>...well, that's what it said on Planet Sound the other day. It's for a drama about the history of Factory records.
>
Isn't it about Granada Reports?>

I want this to happen. I want Chris Morris as Ian Curtis and I want Peter Baynham as Shaun Ryder. And it will happen.

Jimmy Mulville to play to play the lead singer of Crispy Ambulance (name unknown by entire human race).

Sally Phillips as Gillian Gilbert. No, Fiona Allen as Gillian Gilbert, Sally Phillips as Linder Sterling (never a Factory artist, I think).

Filling in in the absence of SOTCAA:

Well, we all know who can play Bez: Simon Pegg

"...well, i don't really play anything in the band, but i'm just glad to be part of this Madchester group. err, our kid..."

>Sally Phillips as Gillian Gilbert. No, Fiona Allen as Gillian Gilber

Rebecca Front looks quite a bit like Gillian Gilbert in 'Time Gentleman, Please', doesn't she?

>Jimmy Mulville to play to play the lead singer of Crispy Ambulance (name unknown by entire human race).

Alan Something. Details on Crispy Ambulance are a bit shaky because they never actually existed. They're a false memory implanted by an obscure god to justify the punchline to that Half Man Half Biscuit song.

The Factory Records Story -- surely that presents about fifteen casting nightmares? Who on earth would you get to portray Vini Reilly or Martin Hannett?

What they should do is track down the surviving members of some rubbish Factory bands (eg. Stockholm Monsters, 52nd Street, the immortal Crispy Ambulance and their extraordinary legacy of song) and get them to portray the famous ones like New Order, whilst also getting the memebers of New Order to do cameos portraying Crispy Ambulance. It'd talked about for years...

There is (is there not) a well-known rock anecdote about a Joy Division concert in Bury (?) at which Ian was too fragile to do more than a couple of songs, so they got Alan Something to stand in for him... the audience just about tolerated this, but then the bloke from A Certain Ratio came on and they ripped the place apart. Something like that, anyway.

Simon Topping. Simon Pegg could play him, in fact, because he's called Simon. Under the Alison Graham system of logic, that is. Casting would be a piece of piss if they put her in charge. Ian Curtis -- Ian Holm. Alan Erasmus -- Alan Cumming. Vini Reilly -- Vinnie Jones. Etc...

Marc Riley was in The Fall from 77-82, but was he ever in JD, in the early days?

Which is largest - ?

Ex-Fall members.

The "Week Ending" credits sequence.

An ex-member of the Fall who wrote for Week Ending would be a wonderful chimera to discover! I know Brix contributed a few quickies to The Now Show, but that doesn't really count.

Bob and Barbara Boulton played percussion on "This Nation's Saving Grace"

>I know Brix contributed a few quickies to The Now Show, but that doesn't really count.

She was going to be in Hole at one point. Mmm.

Spotted something that I believed to be some of the filming in Liverpool the other day. Had a look for Coogan, but I couldn't find him. What alarmed me when I got into work was the number of students who don't seem to have any idea who he is, even though they all worship Ali Bloody G...

Tsk! Young people, eh, don't they have any gratitude to previous generations?

Jon may I say it is a delight to see you and your opinions again.

I heard Coogan was doing research into architecture for a new architect character he has planned.

I think he should stick to Partridge. 'Coogan's Run' showed he isn't very versatile. It was a montage of Alan Partridges with a twist.

>I think he should stick to Partridge. 'Coogan's Run' showed he isn't very versatile. It was a montage of Alan Partridges with a twist.

I can't let that go. The only one that was Partridge-like was Gareth Cheeseman (leading to the inevitable rumours of a spin-off series that never materialised), but the rest of the characters were quite different.

<flamebait> I thought they should have given Patrick Marber his own series to write after that, as the two episodes he wrote were more inventive than the others </flamebait>

if only

Ernest Moss was fantastic (was that a warm-up for him on On The Hour when he was Gordon Parnell - "I *love* old people!!!")

And The Curator one was pretty damn good too.

Coogan's better than just doing Partridge all the time. Although, strangely enough, there were reports after Coogan's Run that Cheeseman was going to get a whole series built around him. But they did IAP instead. As we know. Yes.

Back to the Factory film.

Having met Anthony Wilson and interviewed his revisionist face, I know that Coogan could easily pass off an impression of him. All he needs to do is prostititute all his humanity and sign up Crispy Ambulance, Earthbound and some commercial dead loss on an off-shoot classical label and he's there.

The thing is that this whole idea feeds into the perpetration of the Wilson myth - not the Factory myth, which was dead and buried in 1993. Factory Too, his current label, holds a roster of no artists whatsoever. The elegant Durutti Column walked out on him in 1999 after total betrayal by Wilson and other than that, the label offered the Space Monkeys. The man may run In The City but he has little or no commercial nouse.

And as for a Factory *film*. Jesus. Enough lip service has been paid to Wilson and certainly Joy Division/New Order give out this self-important image that perhaps should not be encouraged. Both were wonderful bands and the latter certainly changed white acceptance of dance music for the better, but I can't help feeling that enough oxygen has been given to them already.

Given that the late Rob Gretton (NO manager) objected to Anton Corbijn's revisionist 'Atmosphere' promo in 1987, he'd certainly revolve in his grave at the thought of a biopic that romanticised the death of Curtis and the canonisation of Bernard Sumner.

Coogan needs a punch anyway.

What about the Revengers Comedies? His character in that was very Partidge-like. I just don't think he's as confident without the Partridge persona. Often even in other characters he'll slip in a Partridgism as if insecure he'd get a laugh otherwise.

Pre-Partridge he was a mediocre stand up and impressionist so it's no wonder he's clinging to a formula that works.

Yeah... but who's gonna play Dermo from Northside?

Heard on the Mark Goodier show, 1991, discussing the upcoming Northside album:

Goodier: ...and which track do you like most?

Dermo: 'Tour The World'

Goodier: Why?

Dermo: Cos it's me favourite!

Re: Wislon.

In 'The Dark Stuff' by Nick Kent, the article about interviewing the Roses and Mondays when they were due on TOTP, John Squire (I think) is quoted as saying, roughly: "Wilson's alright, but he shouldn't try to be a spokesman for the city cos he's too out of touch". That's one of the baggy band members speaking there.

Justin, didn't you once say that the Northside's 1st and last album caused the biggest ever over-stock during your years working in HMV? Or was it that some other shit band put them in 2nd place?

There were certainly literal bucketloads of 'reduced' copies in every record shop by Christmas 1991. I picked it up on CD for 99p.

And it was STILL better than The Wendys!

Lest we forget, TW did actually say to NME in 91/92: "I'm telling you, [Northside] will be playing stadiums!"

They did manage a top ten hit in America, though...

You're kidding me. Say it ain't so...

There are some subjects not suitable even for a disturbing sketch show on C4, and Northside are one of them.

>Spotted something that I believed to be some of the filming in Liverpool the other day.


He was. I read an interview of him on the net (can't remember where, I came across it by accident), but he was being interviewed in Lime St Station (I think!!)

It was so. 'Take Five', some time early in 1992...

Christ! Americans, eh? They'll buy any old shit...

>Christ! Americans, eh? They'll buy any old shit...

.. remake it, and then we'll be more than willing to buy it back. This applies to everything.

Sam have you ever been involved in a film? Like the graphical enlarging of the breasts in 'Golden Eye'?

Should I have?
Whos breasts were enlarged, and where can I find out more about this kind of work?

You do graphic art don't you? Have you not had any work in the fake nude celeb market? You should get involved. It's thriving.

Actually, I once got the head of a smutty-faced porn lady and photoshopped it onto the head of a sensibly clothed Katie Boyle.
Suprisingly, there is very little demand for fake clothed porn-stars pics.

Next time, I'll have a better idea.

How about the face of Richard Madeley and the body of a shopping trolley!... er, no... I've got that wrong....

Jon are you a cockney?

No. Does that disappoint you?