52nd Street (band) - The Lindsay Reade Years

The Lindsay Reade Years

Reade had returned to Factory Records in 1984, after her divorce from Tony Wilson, to run the Overseas Licensing Department. Gretton suggested that Reade needed something more challenging to do and that people tended to underestimate her abilities. He also overheard Reade tell another staff member that the only other band on the label worth spending money on was 52nd Street. "At least they made music that ordinary people would buy." Reade had not at that time met the band.

Once manager, she put together a strategy to hasten productivity. After a short non-productive period, the band regrouped and reorganised. Vocalist Beverley McDonald departed and promptly began contributing to Quando Quango's LP Pigs and Battleships. Although not the strongest of singers, she had the Factory look and ethos which Tony Wilson loved. She was "rugged cool" (not unlike Macy Gray) and had an image that wouldn’t have looked out of place had she been lead vocalist with Joy Division. Wilson wasn’t happy with the change and stated that this decision would lead to the quick demise of 52nd Street.

McDonald was replaced by Diane Charlemagne (later lead vocalist with Moby and would go on to bigger UK success with the Urban Cookie Collective). Charlemagne, even in 1984, was one of the strongest female soul voices in the UK.

New Order’s Stephen Morris was called in by Rob to help out on production for 52nd Street’s 3rd single "Can’t Afford". Morris also completed production on two other tracks that were supposed to appear on a later EP. Like Sumner, Morris was now a deep philosopher in electronic funk and his ideas, intercut with Tony Henry’s sequenced bass lines and Charlemagne’s potent vocal delivery, excited everyone at Factory except for Wilson, who was still grieving the loss of McDonald. Both those additional tracks "Look I’ve Heard it all Before" and "Available" were re-recorded and released on the band’s 1986 Virgin debut album titled Children of the Night.