Martin Hannett
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Martin Hannett (May 1948 - April 18, 1991) was an innovative record producer who helped discover Joy Division and cofounded Factory Records with Tony Wilson. His trademark sound, most obvious on Joy Division's debut album Unknown Pleasures, was spare and eerie, yet sensual. He frequently utilized looping technology to delay, repeat, and heavily echo notes using then-cutting edge digital filters; his application of such techinques to Joy Division's minor-key music, especially visible within their drum sounds, invested it with a harsh, remote aura. In this sense, Hannett's production highlighted the negative space in Joy Division's sound, placing as much importance on the surrounding emptiness as on the band's spartan instrumentation.
As a producer, Hannett was infamously difficult to work with. He famously obsessed over drum sounds, never being content until they completely coincided with the sounds in his head. Legend even has it that he once forced Joy Division drummer Stephen Morris to take apart his drum kit during a recording session and reassemble it to include additional parts from a toilet. The complexity and distinctiveness of Morris' Hannett-treated drums can be especially heard on Joy Division songs such as "Atrocity Exhibition" and "She's Lost Control."
A rift formed with Factory and he sued them in 1982 over a financial dispute; the matter was eventually settled out of court. At this point, Hannett's career had spiralled into decline due to his massive drug use, especially his love of heroin. His weight eventually doubled, and he finally died of heart failure in 1991 at the age of 42.
Hannett often used the pseudonym "Martin Zero."
He was portrayed by actor Andy Serkis in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which was based on Wilson's career as the co-founder of Factory Records and The Haçienda nightclub.
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Selected discography as producer
Albums
- Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures 1979
- The Durutti Column, The Return of Durruti Column 1979
- Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls, Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls 1979
- The Psychedelic Furs, The Psychedelic Furs 1980 (songs "Susan's Strange" and "Soap Commercial")
- Joy Division, Closer 1980
- Joy Division, Still 1981
- Magazine, The Correct Use of Soap
- New Order, Movement 1981
- The Stone Roses, Garage Flower 1985
- Happy Mondays, Bummed 1988
- Various, Martin: The Work of Record Producer Martin Hannett 1992
EPs
- The Buzzcocks, Spiral Scratch 1977
Singles
- U2, "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" 1980
- Stockholm Monsters, "Fairy Tales" 1981
- ESG, "ESG" 1981
- New Order, "Everything's Gone Green" 1982
- Kitchens of Distinction, "Quick as Rainbows" 1990
External links
- The 24 Hour Party People movie website (http://www.partypeoplemovie.com/legend_sub.php?section=2&subsection=4&article_id=94) contains an extensive biography of Martin.