Quotes from Tony Wilson

We had a heroic attitude to artistic freedom, and we thought normal contracts were a bit vulgar - somehow not punk. But that was the whole point - we weren't a regular record label.

This is Manchester, we do things differently here.

Every band needs it's own special chemistry. And Bez was a very good chemist.

You don't know reality until someone makes a fiction of it. Reality needs the completion of fiction.

The special relationship between the region and a regional celebrity means that people feel that they have a special investment in you.

Energy, energy? Energy is, is, it's nothing more than a lot of new age hokum masquerading as religion.

I'm a minor player in my own life story.

In the '80s, we played the Roxy and the Whiskey with our bands.

Even though the hero of emo is Morrissey, the great song of emo is 'Love Will Tear Us Apart.' An emo soundtrack would introduce Joy Division's music to a whole new generation.

I don't mind the fact that people hate me. Nobody likes anyone who's been on the telly as long as I have.

My public image is none of my business.

I'm going to be the next David Frost.

Jazz is the last refuge of the untalented. Jazz musicians enjoy themselves more than anyone listening to them does.

I hate English kids rapping - complete crap.

I have this problem that I just like to get a reaction from people.

I am not a piece of hash. I'm in charge of Factory Records. I think.

You either make money, or you make history.

There is no celebrity quite as powerful as the local, homegrown celebrity.

Maybe the worst thing is not caring what people think. That came from my mother. She was the biggest influence on my life.

Richard Branson once said: 'Tony's very good at selling bands and he's very good at making television programmes. But he'll never be great at either, until he decides which one he wants to do.' I entirely accept that. That doesn't matter to me very much. I like the irony of the two lives.

When forced to pick between truth and legend, print the legend.

Factory Records would not have existed and my life would not have been what it was without Joy Division.

I've been a minor celebrity since I was 23 years old.

It's my belief that history is a wheel. 'Inconstancy is my very essence,' says the wheel. Rise up on my spokes if you like but don't complain when you're cast back down into the depths. Good time pass away, but then so do the bad. Mutability is our tragedy, but it's also our hope. The worst of time, like the best, are always passing away.