The Return of the Durutti Column

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The Return of the Durutti Column
Original sandpaper sleeve by Tony Wilson
Studio album by The Durutti Column
Released	January 1980
Recorded	August 1979
Studio	Cargo Studios, Rochdale, England
Genre	Ambient, dream pop, post-punk
Length	28:13
Label	Factory
Producer	Martin Hannett
The Durutti Column chronology
The Return of the Durutti Column (1980) LC (1981)
Alternative cover
Second edition sleeve by Steve Horsfall

The Return of the Durutti Column is the debut studio album by English band The Durutti Column. It was released in January 1980, through record label Factory.

Background[]

The initial two thousand copies also included a flexi-disc single with two tracks by producer Martin Hannett: "First Aspect of the Same Thing" and "Second Aspect of the Same Thing".

The original 3600 LP sleeves were made of coarse sandpaper (similar to the Situationist book Mémoires), designed to scratch LPs which were placed on either side of it. The sleeves were assembled by members of the bands and label-mates Joy Division and A Certain Ratio. A regular printed sleeve for later copies was designed by Steve Horsfall. Some later pressings featured a sixth untitled track on side two.

"Sketch for Summer"/"Sketch for Winter" was released as a single (Gap Records SFA-491) in Australia, with a sleeve by Andrew Penhallow of Gap.^[1]

In 2013 a modified version was issued as a vinyl album by Factory Benelux (FBN-114) with an 11-inch square sheet of coarse glasspaper attached to the inner sleeve, visible through a die-cut in the front cover. The die-cut was based on the 1978 Factory 'bar graph' logo designed by Peter Saville. On this edition, the Hannett tracks were included on a bonus 7-inch single on hard vinyl.^[2]

The album was given the Factory Identifier FACT14 (Vinyl), or FACT14-C (Cassette).

Legacy[]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Record Collector	[4]

AllMusic called the album a "quietly stunning debut, as influential down the road as his labelmates in Joy Division's effort with Unknown Pleasures."^[3]

Track listing[]

All written by Vini Reilly.

Side A

1. "Sketch for Summer"
2. "Requiem for a Father"
3. "Katharine"
4. "Conduct"

Side B

1. "Beginning"
2. "Jazz"
3. "Sketch for Winter"
4. "Collette"
5. "In 'D'"

Bonus flexi-disc

1. "First Aspect of the Same Thing"
2. "Second Aspect of the Same Thing"

Personnel[]

The Durutti Column

• Vini Reilly – guitar
• Pete Crooks – bass guitar
• Toby Toman (credited as Toby) – drums

Additional personnel

• Martin Hannett – production
• Chris Nagle – engineering
• John Brierley – engineering
• Anthony H. Wilson – sleeve artwork (uncredited)

References[]

External links[]

• The Return of the Durutti Column at Discogs (list of releases)