Dowie was among the inaugural acts on Tony Wilson's Factory Records label. In 1978 he contributed three comedic songs to the 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.