Bernard Sumner – Joy Division/New Order

“Tony was into anarchy on a conceptual level. He was a Cambridge-educated graduate on a higher plane than us, this luvvy-darling plane. But that was an interesting collaboration. We were working-class scumbags and he was from Cambridge, but it was a wonderful collaboration. He saw himself not as a record company owner or businessman but as a patron of the arts, darling. He was wonderful at encouraging you.

“It had a bit of anarchy about it all, which was the great thing about being on Factory Records, because nobody had a plan. The plan was to have no plan. It probably cost us some success, but it was a hell of a lot of fun. And that was partly down to Tony and [Joy Division and New Order manager] Rob Gretton.”

Steve Coogan – comedian

“When I was at school it was fashionable to say: ‘Tony Wilson – he’s a w*****.’ But only because, even though he was changing music, it made you look more intelligent than him. While, in fact, we were 15-year-old schoolboys and he was a civic champion, never sold out, never went to London. There was an Alan Partridge quality to him, an unselfconsciousness when he was being a bit of a prat. But the way he was different from Alan Partridge is that he was aware, he didn’t mind – people would shout ‘W***** Wilson’ at him and it didn’t bother him.”

Michael Winterbottom – film director

“Tony’s basic attitude was that: ‘Shaun Ryder is a genius, Ian Curtis is a genius . . .’ He had this incredible enthusiasm for his friends. They were brilliant, fantastic. And that enthusiasm – other people are creative, other people are brilliant – is what was great about Factory.”

Peter Saville – founder, Factory Records

“Calling him Manchester’s Mr Music is a generalisation that doesn’t do him justice. Pete Waterman – who is a genius – is Manchester’s Mr Music. He’s interested in tunes; Tony was interested in feelings and how they were articulated through youth culture. Whether it was an Ian Curtis or a Shaun Ryder, or in recent years a young rap group called Raw T, Tony felt that the voice of young people was important and occasionally manifested itself in great art.

“Tony was affectionate towards people and there was loyalty, as well as a frank dismissiveness if he’d fallen out with somebody . . . he didn’t have enough time for Tony Wilson, let alone for friends. But 20 years after he and I first met, we were having supper together somewhere and he didn't need me any more and I didn’t need him. And we were still there. We realised that we were actually, after all, friends.”

Alan McGee – founder, Creation Records

“He was one of the most inspirational people I ever met. He gave me time in 1985 when no one would. I was just an oik from Scotland who’d put out a few records and he was the man who’d signed Joy Division, the greatest punk group ever. In the end, I may have sold a few more records, but Wilson was a better record company boss because he was funnier.

“It feels like the end of an era, like get out of Dodge because Tony’s gone. He meant that much. And of course he was a reprobate as much as anyone else. We loved that, because we all were at one point.”

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