The Durutti Column

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The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column, Stratford-upon-Avon, June 2006
The Durutti Column, Stratford-upon-Avon , June 2006
General information
origin Manchester , England
Genre (s) Post-Punk , Dream Pop , Art-Rock , Ambient , Post-Rock , Experimental
founding 1978
Website thedurutticolumn.com
Founding members
Vini Reilly
Phil Rainford (1978)
David Rowbotham (1978)
Tony Bowers (1978)
Chris Joyce (1978)
Current occupation
Vini Reilly
Bruce Mitchell (since 1980)
Keir Stewart (since 1997)

The Durutti Column is a British rock band formed in Manchester , England in 1978 . The experimental band is essentially the project of guitarist and pianist Vini Reilly (* 1953) and drummer Bruce Mitchell (* 1948).

Before Factory

In 1978 Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus - who both later became partners at Factory Records - formed a band from what was left of Fast Breeder: drummer Chris Joyce and guitarist Dave Rowbotham. Within a few days they recruited Vini Reilly, guitarist for the punk band Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds, as well as singer Phil Rainford, keyboardist Stephen Hopkins and bassist Tony Bowers.

The band played at the Factory Club (organized by their managers) and recorded two tracks for Factory Records' first release, the sampler A Factory Sampler (also heard: Joy Division , John Dowie and Cabaret Voltaire ). Shortly before the first recordings for their debut album, the band broke up due to a dispute with Wilson and Erasmus over the choice of producer Martin Hannett . The majority of the other members then formed a new band called The Mothmen, Joyce and Bowers later played in Simply Red . The Durutti Column was essentially a solo project by Vini Reilly - with drummer Bruce Mitchell and other musicians occasionally taking part in recordings and live performances. Mitchell and Wilson were managers of the "band" during their time at Factory and for many years after that.

The band's name is a (misspelled) derivation of the name of Buenaventura Durruti , a column ( english column ) by anarchists during the Spanish Civil War led. On a poster of the Situationist International from 1967 the phrase "The Return of the Durutti Column" was found, which in turn became the title of the first album.

Factory Records

The first album The Return of the Durutti Column (1980) is the result of a collaboration between Reilly and producer Martin Hannett . The first edition consisted of a cover made of sandpaper , u. a. also glued together by Joy Division . This, as well as the title of the album, originated from the book by situationist Guy Debord : The Society of the Spectacle - which was covered with sandpaper to damage other books on the shelf. The music was not comparable to any other post-punk groups from the period, although Reilly saw himself as a New Wave artist. The record included nine calm instrumental guitar pieces (later releases also include Reilly's gentle and hesitant vocals) and incorporated elements of jazz , folk , classical music and rock . Hannett added an electronic rhythm and other effects to the pieces. The first edition of the album also included a flexi-disc with two tracks by Hannett himself.

The 1981 LC ( Lotta Continua , Italian for “the fight goes on”) was recorded without Hannett, but with percussionist Bruce Mitchell, Reilly's most frequent musical accompanist and occasional manager. Another Setting was released in 1983 and only featured Reilly and Mitchell. In 1984, the band enlarged by Richard Henry on trombone , Maunagh Fleming on cor anglais and the oboe , Blaine Reininger (of Tuxedomoon ) on the violin and the viola , Mervyn Fletcher on saxophone , Caroline Lavelle on cello and Tim Kellett on the trumpet . The result was the album Without Mercy , arranged by John Metcalfe and was a musical evocation of the poem La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad by John Keats .

Kellett and Metcalfe remained members of the band and played alongside Reilly and Mitchell on the albums Circuses and Bread (released in 1985 by Factory Benelux ) and Domo Arigato , a live album recorded in Tokyo . This was the first pop album to be released in England on the then relatively new compact disc format.

Kellett left the band and joined Simply Red , but had other guest appearances, including a. on The Guitar and Other Machines (1987), the first album in England, which was released on the ultimately unsuccessful Digital Audio Tape format . The guests on The Guitar and Other Machines are Stanton Miranda (vocals) and Reilly's partner at the time, Pol. In addition, a sequencer and a drum computer complement Mitchell's drumming. The album was produced by Stephen Street , who also produced Morrissey's solo album Viva Hate (1988), on which Reilly plays guitar.

Vini Reilly (1989), produced by Reilly and Street, involves the extensive use of sampling , with samples from Otis Redding , Tracy Chapman , Annie Lennox and Joan Sutherland as the basis for several pieces. The first edition contained the 7 "or CD single" I Know Very Well How I Got My Note Wrong "by the two artists" Vincent Gerard and Steven Patrick "(the first names of Reilly and Morrissey).

In 1990 Lips That Would Kiss was released , a compilation of the early singles on Factory Benelux. Obey the Time , also released in 1990, was very different musically and conceptually from previous albums. In essence, it was a pure solo album by Reilly and heavily influenced by techno . The decoupled single "The Together Mix" contained two remixes by Jonathon Donaghy and Suddi Raval - Donaghy died in a car accident in Ibiza before it was released. This was the last release on Factory, in 1991.

According to Factory

The album Dry , an Italian sampler with alternative versions and unreleased recordings from the early eighties, was not released by Factory in 1990 . After Factory went down in 1992, Red Shoes was released , another Italian sampler with alternative versions and unreleased recordings from the 1980s.

In 1993, Tony Wilson made an attempt to revive Factory Records, and Sex and Death was the first release by Factory Too (a subsidiary of London Records ). The album was again produced by Stephen Street and again Mitchell and Metcalfe were represented as well as on a piece by Peter Hook of New Order . Fidelity was released on Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1996 , this time produced by Laurie Laptop . Time Was Gigantic ... When We Were Kids followed in 1998 and was produced by Keir Stewart , who is also on the album. Between 1996 and 1998 the eight albums recorded for Factory, supplemented by unreleased material, were released by Factory Too / London as part of Factory Once .

Factory Too also ceased to exist in 1998, and all of Durutti Column's subsequent albums were released on independent labels: Artful Records ( Rebellion - 2001, Someone Else's Party , 2003, Keep Breathing , 2006), Idiot Savants (2007) and Kooky Records ( Tempus Fugit , 2004, two further editions of The Sporadic Recordings , Live At The Venue , 2004, Amigos Em Portugal , 2005 and Sporadic Three, 2007). In 2005 Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital, It Was Heaven Sent) only appeared as a download version on Tony Wilson's new project F4 , which was to be considered the fourth edition of Factory Records.

Discography (selection)

Albums

  • The Return Of The Durutti Column (Factory FACT 14, 1980)
  • LC (Factory FACT 44, 1981)
  • Another Setting (Factory FACT 74, 1983)
  • Amigos Em Portugal (Fundação Atlântica, 1983)
  • Without Mercy (Factory FACT 84, 1984)
  • Circuses And Bread (Factory Benelux FBN 36, 1986 - 1993 reissued on Les Disques Du Crepuscule with the title "Bread And Circuses")
  • Valuable Passages (Factory FACT 164 / Relativity, 1986)
  • The Guitar And Other Machines (Factory FACT 204, 1987)
  • The Sporadic Recordings (Sporadic SPORE-1, 1989)
  • Vini Reilly (Factory FACT 244, 1989)
  • Obey The Time (Factory FACT 274, 1990)
  • Dry (Materiali Sonori MASO CD 90024, 1991)
  • Red Shoes (Materiali Sonori MASO CD 90037, 1992)
  • Sex And Death (Factory Too / London FACD 2.01 / 828 552-2, 1994)
  • Fidelity (Les Disques Du Crepuscule TWI 976-2, 1996)
  • Time Was Gigantic ... When We Were Kids (Factory Too / London FACD 2.31 / 558 330-2, 1998)
  • Rebellion (Artful ARTFULCD40, 2001)
  • Return Of The Sporadic Recordings (Kooky kookydisc 018, 2002 - New Edition of Sporadic Recordings)
  • Someone Else's Party (Artful ARTFUL49CD, 2003)
  • Tempus Fugit (Kooky kookydisc 019, 2004)
  • Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent) (F4, 2005, first only as a download, then as a bonus disc with the album "A Paean To Wilson" first released on CD in 2010)
  • Keep Breathing (Artful ARTFULCD52, 2006)
  • Idiot Savants (Artful ARTFULCD62, 2007)
  • Sporadic Three (Kookydisc 025, 2007)
  • Sunlight To Blue ... Blue To Blackness (Kookydisc 027, 2008)
  • Treatise On The Steppenwolf (LTMCD 2518, 2008)
  • A Paean To Wilson (Kookydisc 29/1 & 29/2, 2010)
  • Short Stories For Pauline (LTM Publishing / Factory Benelux LTMCD 2508 / FBN 36, 2012)

Singles

  • Sketch For Summer / Sketch For Winter (GAP Records SFA 491, 1980)
  • Lips That Would Kiss (Factory Benelux FBN 2, 1980 and as CD 1990)
  • Deux Triangles (Factory Benelux FBN 10, 1981)
  • I Get Along Without You Very Well (Factory FAC 64, 1983)
  • Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say (Factory FAC 114, 1985)
  • Tomorrow (Factory Benelux FBN 51, 1986)
  • The City of Our Lady (Factory FAC 184, 1986), with Debi Diamond
  • Our Lady Of The Angels (Factory FACD 194, 1986)
  • The Guitar And Other Marketing Devices (Factory FAC 214, 1987 - rectangular flexi disk as an addition to the album The Guitar And Other Machines)
  • The Together Mix (Factory FAC 284, 1989)

Live publications

  • Live At The Venue (VU, 1983 - Limited edition of 4000 - Released on CD in 2004)
  • Domo Arigato (Factory FACT 144, 1985 - recorded in Japan 4/85 - first pop CD release in England)
  • One Night In New York (US ROIR - only on cassette, 1987 - CD released in 1993 and re-released in 1999 with the title "A Night In New York" with bonus track)

Compilations

  • A Factory Sampler (Double 7 ”, Factory FAC 2, 1978)
  • A Factory Quartet (double LP, Factory FACT 24, 1980)
  • The Factory Complication (Video, Factory Benelux FBN 7, 1981)
  • A Factory Video (Video, Factory FACT 56, 1982)
  • A Factory Outing (Video, Factory FACT 71, 1983)
  • Factory Instore Video No. 1 (Video Factory FACT180 / 1, 1987)
  • Young, Popular And Sexy (LP / CS, Factory US FACTUS 17, 1987)
  • The First Four Albums (Factory FACD 204, 1988 - 4xCD with The Return Of The Durutti Column, LC, Another Setting and Without Mercy)
  • Select Factory Sampler (CS, Factory FAC305c, 1991)
  • Palatine - The Factory Story / Vol. 1 / 1979-1982 - Tears In Their Eyes (LP / CS / CD, Factory FACT 314)
  • Palatine - The Factory Story / Vol. 3 / 1979-1989 - The Beat Groups (LP / CS / CD, Factory FACT 334)
  • Palatine - The Factory Story / Vol. 4 / 1987-1990 - Selling Out (LP / CS / CD, Factory FACT 344)
  • Palatine - The Free Video (Video, Factory FACT 400, 1990)
  • Too Young To Know, Too Wild To Care - The Factory Story Pt. 1 (CD, London 828 700-2, 1997)
  • Different Colors, Different Shades (CD, London / Factory Once FACT 2.40, 1997)
  • And Here Is The Young Man: Martin Hannett Productions (CD, Polygram 555 976-2, 1998)
  • The Best Of The Durutti Column (2xCD, Warner 504675393-2, 2004)

Web links

Commons : The Durutti Column  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / users.rcn.com
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / users.rcn.com