Closer

NME.com reports the death of Factory Records co-founder Tony Wilson.


"Wilson's first love was his hometown, which, he would always insist, in the face of its post-industrial, economic malaise, was the greatest place on earth. His boosterism helped turn England's 'third city' into a pop-culture mecca, a model that has been followed by indie boosters around the world, from Seattle to Toronto and beyond, whose vibrant music scenes are in part the product of utopianism, the insistence that their towns are as cool as—no, cooler—than London or New York or Los Angeles. Every Manchester band, even those not on his record label—the Buzzcocks, the Fall, the Smiths, the Stone Roses—owes a debt to the voluble cheerleader who put their city on the map."

In Slate, Jody Rosen pens an appreciation.