Faction - 1980-81 Recordings

“Faction formed in December 1980, the first of at least three Liverpool bands of that name. The two members were John Tuite, aka Nicky Hillon or Nicky Cool, one of the two founders of Pink Military. And Colm Redmond, aka Reg or The Enigmatic Reg or (by accident) Reg Redmond, previously of Psycamesh, Wah! Heat, and what proved to be the last of many lineups of Pink Military. With most of that band sacked and Jayne Casey on maternity leave, Tuite and Redmond started to work on their own and recorded an album's worth of material in 4 days at SOS Studios, Liverpool in Dec 80[17th and 18th] and Jan 81 [2nd and 3rd]. Guesting were: Pete Wylie (gtr, drums) and Joe Musker (drums, percussion) of Wah!; Pete Coleman (kbds) the studio engineer [see picture, at the mixing desk]; Alan Peters (trumpet, kbds) the studio owner [see picture, wearing sunglasses]; Miss [Karen] Li (vcls.) Unaware that Pink Military would never function again Tuite wanted to call his spare-time project The Pink Military Faction. Redmond disliked the terrorist overtones and cut it to Faction. The album was released cheaply as a so-called EEP (extended ep) in a plastic bag with an insert instead of a sleeve, to reflect the unfocussed, demo feel of some of the tracks.”

Faction – Faction (1980-81)










.
a1. Jamaica Day (Hillon)
a2. Disney (Hillon)
a3. Ritual I (Hillon / Redmond) ( harmonizer: Redmond / Coleman)
a4. Faction(Hillon) (gtr / perc: Redmond; piano: Peters; synth / vx: Hillon)
a5. Far Away (Hillon / Redmond) (farfisa: Coleman; vx: Hillon / Miss Lee)
a6. Crazy People (Redmond / Hillon) (dr: Musker)
b1. Directive 59 (Hillon) (dr: Musker)
b2. Shanghi (Hillon) (dr: Musker, gtr: Redmond / Wylie)
b3. Ritual 2 (Hillon / Redmond) (dr / perc: Musker; harmonizer: Coleman)
b4. Burning Feet (Hillon / Redmond) (dr: Musker; trumpet: Peters)
b5. Vienna (Hillon) (piano: Pete Wylie; get: Redmond / Wylie)
b6. Tired of Love (Hillon / Redmond / Wylie) (dr: Wylie; synth: Hillon / Wylie)

Together with the musicians credited above, Hillon played synths and/or sang in all the songs (at least those featuring synths and vocals). Redmond played guitars, farfisa and some percussions).

“[The album] would have been no.1 in the indie chart in the first week of release, but was disqualified because it was sold for below the minimum price for an album. The reviews were either excellent or atrocious, mainly the latter. Manager Pete Fulwell's decision to market Faction as a kind of latterday supergroup in the midst of a campaign against such old-fashioned conceits [the so-called "race against rockism" ironically founded by none other than Wylie] didn't help their reputation. Meanwhile Grace Jones had heard the tapes and was keen to record the song Faction for her next album. The band decided to record a new version to release as a single themselves first, and went to Amazon studios in Kirkby, Liverpool for two days in Jan 81. With Musker again on drums and Redmond playing everything else (except piano by Wylie on Faction) they recorded four songs including both sides of the single. The single was notable mostly for the beautiful B-side Wrong Again [vx: Redmond / Hillon; synths: Redmond; piano; Hillon; dr: Musker] and for an early credit for now-legendary producer Gil Norton, then a house engineer at Amazon who recorded most of the session. Maybe not his first credit but probably the first time he got misspelt as Gill. The single again was badly reviewed and bombed. Jones never recorded the song: her previous album had not done well and the record company didn't give her the luxury of selecting her own material for the next. The band played a few of their songs live for the only time when they did a one-off gig with Wylie and Musker as The 21st Present, also performing covers ranging from Venus In Furs to Funkytown, and Roxy Music's The Bogus Man with Troy Tate of Teardrop Explodes on guitar. Several months later an album was in the can. Recorded in the two Amazon studios with first Gil Norton and later Geoff Higgins as engineers and co-producers with Tuite and Redmond, it contained what could have been, if not a hit, at least a calling card in the shape of a fierce cover of New York City's "I'm Doing Fine Now." Drums were variously by Musker and Dave Reilly, then of China Crisis. Tim Lever (Modern Eon, later of Dead Or Alive) played sax. Tuite did lead vocals, Redmond sang the rest, and played everything else. All concerned loved it, photo sessions were done and the sleeve was ready; but the album was an early casualty in negotiations between studio boss Jeremy Lewis, who was attempting to license his label and all its bands en masse, and the Virgin label. Gradually first Faction then Dead Or Alive and others were negotiated out of the deal until Virgin achieved their ill-concealed goal of signing China Crisis and the rest were forgotten. DOA survived of course but Faction's album was never released despite being hawked around numerous London A+R men and being praised to the skies by Malcolm McLaren; and the band ceased to exist. Only one track from the album ever saw the light of day. The Inevitable compilation album Small Hits And Near Misses contained a track ostensibly by Tuite's later band Venus Adore called Burning Arrows. It even credits Tuite and Rea, the other member of that band, as writers. But it is in fact Back Into Sound, the first track on the unreleased Faction album.”Special thanks to Colm Redmond.

Faction 1980-81

(see: http://www.minimal-wave.org/site/modules.php?name=topMusic )