Fact 24 Various Artists A Factory Quartet 1980
Released by Factory records in December 1980, A Factory Quartet, Fact 24, was a double LP with a cover price of ‘five guineas’. Each of the four sides was devoted to a Factory artist. Disc one featured three tracks by The Durutti Column and seven tracks by Kevin Hewick whilst disc two featured four tracks by Blurt and three tracks by Royal Family and The Poor. The sleeve was designed by Peter Saville. The runout grooves on each of the four sides read: side a: ‘for who it says’, side b: ‘yip yip yip’, side c: ‘n.a.r.g’., side d: ‘the mode of production etc.’ The sleeve was designed by Tony Wilson, based around a set of Polaroid photographs, also taken by Tony Wilson. The sleeve was embossed to represent the borders of the Polaroid images.
Fac 2 Various Artists A Factory Sample 1979
Factory’s first recorded release was A Factory Sample, Fac 2, a double 7-inch EP featuring tracks by Joy Division, The Durutti Column, John Dowie and Cabaret Voltaire. The cover was designed by Peter Saville who used a motif that had been sourced from a leaflet on industrial standards, it was printed in silver and black in an edition of 5,000. Tony Wilson suggested the plastic-sealed gatefold format, which was inspired by record packaging from the Far East. The single came with a set of four stickers that represented each of the bands. A Factory Sample and the later A Factory Quartet announced a standard of detail for Factory releases that went beyond normal expectations and would set the foundations for the development of the visual language that would come to define Factory products.
A Factory Quartet Press Release 1980
A hand-typed press release, for A Factory Quartet, from the year of release, reads:
‘As yet untitled. Basically, it’s another Factory Sample, only this time a double 10" featuring 4 bands / 15 minutes each.
1. The Royal Family. A remarkable S.I. influenced outfit from Liverpool who, with sing along numbers like “Vanneigem Mix,” rose such comments as; ‘They show The Gang of Four to be the bubble gum band we always thought they were.’ – R. Boone.
2. Blurt. Sax based dance band from Stroud – Jesus Christ Stroud! Fronted by former anarcho beat poet – reformed.
3. The Durutti Column. An extended piece being prepared by Vinny Reilly, Stephen Hopkins and Mr. Hannett.
4. Kevin Hewick. Kid comes from Leicester. Writes singles about hay-stacks and finding needles, and apart from the fact that he likes Sylvia Plath and Clem Burke, he has a lot going for him. Interested in frail specifics, yip, yip, yip’.
