Robert Leo Gretton (15 January 1953 – 15 May 1999) was the manager of

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

and New Order. He was partner in and co-director of

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutt ...

and a founding partner of

The Haçienda The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, North West England, which became famous during the Manchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was run by the record label Factory Records. The club opened in 1982, eventually ...

. For ten years until his death in 1999, Gretton ran his own label, Rob’s Records.

Life and career

In 1977, Gretton became a leading figure in the Manchester punk scene with his involvement with

Slaughter & The Dogs Slaughter and the Dogs are an English punk rock band formed in 1975 in Wythenshawe, Manchester. Their original line-up consisted of singer Wayne Barrett McGrath, rhythm guitar Mick Rossi, drummer Brian "Mad Muffet" Grantham, lead guitarist M ...

. He was DJ in

Rafters club Rafters, later known as Jilly's, was a nightclub located in St. James Buildings, Oxford Street, Manchester, England. Some well-known bands played concerts at Rafters in the 1970s and 1980s. Rob Gretton, who went on to become the manager of Joy ...

and manager of The Panik. Gretton's involvement with the Manchester scene began when he contributed £200 to co-finance Slaughter & the Dogs' first single, the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

classic "Cranked Up Really High". In 1978, Gretton saw Joy Division perform at the Stiff Test/Chiswick Challenge battle of the bands in Manchester City centre. The next day, he accosted

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post ...

in a phone box and insisted he be the band’s manager.

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder o ...

of newly formed

also saw Joy Division, and perhaps Gretton, for the first time that night. He then went on to write to Wilson twice, once asking to appear on Wilson’s regional music show, and again to thank him for mentioning Joy Division on the show. Wilson replied, telling Gretton that “Joy Division (were) the best thing I’ve heard in Manchester for about six months”. After joining Factory Records in 1979, Gretton brought many new bands to the label, including Section 25, X-O-Dus,

Crispy Ambulance Crispy Ambulance are an English post-punk band, formed in Manchester in late-1977 by Keith Darbyshire (bass), Robert Davenport (guitar), Alan Hempsall (vocals), and Gary Madeley (drums).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', ...

, Stockholm Monsters,

Minny Pops Minny Pops is a Dutch, Amsterdam-based new wave/electronic/art punk band, associated with the Ultra post-punk movement in the Netherlands and the Factory Records label in the UK. History The vocalist/songwriter/programmer Wally van Middendo ...

, The Names,

Quando Quango Quando Quango were a British electronic music group, formed by The Haçienda DJ and Factory Records A&R man Mike Pickering, Hillegonda Rietveld and Reinier Rietveld. Their unique sound influenced the underground dance music scenes in New Yor ...

, The Wake,

52nd Street 52nd Street is a -long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan, New York City. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s. Jazz center Following the repeal of ...

and

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder ( bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined t ...

. Gretton was proprietor of the Rob's Records label and a co-founder of The Haçienda nightclub in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. In 1995, he founded Manchester Records. He was a supporter of

Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club are an England, English association football, football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English football. Fo ...

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born Woodhead; 13 February 1956) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Joy Division and New Order. Hook often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

recalls in his memoirs, '' Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division'' and ''Substance: Inside New Order'' how Gretton would sometimes record backing vocals on New Order tracks and often helped with deliberations over song and album titles with both

and New Order. He died in May 1999 at the age of 46 as the result of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

.Dickinson, Bob.
Rob Gretton
. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 21 May 1999. Retrieved on 8 February 2009.

Portrayal in the media

Gretton was portrayed by

Paddy Considine Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Britis ...

in the 2002 film '' 24 Hour Party People'', which dramatized the rise and fall of Factory Records, and by

Toby Kebbell Tobias Alistair Patrick Kebbell''Births, Marriages & Deaths: Toby is married to Arielle Wyatt. They got married in 2020 and they have one child together. Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 9 July 1982) is an English ...

in the 2007 film ''

Control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controllin ...

'', a biopic of Joy Division singer

Ian Curtis Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown P ...

References

External links

Rob Gretton biography at LTM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gretton, Rob 1953 births 1999 deaths English music managers New Order (band) People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester Factory Records 20th-century British musicians 20th-century English businesspeople Burials at Southern Cemetery, Manchester