The Durutti Column

The Durutti Column were primarily the vehicle of Vini Reilly, a guitarist born in Manchester, England, in 1953. As a child, Reilly first took up the piano, drawing inspiration from greats like Art Tatum and Fats Waller, before learning to play guitar at the age of ten. Despite an early affection for folk and jazz, Reilly ultimately became swept up by the punk movement, and in 1977 he joined the group Ed Banger & the Nosebleeds. In 1978, Factory Records founder Tony Wilson invited Reilly to join a group dubbed the Durutti Column, the name inspired by the Spanish Civil War anarchist Buenaventura Durruti and a Situationists Internationale comic strip of the 1960s. Along with Reilly, the nascent band included guitarist Dave Rowbotham, drummer Chris Joyce, vocalist Phil Rainford, and bassist Tony Bowers; following a handful of performances, Rainford was fired, and after recording a pair of tracks for the EP A Factory Sampler, Rowbotham, Joyce, and Bowers broke off to form the Moth Men, leaving the Durutti Column the sole province of Vini Reilly. Recorded with the aid of a few session musicians and released in a sandpaper sleeve, the debut The Return of the Durutti Column, a collection of atmospheric instrumentals, appeared in 1980. With 1981's pastoral LC, recorded with drummer Bruce Mitchell (who remained a frequent collaborator), Reilly attempted vocals on a few tracks, and continued expanding his palette with a pair of explorations of chamber music, 1982's Another Setting and 1984's Without Mercy. Electronic rhythms, meanwhile, emerged as the pivotal element of 1985's Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say. After 1985's live effort Domo Arigato, Circuses and Bread marked a return to the densely constructed guitar textures of previous works, while 1987's eclectic The Guitar...