Don't Walk Away In Silence

Tony Wilson, the man behind Factory Records, died this past weekend. His unique approach to the music business of dealing without contracts and providing top notch packaging and production help bring about some of my most cherished albums. I don't know that I ever got a complete sense of his over sized personality since I've never seen his television hosting gigs in the UK but the occasional interviews I've read are fascinating. Just a short time ago Wilson was asked by Billboard of his opinion on how Steve Coogan played him in the biographical 24 Hour Party People:

Oh, I loved it. Basically, I'm a complete tw*t, but he played me as an affable fool, which is very sweet. I'm not really an affable fool, but I'm very happy to be portrayed as such... I am so proud of "24 Hour Party People" because it is very funny. I am now a celebrity in America because of that film, which is bizarre.

: Maybe he was even more of a celebrity here than he realized. I first read of Wilson's death on my ISP's news scroll where it was a featured story.