1978:	Group formed by Simon Topping (vocals/trumpet), Jeremy Kerr (bass), Martin Moscrop (guitar) and Peter Terrell (electronics/loops). Initially a intense, drummerless quartet influenced by Kraftwerk and Wire, the band gain a manager in Tony Wilson.
May 1979:	Release of debut single, All Night Party/ The Thin Boys (Fac 5). 5000 copies only. Sleeve carries four photos of the corpse of comedian Lenny Bruce. Sales initially slow.
August 1979:	Donald Johnson joins as drummer. A Funkadelic fan, he transforms the band's sound. ACR now demand that you take a chance and dance.
September 1979:	Band record four-track demos at Graveyard Studio. The following month they cut their first BBC John Peel session.
December 1979:	Band support Talking Heads at the Electric Ballroom, London. David Byrne notes their chops. "He was always asking us what sort of stuff we were listening to. So we told him about George Clinton, Funkadelic and Chick Corea" (Moscrop).
February-May 1980:	Group support Joy Division at many gigs in London and around the north of England, along with shared-bill Factory nights in London. At the Moonlight Club in April: "ACR's confidence has increased in proportion to their ability, a fact perhaps underlined by sensible Simon Topping's present willingness to dance about like Jerry Lewis auditioning for the Afrika Korps, what with his sombre uniform, goggles and cap... Now their darkly fertile funk is more purposeful, losing some of its naggingly amateur charm of old." (NME)
February 1980:	Release of The Graveyard & The Ballroom (Fact 16), a limited edition cassette package featuring seven vibrant studio demos, and seven live cuts from the Talking Heads support.
April 1980:	BBC live 'In Concert' broadcast.
May 1980:	Single Shack Up/ And Then Again recorded for £ 50,- for Belgian label Crepuscule, released on Factory Benelux (Facbn 1). With a live b-side, the single is released in August. The a-side, written by Carter and Daniel, was originally a '70s funk hit for Banberra. Dents Billboard disco chart in USA. Plans for Grace Jones to record cover of And Then Again come to nothing.
June 1980:	Band stop talking to the music press following prestige NME cover story by Paul Morley. "Initially regarded as the greyest of all Wilson's acts, ACR were in fact stacked with sexual references. it is no secret that Tony Wilson, at one point attempting to nurture a little ACR sexual ambiguity, purchased khaki shorts for the entire band. And - switching from fact to rumour now - rubbed 'Tanfastic' into their pre-gig thighs" (Mick Middles)
September 1980:	ACR undertake short North American tour supporting New Order, then still a three piece. A live version of Felch, recorded at Hurrahs in NYC, is released on the Crepuscule compilation cassette From Brussels With Love. The guest vocalist at the gig is Martha Tilson, who returns to England with the band.
September 1980:	First studio album To Each... (Fact 35) recorded with Martin Hannett at EARS, East Orange, New Jersey. After an American engineer accidently clears the mix settings, the album is remixed in Manchester in January 1981. No one is entirely happy with the result.
October 1980:	Fac 22 released. Flight marks ACR as a band that might just prove the artistic equal of Joy Division. Transcendental hypnotic funk.
November 1980:	Short European tour with Section 25 covers Holland, Belgium and Germany. Headline date at London LSE.
April 1981:	To Each released in itty sleeve. Mixing travails marr what should have been a classic debut in the style of Flight. Factory nevertheless claim 20,000 sales by August.
March-May 1981:	Brilliant second studio album Sextet (Fact 55) recorded at Revolution Studios, Manchester. Produced by ACR, Tilson's vocals are dominant, with Topping retreating to trumpet and percussion. Waterline 12" (Fac 52) recorded during same sessions.
July 1981:	BBC John Peel Session.
September 1981:	Projected 2 hour video Below the Canal (Fact 38) scheduled for release, but later shelved.
November 1981:	Fac 52 released. Band promote forthcoming Sextet album with gig at North London Poly with 23 Skidoo.
January 1982:	Sextet released to rave reviews. A tougher version of Knife Slits Water is later recorded for single release, the Donald Johnson-dominated 7" version proving most effective.
February 1982:	Tilson departs. Band play well received gig at London Lyceum with Maximum Joy. Band now often cited as leaders in nouveau funk vanguard alongside 23 Skidoo, Pigbag and the Pop Group.
February-March 1982:	Third studio album I'd Like To See You Again (Fact 65) recorded at Revolution Studios, Manchester. Produced by ACR. Eight minimalist latino dance sketches, but fewer proper songs, with Cameo cited as a major influence.
July 1982:	Third album trailed by 12" remix of Guess Who on Factory Benelux (Fbn 17).
September 1982:	Knife Slits Water released on 7" and 12" (Fac 62). Band break two-year press silence with NME interview.
October 1982:	Fact 65 released. Band wearing sportswear on sleeve designed by Italians. Reviewers puzzled: "ACR aren't sounding like ACR anymore so much as the latest NY disco imports. Is that enough?" (NME). Answer is firmly in the negative.
October 1982:	Terrell departs to travel in India. He is replaced full-time by recent live recruit, keyboard player Andy Connell.
December 1982:	John Peel session. Second US tour.
January 1983:	Short-stay backing vocalist Carol McKenzie joins. "It took a year to get rid of her." (Moscrop).
March 1983:	Topping departs, and relocates to New York. Joins Quando Quango (1983 to 1985), releases a lone solo 12", Prospect Parc on Factory Benelux (1985), then enrols on a degree course at Loughbrough University.
July 1983:	Band release overly commercial single I Need Someone Tonight (Fac 72), backed by a cover of Stevie Wonder's Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing. Plot being lost: jazz + funk = junk. "ACR are eager to please with their abstract remembrance of the late 70's soulboy - all the warped and wired nostalgia of an allnighter at Southend." (NME)
August 1983:	Wilson and Erasmus sign off as managers by mutual consent. With their line-up, direction and finances in disarray, the band drift rudderless for almost a year.
1983-1984:	"We were quite successful at one stage, but we went downhill from there. We knew we were shit but we didn't know why" (Moscrop); "We didn't know what we were doing. After Knife Slits Water we moved more consciously for jazz and latin moods, but that didn't work either" (Kerr). New manager (Mick Patterson) hired.
August 1984:	Following a rethink, Johnson, Kerr, Moscrop and Connell return with low-key show with Psychic TV in London. With a set leaning heavily on 1980/81 material, the band show some of their old fire. Kerr now emerging as frontman.
November 1984:	Quartet release first single in over a year, Life's A Scream (Fac 112). A companion single on Factory Benelux, Brazilia (Fbn 32), appears soon after. Sax player Tony Quigley (a former ACR roadie) is co-opted from Kalima, completing slow process of revitalisation.
June 1985:	Moscrop, Kerr, Johnson, Connell and Quigley release Wild Party 12" single (Fac 128), a convincing return to form. The flipside, Sounds Like Something Dirty, remains one of their best recordings. Jazz and latin leanings now funnelled into Kalima, ACR honing a harder edge.
August 1985:	US tour with New Order. Tapes later result in excellent Live In America album (DoJo).
November 1985:	Release of debut single (Blue Mood) by Swing Out Sister, comprising Connell with Martin Jackson (ex-Magazine) and singer Corinne Drewery. Major UK chart success follows in 1986.
January 1986:	ACR gig intensively, supported by release of singles compilation album The Old And the New (Fact 135).
July-August 1986:	Solid fourth studio album Force (Fact 166) recorded and mixed at Yellow 2 Studios, Manchester. Produced by Stuart James and ACR. Single Mickey Way (Fac 168) released in September.
November 1986:	Fact 166 released to good reviews. Connell leaves at same time to concentrate in SOS. Band soon look to leave Factory, and eventually sign to A&M. Factory audience move on.