Vini Reilly
Encyclopedia
Vincent "Vini" Gerard Reilly (born 4 August 1953, Higher Blackley
, Manchester) is an English musician and leader of the post-punk
group The Durutti Column
.
, Higher Blackley
, Manchester, and raised in Withington
, Wythenshawe
and Didsbury
, all also areas of Manchester
. His father was an engineer who did not allow his five children to watch television. His death saddened Vini, who was 16 at the time, and laments it today because he didn't admire or know him enough. As a child, he played a lot of football, and was even offered a trial for Manchester City F.C.
, but he declined, opting to concentrate on music.
His first recorded work was Ed Banger & The Nosebleeds' "Ain't Bin To No Music School".
Reilly arranged music and played guitar on fellow Manchester artist Morrissey
's debut album Viva Hate
in 1988. Reilly has also recorded with artists including John Cooper Clarke
, Pauline Murray
, Anne Clark
, The Wake
, Richard Jobson
, Quando Quango
, Craig Davies, Swing Out Sister
and Holly Johnson
. He also attempted to produce the Happy Mondays
' debut Forty Five E.P.
, but found that he simply could not work with the band.
Reilly was Tony Wilson's first signing to Manchester's iconic label, Factory Records
. Reilly's music is respected by fellow musicians and those in the music industry, with Brian Eno
citing Reilly's album LC as his all-time favorite album and former Red Hot Chili Pepper
John Frusciante
stating that Vini Reilly is "the best guitarist in the world".
In September 2010, Vini suffered a "minor" stroke which made him lose "some feeling in his left hand”.
Despite this, in February 2011 it was reported that he is working in a new album. The new tracks are slower because after the stroke he can't play as fast as he used to.
Higher Blackley
Higher Blackley is an electoral district or ward in the north of the City of Manchester, England. Voters from this ward elect three councillors to Manchester City Council...
, Manchester) is an English musician and leader of the post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
group The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England. The band is an ongoing project of guitarist Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. Other current members are Keir Stewart and Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan...
.
Biography
Reilly was born in Heaton ParkHeaton Park
Heaton Park, covering an area variously reported as , 247 hectares, , over and is the biggest park in Greater Manchester, England and one of the biggest municipal parks in Europe. The park comprises the grounds of a Grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall...
, Higher Blackley
Higher Blackley
Higher Blackley is an electoral district or ward in the north of the City of Manchester, England. Voters from this ward elect three councillors to Manchester City Council...
, Manchester, and raised in Withington
Withington
Withington is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury, and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, near the centre-to-south edges of the Greater Manchester Urban Area; in the...
, Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe
Wythenshawe is a district in the south of the city of Manchester, England.Formerly part of the administrative county of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s to resolve the problem of its inner...
and Didsbury
Didsbury
Didsbury is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre, in the southern half of the Greater Manchester Urban Area...
, all also areas of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. His father was an engineer who did not allow his five children to watch television. His death saddened Vini, who was 16 at the time, and laments it today because he didn't admire or know him enough. As a child, he played a lot of football, and was even offered a trial for Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
, but he declined, opting to concentrate on music.
His first recorded work was Ed Banger & The Nosebleeds' "Ain't Bin To No Music School".
Reilly arranged music and played guitar on fellow Manchester artist Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
's debut album Viva Hate
Viva Hate
Viva Hate is Morrissey's debut solo album, released on 14 March 1988 by HMV Records. The album was considered a very strong foray into Morrissey's solo career, as he utilised his traditional lyrical style and retained the basic sound that The Smiths had developed by the time they broke up. It...
in 1988. Reilly has also recorded with artists including John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clarke is an English performance poet who first became famous during the punk rock era of the late 1970s when he became known as a "punk poet"...
, Pauline Murray
Pauline Murray
Pauline Murray was the lead singer of the punk rock band, Penetration, which was originally formed in 1976.In May 1976 the then 18-year-old Murray saw the Sex Pistols...
, Anne Clark
Anne Clark
Anne Clark is an English poet and songwriter. Her first album, The Sitting Room, was released in 1982, and she has released over a dozen albums since then....
, The Wake
The Wake (band)
The Wake were a British post punk and later indie pop band, founded in Glasgow in 1981 by Gerard "Caesar" McInulty , Steven Allen and Joe Donnelly, who was later replaced by Bobby Gillespie...
, Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson (television presenter)
Richard Jobson is a Scottish singer-songwriter and film-maker, best known as a television presenter, film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
, Quando Quango
Quando Quango
Quando Quango was a British, Manchester based new wave and dance project, 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 York and Chicago in the 1980s...
, Craig Davies, Swing Out Sister
Swing Out Sister
Swing Out Sister are a British "sophisti-pop" group best known worldwide for their 1986 song "Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", "Twilight World", "Waiting Game" and a remake of "Am I the Same Girl?" Though album sales in the U.S. and Europe have levelled off since the early 1990s, the...
and Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson is an English artist, writer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and former bassist for Big in Japan.- Big in Japan :...
. He also attempted to produce the Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
' debut Forty Five E.P.
Forty Five E.P.
Forty Five E.P. is the debut E.P. from Madchester band the Happy Mondays, often incorrectly called the Delightful E.P. after its first track. It was released on Factory Records in 1985....
, but found that he simply could not work with the band.
Reilly was Tony Wilson's first signing to Manchester's iconic label, Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
. Reilly's music is respected by fellow musicians and those in the music industry, with Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
citing Reilly's album LC as his all-time favorite album and former Red Hot Chili Pepper
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
stating that Vini Reilly is "the best guitarist in the world".
In September 2010, Vini suffered a "minor" stroke which made him lose "some feeling in his left hand”.
Despite this, in February 2011 it was reported that he is working in a new album. The new tracks are slower because after the stroke he can't play as fast as he used to.
External links
- [ Vini Reilly page at Allmusic.com]