Mike Garry And Joe Duddell 'St Anthony (an Ode To Tony Wilson)' by Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas of the Soup Collective has assembled a stellar cast of mainly Mancunian luminaries to create this pitch-perfect accompaniment to a tribute to the man they called Mr Manchester - Factory Records founder Tony Wilson.

The track was created when poet Mike Garry brought his poem about Wilson, who died after a long illness in Manchester’s Christie Cancer Hospital in 2007, to composer and New Order and Elbow collaborator Joe Duddell. On the first read, Duddell immediately heard elements of New Order’s Your Silent Face and decided to base the music on that song. ‘St. Anthony: An Ode To Anthony H Wilson’ was born.

Mark Thomas reveals the accompanying video has been a year in the making, squeezed in between other projects, and in the process the Soup Collective have filmed numerous friends and associates of Wilson's simply lipsyncing the song's lyrics: including Steve Coogan (who played Wilson in the 2003 movie 24 Hour Party People), Bernard, Gillian and Stephen from New Order, Christopher Eccleston, Iggy Pop, Shaun Ryder, Peter Saville, Richard Madeley, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Terry Christian, Paul Morley, Mark Radcliffe, Rowetta, John Robb, Rowetta, John Cooper Clarke, Miranda Sawyer, Andrew Weatherall, and Philip Glass. 

The video shows the still-abiding love and respect for Wilson, eight years after his death, and all profits from the single, released today (August 14th), with artwork by Peter Saville and a remix by Andrew Weatherall, will go to Christies Cancer Hospital in Manchester.  

There is also website, designed by Retro Fuzz, at saint-anthony.co.uk, which allows the visitor to explore the places, people and stories which make up the lyrics - helping to see the full picture of Wilson’s impact.  

Watch 'Mike Garry And Joe Duddell 'St Anthony (an Ode To Tony Wilson)' by Mark Thomas' here