Broadcaster, record company executive and entrepreneur. Born in Salford, Lancashire, Wilson read English at Jesus College, Cambridge before beginning his career as reporter and presenter for Granada television in Manchester. Hosting the pioneering culture and music programme, So It Goes (1976-7), Wilson championed up-coming bands, including the Sex Pistols and keenly promoted the cultural status of Manchester. Wilson co-founded the Factory nightclub in 1978 followed by the Factory Records label, signing bands including Joy Division, New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and the Happy Mondays. In 1982 Wilson set up the internationally renowned nightclub, the Hacienda, which during the 1990s hosted bands including the Stone Roses and Oasis, and was fictionalised in Michael Winterbottom's film 24 Hour Party People (2002).
Cummins became one of the prime photographers of the Manchester punk scene in the late 1970s and for ten years was the chief photographer for NME. He has contributed to major publications including The Times, Vogue and Mojo and is currently working on a photographic retrospective of Manchester musicians to be published by Faber & Faber in 2008.
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