John Dowie (b. 1950) is a British comedian, musician, and writer. He began performing stand-up comedy in 1969. Dowie was among the inaugural acts on Tony Wilson's legendary Factory Records label. In 1978 he contributed three comedic songs to the very first Factory music release, A Factory Sample, along with Joy Division, The Durutti Column, and Cabaret Voltaire. In 1981 a seven-inch single followed, the Martin Hannett-produced It's Hard to be an Egg, which Dowie described as a flop. "It's Hard to be an Egg" was also featured in episode 1 of the 'Wood and Walters' show. It is noteworthy as having unusual packaging even by Factory standards: the disc is white vinyl with a "yolk" printed on the label, and is packaged in a clear plastic sleeve with a real white feather. Dowie's final Factory contribution was a VHS video entitled simply Dowie, a recording of a live performance at the Edinburgh fringe festival with Ralph Steadman cover art. In 2005 Dowie collaborated with Phill Jupitus and Neil Innes on a musical comedy CD for children. In 2006, he recorded a remake of British Tourist, with the Dutch computer music group, the POW Ensemble for X-OR Records.
