Ed Barton

A cult figure in Manchester’s art and music scene, Ed Barton has been a filmmaker, artist, curator, performer, songwriter and now poet. From his first, bizarre appearance on the BBC’s The Tube in 1984, playing a guitar with a wooden spoon, to the controversial Dadaist gallery Oblong he set up in Manchester’s Affleck’s Palace (which featured more often in the tabloids than in the art press), he has been a constant source of creative chaos for over 20 years. Barton’s ’90s performance night, Hip Replacement, developed a Studio 54 like reputation in Manchester’s music scene, and his own song-writing has seen him work with the likes of A Guy Called Gerald, 808 State and the Ministry of Sound’s Lost Witness. In 1992 his song ‘It’s a Fine Day’ was covered by Opus III and made it to number 4 in the UK singles chart. Barton was also the composer of Kylie Minogue’s hit single ‘Confide in Me’ (though he doesn’t like to talk about that one).