Photograph
Happy Mondays
Factory Records Office - Princess St
1989

Factory Records office/headquarters building. Photo’s Manchester 1989.

Here’s a couple of photo’s I took of this building on the corner of Princess Street and Charles Street in Manchester M1. I think it was late 1989. I would pass the place often, it was just another one of those semi derelict buildings that were all over central Manchester at the time. Then it just happened to be ‘transformed’ over night. You can see the ‘sold’ sign on the photo’s. Factory had just bought the building to use as the Factory records new offices, separate from the Hacienda, around the corner about 1/2 a mile away on Whitworth street.

So before any work started and factory moved in they fly posted their own building with loads of Happy Mondays posters. The building’s covered in posters of Shaun Ryder’s portrait, repeated in a ‘Warhol’ style. The portrait was done by Central Station design and of course the same image graced the cover of Happy Mondays 2nd album from 1988 ‘Bummed’ Fact220. I thought it looked great and had to take a photo before it disappeared, great advertising great idea! Well before the term ‘guerrilla marketing’ had ever been heard off!!