lead vocalist and guitarist in the Happy Mondays.

He was the key figure in the Manchester music scene and a semi-fictional film based on him was made in 2002 under the name of 24 Hour Party People. Michael Winterbottom directed it and comedian Steve Coogan played his role. But no one had expected such an early demise of this music maestro.

Tags: music, indie, independent music, indie music