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Tony Wilson & the birth of digital pop music - June 16, 2008

Have you seen 24 Hour Party People? The 2002 film about Manchester's music scene ('76 to '97) and Tony Wilson, the legendary musical force directing a bevy of Manchester's most popular artists? Well, you should rent it if you haven't seen it yet. 

I bring up Wilson because I found an interesting article from The University of Manchester. 

Seems they dug up previously unseen video footage of Wilson from 1988, shot as part of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the birth of ‘The Baby’ – the first computer capable of storing a program.

In the interview (see it here: www.digital60.org/media/interview_tony_wilson/) Wilson claims digital music in pop music started with his band New Order. 

The footage came to light while Web designers at The University of Manchester were building the official web site for Digital 60 Day, which will take place on 20June 2008.

Digital 60 is all about celebrating the 60th anniversary of the 'world-changing achievement of Kilburn and Williams' -- they developed the world's first stored-program computer.

Discussing band New Order, Wilson says in the interview, “I used to go to their rehearsal room in 1980 / 1981 / 1982. And they had very early Apple Macs and wires joined to different pieces. And in fact they developed a song which the machines could play, this is in 83, so they could go off stage and leave everybody, leave the audience, bored and bemused by a track that would go on playing. This is a song that was called Blue Monday."

Great song.











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