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| Tony Wilson - Punk Enthusiast |
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| TONY WILSON Tony Wilson was born on 20th February 1950 He died on 10th August 2007 ANTHONY H Wilson's premature death after a fight with kidney cancer last week was criminally under-reported. Yes, it was noted and of of course there were some laudable plaudits paid by those in the music industry who knew him. But after a day or two of single-column-on-page -10 reports (an NME cover piece aside) the story tailed off and we all went back to worrying about Amy Winehouse's binges. It shouldn't have been like this. I'm not saying we should all be wearing sackcloth and wondering around chanting 12th century plainsong (though Wilson may have enjoyed that), but a little more respect is due. Wilson's place in the British rock and roll canon is absolute key. Without him we'd still be drinking mead and listening to Jethro Tull. This is something of a fantastical exaggeration, but in honour of Wilson - a man who knew how to spin a fantastical exaggeration - here is why. Wilson took the Sex Pistols to Manchester before they were anybody and put them on his Granada TV show. He fired the imaginations of Manchesters dissaffected kids. They all went to see the Pistols play in Manchester Free Trade Hall, realised the revolution was coming and decided to storm the castle. Morrissey formed The Smiths and invented a new wrinkle on British observational pop. Throw a water balloon out of a moving bus today and you'll hit a band who were influenced by the Smiths. That's down to Wilson. Then there are the great bands he signed and pushed - Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays. By being part of what was happening in the Hacienda (which Wilson opened previously as the Factory which also become a labe) they brought New York disco to Britain and invented Acid House. They also made brilliant, influential music. That's down to Wilson. He did it all with a brilliant cocksure towering ego and self belief. New Order's funny wry drummer Steve Morris said that one thing about Wilson was that when you met him you thought he was a raging lunatic with ridiculous dreams and mad schemes. Then down the line they all come true. He was one of a rare breed and cut from the same bucaneering cloth as Alan McGhee - although at times both men had their differences. The reason Wilson hasn't received his dues is because he stayed in the provinces! and didn't move to London. His love affair may well have been with Manchester rafter than with the bands who came out of it. Though he was stuck doing Frank Mitchell-style weather forecasts during his many jobs on local TV he would have seen it as a betrayal of his city to head down the M6. But had he gone, just imagine the fireworks if he and McGhee had been in London at the same time. Think how different things would have been if in the early 90's one was pitchmg the Happy Mondays against Prtnal Scream in all out chemical warfare - think of the incredible, mental tunes. It is to his credit that he stayed faithful and it's to our shame that we're not remembering him with at least some of the respect that was given to DJ John Peel on his passing. DAILY MIRROR (NI) (Cheers to Joe Doinnelly for donating this from the Daily Mirror (NI)) |
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