I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women at Factory Records by Audrey Golden

Author:Audrey Golden [Golden, Audrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781399606202
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2023-05-03T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

FACTORY GOES GLOBAL: NEW YORK AND BENELUX

Anne Lehman and Michael Shamberg at the Of Factory office in New York

Factory formed relationships outside the UK that led to the creation of various regional arms of the label. In New York, the offshoot that would eventually become Of Factory New York began in 1981 as Factory America, followed by Factory US, fronted by Michael Shamberg and based at 325 Spring Street in SoHo. While Shamberg largely played the role of Tony Wilson in America, women managed the New York wing of the label. Anne Lehman ran the office through much of its heyday, her name listed among the ‘directors’ on the Of Factory New York stationery designed by Chris Mathan. Miranda Stanton did behind-the-scenes work in the early days of Factory’s New York wing while also writing and recording music as her musical alter ego Stanton Miranda and with her band Thick Pigeon. Over the years, the city of New York itself played a vital role in the development of Factory Records, from Ruth Polsky’s zealous promotion of Manchester bands at clubs that inspired The Haçienda, to the annual New Music Seminar (1980–1995), which highlighted the dearth and necessity of women in the music business.

Across the Atlantic in Brussels, Annik Honoré had been promoting Factory bands in mainland Europe with Michel Duval. They went on to form Factory Benelux (Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg), along with their own distinct label Les Disques du Crépuscule, which released music by Factory artists like The Durutti Column, Anna Domino, and Thick Pigeon. Outside Europe and North America, references are made occasionally to another Factory arm, Factory Australasia. This Pacific wing largely served as a licensee but was the only Factory company to release the soundtrack to Salvation! (catalogue FACT 182), a film by director Beth B.

anne lehman: The Factory US office was in the old Port Authority trucking building. It was gorgeous. We were on the south side of the building, and the windows overlooked Spring Street. It was very small inside (the Factory office), there were two or three tables made from doors – you know, doors on sawhorses. I don’t even think there were chairs, quite frankly. The hallways were long and dark with those wide staircases. I love that building. The office was room number 233, so we were on the second floor. At the very end of that hall were the offices for White Columns [a contemporary art gallery]. If we needed to make photocopies or send faxes or anything like that, we were able to use their machines. I spent a lot of time just sitting on the floor in the hall outside of the office because Michael was not a very punctual person. I think I learnt to always travel with a book because there’s not really a whole lot else to do. I smoked a lot of cigarettes in the hallways waiting for him. [laughs] I think I eventually got a key.

That building on Spring Street is a historic landmark, but you wouldn’t know it because the office was a mess when I first got there.

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