Joy Division

CONTENTS 1.

JOY DIVISION 1977-1980: BAND, MYTH AND MAGIC

2.

FROM MACCLESFIELD VIA WARSAW ... TO WHERE? ORIGINS 1977

3.

NOT A CONCEPT; AN ENIGMA: THE IDEAL FOR JOY DIVISION - 1978

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4.

"THIS BAND IS BUSY DOING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE MUSIC OF THE EIGHTIES" - MICK MIDDLES, SOUNDS, 1980

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5.

LIFE AFTER A DEATH - 1980

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6.

THE NEW ORDER: BEYOND 1980

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7.

JOY DIVISION LIVE GUIDE

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8.

EQUIPMENT FILE

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9.

DISCOGRAPHY

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10.

VINYL COLLECTORS CHECKLIST

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11.

ODDS & ENDS

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12.

JOY DIVISION LEFTOVERS i) Studio Recordings ii) The John Peel Sessions iii) Bootlegs

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13.

FILMS & VIDEOS

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14.

INDEX OF SONG TITLES

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15.

THE STATISTICS a) On Record b) The John Peel 'Festive 50' c) Music Paper Polls

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ORIGINS-1977 The aggressive 'Never Mind the Bollocks' rock of the Sex Pistols now seems to have very little connection with Joy Division music like 'Atmosphere' or 'New Dawn Fades', but like so many bands, Joy Division may well never have existed if the Sex Pistols had not turned the British rock scene around from its collision course with Middle of the Road respectability in the summer of 1976, first with live performances of almost total spontaneity and carefree enthusiasm, and then with a series of singles which took rock out of the concert halls and back onto the streets. Ian Curtis, Bernard Dicken, Peter Hook and Steve Morris were all twenty in 1976 and working in either dull or dead-end jobs. Ian Curtis pushed trucks in a cotton mill and Bernard Dicken pushed a pen in an office. At twenty they were old enough, after four years of work, to feel themselves to be in a rut but still young enough not to have dreams and ambition worn out of them by the daily grind. The Pistols revolution, which was almost immediately taken up by local Manchester bands like The Buzzcocks, Slaughter & The Dogs and The Drones, inspired Curtis, Dicken and Hook, along with so many others, to buy instruments and form a band as a means of expressing themselves. A year earlier such an idea would have seemed absurd - only Real Musicians who had 'paid their dues' in bands since childhood had any right to get up on a rock stage - but the Pistols had cut through the mystique of the '70s rock musicians' art and served as a reminder that three chords and a lot of cheek were basically all that any one ever needed to rock and roll. At first it was just three friends who met at gigs (Bernard and Peter had been at school together in Manchester) learning guitars and trying to play and write punk music in the evenings and at weekends. Even by the time the three began to take on roles Ian Curtis as the singer and-occasional guitarist, Bernard Dicken as the guitarist and Peter Hook as the bassist - and call themselves a band early in 1977 there was still little to distinguish them from any

other Pistols followers spitting venom in back bed rooms all over Britain. With a target set somewhere between the musical accomplishment of 'London's Burning' and the urbane sophistication of Iggy Pop they played hard and obnoxious and - no doubt to the relief of neighbours — without a drummer as no one was yet willing to join them in that capacity. like everyone else of their age they had listened to Bowie in their teens, and when their band became serious enough to need a name it was to Bowie's most recent album, 'Low', that they turned for inspiration: the Germanic instrumental 'Warszawa' seemed to provide just the right combination of the familiar and the exotic once amended to plain 'Warsaw' for local punk consumption. In keeping with the style of 1977, in which bands delayed for a minimum length of time between pick ing up their chosen instruments for the first time and making their performing debut, Warsaw played their first public performance just five months after form ation on May 29th at Manchester punk mecca The Electric Circus. They were bottom of the bill which also included local heroes the Buzzcocks, who still relied on the sparks produced across the twin termin als of Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley at this stage, and Penetration. It was a performance of archetypal punk cockyness and aggression, made all the more convincing by the fact that the original trio's months searching for a fourth member to play drums had only come to fruition on the eve of their public debut, with the completion of the line-up by Ian Curtis' old Macclesfield school friend Steve Morris. Despite the rawness and rough edges - to be expected in such a new-born band - there was already evidence that Warsaw might prove to be a rough diamond and that within the fashionable limit ations of the punk format inherited from the Pistols the band had something of their own to contribute. It was a debut that created a lot of interest and gave Warsaw the incentive they needed to continue. Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks was interested enough in

Warsaw were a combination of wide-eyed amateur enthusiasts and a new band rapidly learning to impose their ideas and personalities on the music they were producing. In much the same way as Siouxsie and the Banshees they soon left the crutch of Punk and devel oped a more personal and inventive style. It was built around tightening repetition, washes of sound and a replacement of the urban cliches of punk with Ian Curtis' more natural lyrical leanings towards mystery and bleak, strangely Russian, neo-Romantic moods and imagery. In the apparent isolation of what was actually a lack of gigs and exposure, Warsaw began to make the transformation from passingly interesting part-time punks to an excitingly original new-wave outfit with something to say. Many people who saw Warsaw in 1977 and Joy Division in 1978 believed that some miracle had taken place in which a remarkable butterfly had suddenly emerged from the rather ordinary grub that had been Warsaw — it was not a miracle but six months of virtually no gigs in which creative energies were uni fied and refined in comparative isolation and the process of musical development, usually reduced to fits and starts by the routine of regular gigging, accelerated to an unusual degree. The change coming over Warsaw was evident in October 1977 when the band were invited to play at the 'last weekend' of the Electric Circus. The club was forced to close and as a special wake a marathon 'Last Days of the Electric Circus' weekend was organised over October 15 th and 16th. As one of the (many) bands to have made an impression at the club Warsaw were invited to play on the 16th. In fact it was not to prove the last weekend of the club, as it was to re open in November 1978 for a time, but the passing of the club was duly marked by the presence of a mobile recording unit to produce an album in the tradition of EMI's 'Live at the Roxy'. The fact that the Manor Mobile taped everything played over the weekend and Virgin issued an album means that the weekend of October 15th-16th, 1977 also provided the earliest recorded example of the work of Curtis, Dicken (now Albrecht), Hook and Morris: 'At a Later Date' included on the 'Short Circuit' album eventual ly released in June 1978. While Warsaw's riffing contribution is interesting while undistinguished, recognisable as the work of the band that was to become Joy Division, 'At A Later Date' must surely stand as one of the most unmemorable recording debuts ever experienced by a band, in the sense that Warsaw completed their entire set without being

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aware that they were being recorded — only discover ing the fact when they sat in the dressing rooms and were asked to sign contracts for the use of their performance on the album! The closure of the Electric Circus, one of the few venues Warsaw ever played and where they had built up a 'home' following, and a legal move by heavily promoted HM band Warsaw Pakt to prevent them using the name Warsaw, signalled the end of the 'Warsaw era' and drove the members of the band further into internal exile from the local rock scene and consolidation of their musical identity. Although Warsaw had achieved a great deal during 1977, they may have achieved more if they had found someone to manage their career at the start rather than at the end of the year. By their own admission, Warsaw had not been very good at managing them selves before they met up with Rafters DJ Rob Gretton in December 1977. Having developed a stock of material by the middle of 1977, Warsaw were keen to put out a record, but having limited funds allowed a local record production company to handle the project for them. Unfortunately when the recording was made, in October, the band were not happy with the technical quality and the four songs were shelved. A major label was sniffing around by November and putting up money for recording sessions which seemed to be leading towards an album deal, but ultimately Warsaw - now trading as Joy Division didn't care for the long-term contract deal they were offered and refused to sign. The Stiff/Chiswick Test, however, proved to be the turning point in the band's career. This was a special showcase for three local bands, in a series held all over the country, to discover groups ripe for a recording deal with either Stiff or Chiswick. The Manchester test was held at Rafters Club, and in the audience were DJ Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson, presenter of the North-West ITV local news pro gramme 'Granada Reports' and the nationally net worked rock programme 'So It Goes'. At the time Factory records was not even a gleam in Wilson's eye but he felt that Joy Division "had something to say" and he did not forget them. The impact on Rob Gretton was more immediate, despite the fact that Joy Division played third on the bill and did not begin to play until 3.00 in the morning, and finding they were manager-less he offered his services. It was to become one of the rare band/manager relationships in which the manager's level of involvement made him in effect a non-playing member of the band.

But by Febraury 1979, the October 1978 contribu tion to the Factory sampler was already well out of date — as the John Peel programme sessions proved. The sessions, recorded at the end of January, became one of the most successful ever broadcasts on the programme, and most listeners, music fans and music business people alike were struck by the rapid devel opment the band were capable of and the inner power and tension of the music they could now produce. The four songs recorded at Maida Vale Studios in London were 'She's Lost Control', 'Trans mission', 'Insight' and 'Exercise One' and made 'Digital' and 'Glass' seem like relics from some distant past. Joy Division's ability to develop over short periods of time, first demonstrated during the lay-off from performing in the Autumn of 1977, suggested that the potential of the band, already regarded as very great, might be little short of awesome. Although the Factory sampler had been a one off project and no contractual ties existed between Factory and the performers concerned - mainly, of course, because Factory was not a 'record company' in the traditional sense - Joy Division resisted some attractive offers from major record companies who at last saw their potential, and agreed to make an album for Factory on the same profit-sharing basis as the Sampler. During April and May 1979, Joy Division and Martin Hannett spent time at Hannett's favourite Strawberry Studios in Stockport, recording a dozen songs for an album that was to emerge in July as 'Unknown Pleasures'. The growth of national interest also enabled Joy Division to 'rest' the Manchester clubs, where they had played solidly for two years and felt they were becoming over-familiar, and play a string of dates around the country and in London. And just as their casual contract deal with Factory was out of the ordinary, so too was their approach to live work and touring. Joy Division never undertook anything that could be described as a 'tour', with the single excep tion of a support spot on a Buzzcocks tour in the Autumn of 1979, but instead played isolated dates or groups of dates seemingly at random throughout their performing life mainly under the banner of 'Factory Nights'. The fact that Joy Division's recorded output was very tiny and, by the Spring of 1979 well out of date, focused a great deal of attention on these live per formances and encouraged the circulation of bootleg tapes of live material and the famous John Peel sessions. Live Joy Division in early 1979 was already

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several light years away from the immaturity of 'Ideal For Living' and the tentative first steps toward great ness on the Factory Sampler, as the rave reviews of Joy Division performances indicate: "Joy Division . . . sketch withering grey abstractions of urban malaise. Unfortunately ... their vision is deadly accurate." "A series of spatial constructions based on cyclical variations on simple melancholy themes. The impact is stunning and oppressive". "What makes them unique is singer Ian Curtis. A slight thin figure, he moves deftly and delicately, his voice surprisingly strong, in his eyes and face a look of humility and fear. If this sounds like a mere stage play on paper, in reality Curtis' transparent humanity - that of a loser caught in a world only partially understood is totally credible." "When Joy Division left the stage I felt emotionally drained. They are, without any exaggeration, an important band." - Ian Wood, NME, 26th May, 1979. The first Joy Division album took a total of four and a half days of recording to put at the mixing stage, as the bulk of the material was already perfect ed in live performance, and in a suitably crafted Peter Saville sleeve became the first Factory album release in July 1979 as 'Unknown Pleasures'. Few first albums had been so eagerly awaited as the first from Joy Division, and while many who had become used to the power and glory of Joy Division live felt the album inevitably lacked the intensity and passion the band was capable of projecting, the direction indica ted by the Factory Sampler and revealed by the John Peel session was satisfyingly explored over the album's ten songs. Included were versions of two songs from the Peel sessions - 'She's Lost Control' and 'Insight' - with 'Transmission', now familiar as a live opener, being reserved for a single and 'Exercise One' along with 'Auto-Suggestion', 'From Safety to Where?', 'The Kill' and 'Walked in Line' being recorded but left off the finished album which presented the bulk of the familiar live show, including a stunning version of 'New Dawn Fades' at the end of the 'Outside'. Reviews of the album generally acknowledged that 'Unknown Pleasures' would be remembered as one of the classic releases of 1979:

"Unknown Pleasures is an English rock master-work, it's only equivalent probably being made in Los Angeles twelve years ago. The Doors' 'Strange Days'." - Max Bell, NME, 14th July, 1979. " 'Unknown Pleasures' may well be one of the best white English debut LPs of the year." - John Savage, Melody Maker, 21st July, 1979. The NME review by Max Bell indicated one of the identifiable ingredients of Joy Division's unique musical concoction: Ian Curtis' melancholy baritone so often recalled the Doors' Jim Morrison, just as his wild epileptic dancing conjured up visions of Iggy Pop: a man who also lapsed into a very acceptable impersonation of Mr Mojo Rising on occasion. This undeniable Jim Morrison/Iggy Pop heritage was set against a musical backdrop that was an electric mix of post-punk 'free-form' a la Siouxsie and the Banshees' explorations of Minor 7th chords, Tangerine Dream/ Neu/La Dusseldorf mood mekaniks, Epic grandeur of the Pink Floyd/King Crimson school and the sullen melancholia of the Jacques Brel/Scott Engel/Tim Buckley/Leonard Cohen faculty of Psychosis Engineering. Yet to list the elements of Joy Division's music is to devalue a unique and original experience: just as a chemical compound takes on an identity that is uniquely its own and not that of an amalgam of elements, so Joy Division's music achieved the rare and elusive quality of originality. So much so that identifiable similarities with past music soon seem to be merely surface features when the music becomes familiar. Much of Joy Division's impact was, for example, derived from their subtle melodic inventive ness and their haunting quality from a remarkable manipulation of familiar ideas set against lyrical and instrumental 'obscurity' and uncertainty, which placed them within the context of late seventies rock but at the same time quite outside similar previous experience. Remarkably, an era dominated by the independent single, Joy Division had not released a conventional single during their first two years of operation so for them releasing a single in 1979 was a novelty. Usual practice was to issue one of the outstanding tracks from an album immediately before putting the album out, in the hope that a hit single would give the album an initial sales boost, but neither Joy Division nor Factory were slaves to industry conventions and although a single was chosen from the May album sessions it was deliberately left off the album and no one seemed in any hurry to release it, despite con

siderable demand. The A side selected was 'Transmission'. The song had been a highlight of Joy Division live since late 1978 and the January John Peel programme session version had created a great deal more interest. The exclusion of the song from 'Unknown Pleasures' had been a disappointment to many but with deliberate contrariness Joy Division did not begin to mix the track for single release until July - when any other band would have been busy promoting the song as a hit single — and 'Transmission' did not appear in the shops until the following November. The attitude of Britain's notoriously cynical rock press to Joy Division had been favourable from the very first and with the release of 'Unknown Pleasures' began to verge on the dreaded 'future of rock 'n' roll' overkill. This, combined with heavy play on the John Peel programme, ensured that the album sold out its tentative 10,000 copy first-pressing in less than two months, more than justifying Tony Wilson's personal investment of the unit trusts he had inherited the year before. Although 'Unknown Pleasures' never reached the British album chart, even during the first two fastselling months, Joy Division's unique arrangement with Factory actually meant that they earned more real cash money from the album than most of the groups signed to major labels with records high in the Top 20. Factory made no advance payment of royal ties but merely put up the funds to pay for recording and manufacture and, once those costs were covered by income from sales, paid over two thirds of all the money plus the usual performer/writer royalty percentages. That kind of deal on 10,000-plus albums wholesaling at around £2.70 eventually brought Joy Division a very healthy clear profit as the basis of a living wage - a great deal more than the usual 4% of selling price contract would have brought them. Joy Division's glorious independence with Factory proved itself capable of profitability to match its artistic integrity but independence also brought problems. Income from records is slow to reach record companies and performers, and with limited funds and no arrangement for record manufacture and distribution, each batch of 10,000 copies of 'Unknown Pleasures' could only be financed when the previous batch sold out, often leaving shops with customer orders but no copies to sell. It is a well known fact that customers who find that records are not readily available will buy something else, so 'Unknown Pleasures' lost numerous sales by being temporarily off the streets. The lack of mass promo-

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tion and distribution also limited sales in chart-return shops, keeping the album out of the sales chart, and put a ceiling on the number of copies the album could actually sell over a short period of time: 'Unknown Pleasures' had to remain an unknown sales quantity Factory could not sell 50 or 60 thousand copies of the album in a week simply because they lacked the means of putting such large numbers of the album in the shops at any one time and, in any case, could not supply the promotional 'push' to win so many custo mers at the same moment. It was a dilemma, because while the hand-to-mouth arrangement worked beau tifully for small quantities and gave complete control, a pressing and distribution deal gave unlimited sales potential and ultimately much larger profits at the cost of smaller percentages and the loss of total artistic control. In fact, Joy Division never took the 'licensing deal' option on any of their records in order to sell larger quantities, and the fact that their second and final albums, as well as the 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' single (which sold a remarkable 160,000 copies) being big hits is a vindication of their artistic integrity and refusal to compromise to achieve success, and a tribute to the efficiency with which Factory handled their records, despite minimal facilities. By September 1979 and the 'second coming' of 'Unknown Pleasures' into the record shops, Joy Division live had jumped even further ahead of their record persona, beginning their set with the sullen, awesome 'Atmosphere'. It was a choice which set Joy Division apart from just about every other per forming band that has ever been. The straight forward, accessible, bright 'limbering-up' opener is almost obligatory in rock performances and Joy Division now chose to begin with an entirely new song of shattering/shattered emotion built around staggering chords of doom: a choice entirely at odds with their forthcoming position as support/guests on a major national tour by the Buzzcocks. But Joy Division were already beyond being judged according to 'the rules' - they had joined the thin ranks of those whose adventures re-define the rules: "Compared with Joy Division most other bands working in supposedly left-field areas are like light entertainers on the Saturday Night special." -Adrian Thrills, NME. Similarly unpredictable was the next Joy Division record release on the heels of 'Unknown Pleasures' not 'Transmission' or any other single and not even a

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Factory record. In their unique contractual position Joy Division were entirely free to release their material in one-off deals with any company they wished and when Bob Last asked them to contribute music to the second of his Fast Products 'Earcom' (i.e. Ear Comic) 12 inch EP-based packages they passed him the tapes of two songs they had complet ed the previous Spring at the 'Unknown Pleasures' sessions but not used on the album — 'Auto-Sugges tion' and 'From Safety to Where?'. Giving potentially valuable material to such a low key enterprise was a move by now typical of Joy Division's anti-star attitude toward the music business, and although 'Earcom 2' sold very well, the songs were never to rise above 'obscurity' status tucked away on such a small label experiment. The EP's release also helped to make an already confusing band discography a maze of mysteries and take Joy Division into a sixth record release without their having made an ordinary 7 inch single. The Buzzcocks' Autumn 1979 tour was a curious setting for Joy Division, with the band's hard-edged and introspective music and sombre presence contras ting totally with the bright Pop tunes and ebullience of Pete Shelley, but the tour actually succeeded surprisingly well with both bands benefiting rather than suffering from the sharpness of the contrast. If joining a tour seemed to suggest that Joy Division were softening in their defiance of rock conventions, the fact that they released their longawaited first single of 'Transmission' at the end rather than at the start of their nationwide showcase tour was enough to reassure any doubters. Such crude commerciality as using a tour to promote a single (and vice versa) had no place in Joy Division's scheme of things and Factory did not release the band's first entry into the singles market until the middle of November, the tour having ended on November 10th. 'Transmission', backed by a new song 'Novelty', came in surprisingly ordinary 7 inch form and presen ted Joy Division being about as close as they ever got to being 'commercial'. Reviewers were certainly in no doubts about the quality and potential of 'Transmission': "This is an awesome disc . .. could easily be a hit." "cannot be dismissed as just another good single by a provincial band on a nice little independent. Joy Division ... not to mention Factory, are con tenders." -Adrian Thrills, NME, 17th November 1979.

In fact 'Transmission' was not a hit in November 1979 nor in February 1981 when it was re-issued in 12 inch form but, as with all Joy Division's Factory produce, the modest sales and profit targets were quickly met to everyone's satisfaction: the 'success' of a record being ultimately measurable only in terms of what it is intended to achieve. After almost five months break from recording, Joy Division had returned with Martin Hannett in mid October to the studio where they had begun their relationship - Cargo in Rochdale - and recorded three new songs, 'Ice Age', 'Dead Souls' and the much praised live opener 'Atmosphere'. It was, as those recorded versions testify, a particularly creative session but the outstanding results were treated with a casualness that was little less than contrary. 'Ice Age' was to be given away for use on a proposed Leeds Futurama Sci Fi Festival album (this never materialised, of course, and the song did not emerge until the 1981 'Still' album) and 'Dead Souls' and 'Atmosphere' - simply two of the very best things Joy Division ever achieved in the studio — were presented to two French conceptual artists who asked for Joy Division songs to place on a single at the centre of a 'Total Art' package with a proposed circulation of a mere 1578 copies — worldwide. Condeming such a powerful piece of work as 'Atmos phere' to the obscurity of a French independent single of just over 1500 copies is almost psychotic in its deviant zeal to avoid rock 'n' roll obviousness: Joy Division had recorded a genuine classic fit to stake their vinyl claim to be ranked with the Greats and then acted as if they were ashamed of it, off-loading it onto an arty-farty project as if it were some onetake jam no one could be bothered to finish. The band's final recording date of 1979 was at the BBC Maida Vale studios for another John Peel Programme session on November 26th. Joy Division's closest followers were once again kept in touch with the latest developments, and in a session of unusual power produced versions of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', 'Colony', 'The Sound Of Music' and 'Twenty-Four Hours'. This session not merely provided a chance to hear studio versions of new songs, but actually presented definitive versions of the songs. Once again, they showed themselves capable of a rate of expansion and creative development which left many still clutching at the reference points of the first album. In spite of their studied avoidance of conventional rock career progress, as 1979 drew to its close Joy Division had undoubtedly 'made it' and on their own

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terms become a fashionable and popular band. Surprisingly, perhaps, they ended the year very much as they had begun it as the darlings of the British music press. New Musical Express rated 'Unknown Pleasures' as third best album of 1979 after Pil's 'Metal Box' and Talking Heads' 'Fear of Music' in it's staff chart, and Sounds, rather safely perhaps, tipped them to 'be big' in 1980. This favour was not restrict ed to the staff either, as the reader polls published in the new year showed: the readers of NME voted Joy Division as 5th Best in the 'New Act' category. They were on their way . . .

gesamtkunstwerke - 'Atmosphere' - would become available again within months but, typically, merely as the B side of a specially re-recorded 12 inch version of 'She's Lost Control' to be issued only in the USA! The attitude of Joy Division towards their greatest achievements took low profile almost to the point of inversion. With the material road-tested over the previous two months, the sessions for a second album took place in March at the Britannia Row Studios in Islington, London. This was the first time Joy Division had recorded in London, but there was no feeling of adventure abroad in the Joy Division camp as the shadows now deepening around Ian Curtis cast furrows in every brow. Ian Curtis was never the cliched tortured artist in the Van Gogh tradition that his legend has cast him as, on the evidence of aspects of his music. He was a deeply sensitive and creative introvert but also cap able of such everyday acts as enjoying a joke, a drink and following Manchester United FC. Few people are capable of smiling through the crumbling fragmenta tion of emotions and nerves that accompanies the break-up of a marriage and Ian Curtis was not exceptional in any way when he joined the ranks of the sufferers. Recording what was to become the 'Closer' album took 13 days and 13 nights in March 1980 and, despite the brilliant result, no one present enjoyed the experience very much. The Romantic gloom that surrounded Joy Division's fractured ballads seemed to lure Ian Curtis into a claustrophobic dialogue with himself which drew him ever inward and further down. No one who has heard the resulting album can fail to feel the tensions reverberating around the vast musical area that Joy Division had created for them selves, but even within the darknesses on the album there is hope and optimism which seem to exist in contradiction of the realities crushing the owner of the album's voice. 'Closer' is not an album of gasps uttered from the end of a rope but the peak of artistic achievement that everyone had hoped for and predicted. Even on the rack Joy Division's group identity and corporate greatness could not be muted. The tensions which hacked at Ian Curtis during those album sessions cut ever deeper in subsequent weeks as he performed his duties with Joy Division through a sequence of live dates that were to preceed and warm up for the band's debut US tour in the middle of May. The tortured figure temporarily unable to continue at Hampstead's Moonlight Club

on April 4th was no sham-acting James Brown but a man treading a tightrope across a deeply personal internal abyss. Yet, paradoxically, even at such extremity Joy Division could still give hope to the wretched through the glory and ultimate triumph of the will that was their musical maelstrom: "Joy Division convince me that I could spit in the face of God." - Neil Norman, NME, 19th April, 1980. The handful of early April dates at the Moonlight were in the tradition of the 'Factory Evenings' but deviated slightly in that Joy Division performed for four consecutive nights supported by a fly-past of Factory acts, changing on each night. Section 25, A Certain Ratio - Joy Division partners on so many Factory evenings - Durutti Column, X-O-Dus, Kevin Hewitt, Crawling Chaos, Blurt and the Royal Family all took their turn to support Joy Division and in their turn Joy Division took advantage of their stay in London to support the Stranglers at a prestige Rain bow date on April 4th. It seemed hectic and to outsiders Ian Curtis seemed to be the worst affected by the heavy work-load in between songs. The Moon light shows and the isolated gig, so typical of Joy Division's date book, on May 2nd at Birmingham University's High Hall, soon took on a far greater significance: they were to be the last the band would ever play. After playing the Birmingham date, supported by A Certain Ratio and recorded for a proposed Germanonly live album release, as were many performances over previous months, Joy Division returned to Manchester to prepare themselves for whatever the US of A had to offer them. 'Unknown Pleasures' had been successful as an import album — voted one of the year's best by 'New York Rocker' — and the dates booked in New York were already attracting some interest. In the days before their planned departure date of Sunday May L8th, Joy Division rested and made plans for future releases with Factory. The second album was set for June release, and the song 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' was left off the album and mixed for a single release with accompanying video (filmed on April 30th) for possible TV exposure if, as expected, the single became a hit. And as if these two releases seemed too conventional, Factory also prepared to take the unheard-of step of releasing an entirely free single to be given to anyone who asked for it. Not even the Beatles at the height of their success gave free records to more people than were

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members of their fan club but Factory were planning to give back some of the 'Unknown Pleasures' profits via 25,000 free three-track flexi-discs. Also planned, but with no specific date, was the live album for Germany, to be assembled from recent live tapes. In usual Factory style there were no plans to issue the album anywhere else in the world. On Saturday May 17th, 1980 - the day before he was due to fly to New York to play the first of Joy Division's US dates - Ian Curtis revisited the home he had shared in Macclesfield with his wife and baby and, after an evening alone watching his favourite director Saul Herzog's film 'Stroszek' on BBC2 TV, hung himself in the kitchen during the early hours of Sunday morning. His dead body was found by his wife just before noon on Sunday 18th May and at the inquest the following week a verdict of suicide was recorded. The funeral took place on June 13th. During May 1980 the British music press began a lengthy industrial dispute which kept the familiar weeklies - NME, Sounds, Melody Maker and Record Mirror - off the streets so the news of the death and confirmation of details was slow to spread. At first it was just a rumour that sounded more like a sick joke being put about at gigs but on May 24th the temporary opportunist weekly music paper 'New Music News' carried a tiny announcement - almost as if they did not believe the story - that Ian Curtis had "died at his home" the previous Saturday. Listeners to the John Peel programme knew by this time that the story was no hoax, as not for the first or last time John Peel was given the entirely unwelcome task of being the first to broadcast the news of a rock death. When the weeklies began to drift back onto the streets the details and the tributes began to accumu late. The fact that Ian Curtis and Joy Division (the band that seemed just an album away from their very own brand of superstardom) were suddenly no more began to sink home. For many, the method and circumstances of Ian Curtis' death seemed an inevitable development of the gloom and despondency of his music, as if the 'Where' that he had sung about was inevitably the same des tination as the cliche 'tortured artist', in spite of the plain enough fact that Ian Curtis was no more or less than a sad and unfortunate man driven into the ground by private and deeply personal unhappiness. His was no Romantic martyrdom but still the necromancers gathered to sob to the sounds of 'Atmosphere' and 'New Dawn Fades' and distort the critical perspective on what was, on merit alone, one of the Great bands in the history of rock with a singer

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of unusual power. The growth of such a death cult focusing on Joy Division was doubly inappropriate, for beneath the melancholy surface of their music lay an undeniable affirmation of purpose and hope. The apparent despair and sadness in much of Joy Division's greatest music was, in context, merely an aspect of humanity reflected and always accompanied by a sense of ultimate victory over adversity. The 'message' of Joy Division's music was not — as so many like to believe — to lay down and die but to accept the human con dition for what it was without self-pity and rise through that acceptance to the affirmation of individuality and purpose. The 'gloom' often provid ed a smoke screen for the true uplifting nature of Joy Division's music which, far from being the soundtrack for suicide, was something that almost by its very existence proved that determined individuals can assert themselves against the odds, 'beat the system' of the music business or anything else. Ian Curtis' death of course halted the US tour and put an end to Joy Division as a band. All the mem bers of Joy Division had agreed that if any one member ever left the remainder would immediately abandon the identity of Joy Division along with all the material associated with the band and begin again under a new name with new music. Such devotion to integrity and principles is extraordinary in a music business in which bands often tour under once famous names regardless of the fact that the original members associated with near-forgotten hit songs may have left the fold years since. The decision to bury Joy Division with Ian Curtis was a brave one in view of the fact that his death had created the myth that the singer and co-songwriter was the be-all and end-all of Joy Division's greatness, and far too many people were prepared to regard the remaining members of Joy Division as pathetic figures whose ride to fame and fortune had been halted for good by the death of their pilot. This was, as events were to prove beyond all doubt, an extremely inaccurate assessment of Joy Division's creative mechanism: Albrecht, Hook and Morris were never merely three satellites of a creative sun but three quarters of a unique partnership. Publicly the remains of Joy Division - now name less - kept a low profile, writing a new repertoire while testing out the possibilities existing within the quartet framework. The whole question of 'replacing' Ian Curtis was avoided, but at the same time the possibility of a new member or members if needed was kept open. Any additions would be part of a natural process arising from needs rather than the

songs - 'Komakino'/'Incubation' and 'And Then Again More' rapidly 'sould out' its initial 25,000 copy pressing, it did not qualify for the charts as it cost less than 50p and it took the grimly appropriate single title of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' - released a week or so later — to put the name of Joy Division on the British charts for the first time during the week ending June 28th, 1980. The success of 'Love' and subsequent Joy Division releases was attributed by the band's few detractors as a morbid reaction to May 18th, but while it is likely that many had heard of Joy Division for the first time through the death news there is ample evidence — such as the results of the May 1980 Zig Zag reader poll - to argue that Joy Division's subse quent records would have gained mass acceptance anyway. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' was an astonishingly successful record for a company of Factory's modest resources and rose as far as No. 12 on the BBC singles chart (Melody Maker took it even higher to No. 8) eventually selling 160,000 copies. The acceptance (and cash) from the record went a long way to justify the time and money spent preparing the song for release. In fact, two versions of the song were actual ly put onto record - the 7 inch and the 12 inch not for the usual reasons of disco-mix novelty or marketing gimmick but because the band and produc er were never agreed on which of the two alternative mixes should be used — so they compromised and used both. The issue was further confused by the fact that the John Peel session version of the previous January also had a lot in its favour, however, this version did not complicate the decision as the BBC tapes were tied up in a maze of legal difficulties. When 'Closer' was eventually released after a few weeks delay in July 1980 it came not in a moment of triumph or confirmation, but as a premature and (sadly apt) closer to the chapter on a band that had entered the realms of what-might-have-been. Unlike so many 'last albums' - Hendrix's 'Cry of Love', Lennon's 'Double Fantasy' or The Doors' 'LA Woman' — 'Closer' gained nothing from the circum stances of its arrival. The quality of material and unity of purpose and texture made even their excel lent debut album of a year earlier seem, by compari son, flawed by an uncertainty of direction. 'Closer' was a superb album, with Martin Hannett's absorption into the band as synthesizer-playing fifth man pro viding the vital and crowning cohesive element. The fact that it had to be a last album is jarring because, unlike those other final albums mentioned above,

'Closer' did not represent the last efforts of once great stars but the start of something new and magnif icent... a start that was to be over within the time it took to listen to a single album. Not surprisingly, 'Closer' was warmly reviewed in the music press and a sizeable hit album.

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main vocalist, with Peter Hook providing an alterna tive voice to compensate for the fact that the band's vocals no longer had the character and interest of Ian Curtis' unique voice. The bravest move of all was New Order's insistence on not playing any of Joy Division's material despite their undoubted right to it, and that fact that it was, at the start, the only common ground with their audience. Few other bands would have taken this refusal to trade on their past works as far, but New Order were determined to be accepted as an entirely new band with their own music, and presented them selves as committed to success on their own terms as Joy Division did. New Order make exceptions to their refusal to trade on the Joy Division legacy in the cases of the songs 'Ceremony' and 'In A Lonely Place': the last two songs composed by Ian Curtis and Joy Division. Although these songs had been performed live during the last months of Joy Division they had never had the chance to record them - a live version of 'Cere mony' from the last ever Joy Division performance appears on 'Still' — and rather than lose them in the transitional zone between Joy Division and New Order the songs were included as the single point of continuity between the two bands. Factory meanwhile laboured to tidy up the recorded legacy of Joy Division and satisfy the huge demand for the former band's records. In an attempt to beat the importers who were making large profits from the US 12 inch of 'She's Lost Control' a British pressing was made available, and to beat the pirate element selling bootlegged copies of the free flexidiscs for prices up to £5, the money made from 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' was used to pay for a second pressing of 25,000 with a committment to more if needed. The Joy Division archives were also due to be cleared with the release of all finished but unused Factory material on a 'last gasp' album - which was eventually to emerge as 'Still'. The Joy Division 'activity' in Britain gave New Order the chance to slip away for the postponed Joy Division US tour in September. The Factory package (like Joy Division, New Order had A Certain Ratio as support band) hit the New York streets which had once provided a home for Andy Warhol's Factory, and far away from the eager eyes and ears of the British music press New Order began to state their case for life after a death. On stage the immediate impression was the desired

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one — New Order were not Joy Division II. Bernard Albrecht's voice carried none of the Jim Morrison timbre of Ian Curtis and with the main vocalist now sporting a Gibson 335 at centre stage the whole appearance of the band was different. The new set also proved beyond any doubt that the vital spark that had fired Joy Division's greatness had not died with Ian Curtis and that, unlike the remaining Doors who, despite being just as important to the band's music as the sunken Mr Mojo, were left without a voice and without a song by Jim Morrison's death, New Order were able to assert their own music. Inevitably, the music of New Order had much in common with that of Joy Division - the rhythmic interest was a function of the Hook/Morris combina tion just as the melodic strength derived from Albrecht's guitar/keyboards and Hook's forward bass - but to compensate for the missing vocal distinction these elements, so often below the surface mood in Joy Division's music, were brought to the front in New Order: to the surprise of many, New Order were a new band with a highly attractive line in melody and a fortuitously fashionable regard for the dance. Still retaining a low profile of unannounced ran dom British performances and surprise appearances at such places as Rotterdam, New Order released a first single in February 1981 - 'Ceremony'. The critics who still wanted to believe that the cloak of secrecy around New Order was worn in order to hide the fact that they had nothing to offer were immedi ately silenced by the first real opportunity to hear what New Order was all about. While still undeniably retaining something of the aura of Joy Division, 'Ceremony' took the music of 'Closer' nine months of uneven progress further on, with Albrecht's much weaker voice almost forgotten as a shortcoming in the context of a perfect instrumental mesh and prominant melody more satisfying than could ever have been hoped for. In context the new voice was a strength because Bernard Albrecht brought the full warmth of absolute honesty to his performance, he sang just as it came, whereas Ian Curtis' richly cavernous tones had always seemed somehow aloof and created a tension by so often teetering on the edge of play-acting the American sonorities of Jim Morrison. 'Ceremony' stated the case for New Order entirely convincingly and by reaching No. 34 on the British singles chart satisfyingly became the second biggest hit single the members of the band had been associa ted with (after, of course, Joy Division's 'Love Will

Tear Us Apart'). Perhaps more significant, 'Cere mony' was voted second best single of 1981 in the NME Readers Poll published in January 1982 and rated 4th best single of all-time in the December 1981 John Peel Radio 1 programme's 'Festive Fifty' poll. The satisfying acceptance of 'Ceremony' on its own merits did not lead New Order to press their case. New Order took 1981 slowly but surely, so aware that the wave of acclaim and affection that had broken over the 'Closer' album in the middle of 1980 could just as dramatically leave them high and dry in the middle of 1981. The final Joy Division album 'Still' prolonged the agony for New Order by not ending the Joy Division release schedule until the Autumn of 1981 and when it did come - in its slightly absurd choice of conven tional cloth sleeve - belied its title by reviving interest in Joy Division once again and betrayed its purpose by presenting yet another rag-bag assortment of material rather than neatly closing the chapter on Joy Division's recording career with an assembly of missing and scattered items to sit beside 'Unknown Pleasures' and 'Closer'. What it had to offer was worthwhile nonetheless and the album had its own claim to finality with the inclusion of two sides made up from the final performance of Joy Division at Birmingham University on May 2nd 1980. Inevitably, 'Still' outsold New Order's album 'Movement' released just weeks after, and did little to help New Order's attempt to move out of Joy Division's long shadow in Britain. In December 1981 New Order returned to the USA where they were able to play to an audience able to regard them as a new band, and judge them without reference to a band that died in May 1980. Life for the living goes on. Artistic development in new directions, high-profile commercial success and the memory-wiping passage of time have been the ingredients in New Order's four-year battle to exorcize the ghost of Joy Division. The widening and diversifying of their audience through chart successes has sealed off their past and separated their acclaim from that of Joy Division. Joy Division existed for a mere two years as a recording band and have now been gone for far longer than they flourished. Their complete studio output would barely fill a half dozen LPs and a complete list of their live performances barely fills a couple of pages. Yet they are remembered with reverence. That Joy Division are now a cult and legend is under

standable but also worrying. It would be another tragedy if the undoubted greatness of their music was lost in a mist of sloppy hyperbole, or cut up in the reaction of an irreverent backlash. Ultimately the monument to Ian Curtis is the fact that the music he made with Joy Division will always be listened to. That is remembrance and reverence enough for anyone.

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8. EQUIPMENT FILE BERNARD ALBRECHT:

Guitars (with Joy Division): Gibson SG Standard (without Vibrola), Shergold Masquerader, Vox Phantom (with New Order): Gibson 335 semiacoustic. Amplification: Vox UD 30 amplifier driving Vox cabinet with two Marshall 12 inch speakers Synths: ETI Synthesiser, Powertran Transcendent 2000 Synthesiser, ARP OMNI 12 Synthesiser. Effects etc: Woolworths (Bontempi) Reed organ, Melos Echo unit, MXR Ten band Graphic Equal izer, Chorus Flanger, Attair PW-5 Power Atten uator (for both guitar and ARP synth), Melodian.

PETER HOOK:

Basses: Rickenbacker copy, Yamaha RB 1200, Shergold Marathon Six String bass (with New Order) Amplification: (Early Joy Division): Marshall 50 Watt Bass Amp driving Vox cabinet with two Marshall 12 inch speakers (Later Joy Division/New Order) Amplification: Marshall Bass Amp (later replaced by Hiwatt Custom 100 Watt amp) driving Vox Foundation Bass cabinet fitted with two 18 inch Goodmans 100 Watt speakers OR Alembic Pre amplifier with Crown Amcron DC 300 A amplifier with Marshall Bass cabinet fitted with four 15 inch Gauss 400 Watt speakers (Choice of amp depen dant on venue)

STEVE MORRIS:

Rogers Concert kit consisted of: 22 inch Bass drum, 12 inch, 13 inch, 14 inch, 15 inch hanging concert Tom Toms, 14 inch and 16 inch Floor Tom Toms, 20 inch Earth Ride and Crash ride cymbals, plus 14 inch Gretch Snare drum, 15 inch Super Zyn Hi Hat, 14 inch and 18 inch Zildjian Crash cymbals. Simmonds 2 channel drum synth, Synare 3 drum synth, Musicaid Claptrap, Roland BOSS Dr 55 Drum machine

IAN CURTIS:

Guitars: Vox Teardrop and Vox Phantom Amplification: Vox UD 30 amplifier driving Vox cabinet with two 12 inch Marshall speakers

MARTIN HANNETT: (Producer)

(On records only): ARP OMNI 12 Synthesiser (through effects such as MXR Graphic EQ, Chorus Flanger, Melos Echo unit on Closer album)

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FACTORY SAMPLER Factory Fac 2 Double 7 inch EP with picture sleeve Six track double EP produced by Martin 'Zero' Hannett at Cargo Studios, Rochdale with one side devoted to Joy Division: Digital/Glass (Glass re-issued October 1981 as track on Still double album, Factory Fac 40). Both songs composed by Joy Division. Personnel: As for Ideal for Living 7 inch EP. Released: January 1979 (Delayed until February 1979 by pressing problems). (Sampler also features tracks from Cabaret Voltaire, Durutti Column and John Dowie). UNKNOWN PLEASURES Factory Fac 10 12 inch album Outside: Disorder/Day of the Lords/Candidate/ Insight/New Dawn Fades Inside: She's Lost Control/Shadowplay/Wilderness/Interzone/Remember Nothing All songs composed: by Joy Division Personnel: Ian Curtis (vocals), Bernard Albrecht (guitar), Peter Hook (bass), Steve Morris (drums), Martin Hannett (synth). Produced by: Martin 'Zero' Hannett Recorded: at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, May 1979 Released: July 1979 Sleeve design: by Peter Saville, based on graph of radio waves from an imploding star suggest ed by Bernard Albrecht. EARCOM 2 Fast Products 9b 12 inch EP with paraphenalia Bob Last Turntable magazine featuring 20 minutes of music from Thursdays, Bascax and Joy Division. Features two tracks left over from May 1979 Martin Hannett produced Strawberry Studios, Stockport sessions for Unknown Pleasures album: Auto-Suggestion/From Safety to Where? All credits: as for Unknown Pleasures album Released: October 1979

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Transmission/Novelty Factory Fac 13 7 inch single with picture sleeve (designed by Peter Saville) Both songs by Joy Division Personnel: as for Unknown Pleasures album Produced by: Martin Hannett at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, July 1979 Released: November 1979. (12 inch version released February 1981 with different picture sleeve). Atmosphere/Dead Souls Sordide Sentimentale SS 33002. 7 inch single in folder with essay and print. Limited edition of 1578 copies only issued in France. Both songs by: Joy Division Personnel: As for Unknown Pleasures album Produced by: Martin Hannett at Cargo Studios, Rochdale, October 1979. (Special artistic project of Jean Pierre Turmel and Jean-Francois Jamoul involving elaborate folder including Jamoul painting, 7 inch single and text by Turmel placing Joy Division in the context of Romantic art — recording entirely supervised by Joy Division and Martin Hannett but packaging entirely the work of Turmel and Jamoul.) Released: March 1980 (Limited edition of only 1578 copies worldwide) Sold out and deleted but Atmosphere later available on US 12 inch single later issued in UK and Dead Souls issued October 1981 as track on Still album).

Britannia Row Studios, Islington, London, March 1980 — out-takes from Closer album sessions. Dead Souls — Produced by Martin Hannett and recorded at Cargo Studios, Rochdale, October 1979. Originally released (with Atmosphere) as part of the very limited French Sordide Sentimentale project in March 1980. Transmission/Novelty Factory Fac 13/12 Sister Ray — Recorded live at the Moonlight 12 inch single with picture sleeve. Club, 3rd April 1980 (Number featured as an 12 inch version of November 1979 7 inch single encore). with re-designed picture sleeve. Sides 3 &4 Recorded live at Birmingham Released: February 1981 University High Hall, May 2nd, 1980. (This was the last performance of Joy Division) Originally intended as a German-only live Love Will Tear Us Apart/These Days Factory album release. Ceremony is the only song re Fac 23/12. 12 inch single with picture sleeve. corded by both Joy Division and New Order: 12 inch version of June 1980 7 inch single with Ceremony and In a Lonely Place were to be re-designed picture sleeve. recorded at the time of Ian Curtis' death but Released: February 1981 only this live version was completed by Joy Division Sleeve Design: Peter Saville. This album released STILL Factory Fac 40 Double 12 inch album in two sleeves: a standard cardboard sleeve Side 1: Ice Age/Walking in Line/The Kill/Glass/ and a special very limited cloth sleeve. Exercise One (Copies of the limited cloth edition being Side 2: Sound of Music/The Only Mistake/Some priced at considerably more than the 'double thing Must Break/Dead Souls/Sister Ray for the price of a single album' price of the Side 3: Ceremony/Shadowplay/Means to an End/ standard album.) Passover/New Dawn Fades Released: October 1981 Side 4: Transmission/Disorder/Isolation/ Chart: No. 15 Decades/Digital All songs by: Joy Division except Sister Ray (by Reed/Cale/Morrison/Tucker - The Velvet Underground). Ice Age — Produced by Martin Hannett and re corded at Cargo Studios, Rochdale, October 1979 (with Atmosphere/Dead Souls) for never-released Leeds Futurama SciFi Festival LP Walked in Line & The Kill. Recorded May 1979 — out-takes from Unknown Pleasures Glass — Produced by Martin Hannett at Cargo Studios, Rochdale, November 1978 and origi nally released in February 1979 as one track on Factory Sampler double EP Exercise One & Sound of Music — Recorded 31/1/79 and 26/11/79 respectively at BBC Maida Vale Studios, London. Produced by Tony Wilson (of BBC) for John Peel Show The Only Mistake & Something Must Break — Produced by Martin Hannett and recorded at

Atmosphere/She's Lost Control Factory US 2 12 inch single with picture sleeve (designed by Peter Saville). UK release of US-only 12 inch in order to pre vent large scale importation of US copies. Released: October 1980

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10. VINYL COLLECTORS CHECKLIST (All are legal UK releases unless stated) SINGLES/EPs 7 inch I I Ideal for Living (Enigma Records) '—' With 'Hitler Youth' drummer sleeve and 'This is not a concept EP it is an Enigma'. Sold out September 1978 -Deleted I I Factory Sampler (Factory Fac 2) Double EP shared with Cabaret Voltaire, Durutti Column and John Dowie. I I Transmission/Novelty Transmission/Novelt (Factory Fac 13) Picture sleeve single. I I Atmosphere/Dead Souls (Sordide Sentimentale SS33002) French single with folder, essay and print. Limited edition of only 1578 copies — sold out and deleted. I 1 Love Will Tear Us Apart/These Days (Factory Fac 23) Picture sleeve single. I I Komakino/Incubation/And Komakino/Incubatic Then Again (Factory Fac 28) Sleeveless flexi-single provided free of charge. I I Ceremony/In a aLonely Ceremony/In LonelyPlace Place(Factory (FactoryFac F 33) First New Order single in picture sleeve.

12 inch □ Ideal for Living (Anonymous Records Anon 1) Re-issue of first (7 inch) EP with re-designed picture sleeve. Sold out — deleted. I I Earcom 2 (Fast Products 9b) ' ' EP package shared with Thursdays and Bascax. □ She's US Lost singleControl/Atmosphere with picture sleeve. (Factory US2)

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12 inch singles continued I I She's Lost Control/Atmosphere (Factory US2) 1—' British pressing of US single (with picture sleeve). I I Transmission/Novelty (Factory 13/12) '—' Picture sleeve single. I I Love Will Tear Us Apart/These Days (Factory Fac 23/12) '—' Picture sleeve single. I I Ceremony/In A Lonely Place (Factory Fac 33/12) •—I 12 inch single with picture sleeve (original February 1981 version). I I Ceremony/In A Lonely Place (Factory) 1—I 12 inch single with picture sleeve (January 1982 remixed version with re-designed picture sleeve). I I Everything's Gone Green/Mesh/Cries and Whispers (Factory/Disques de Crepescule) '—I Belgian release import into Britain with picture sleeve (New Order) I I She 9s Lost Control — Grace Jones ' B side of Private Life (Island WIP 6629). Limited 12 inch version only.

ALBUMS 12 inch I I Unknown Pleasures (Factory Fac XX) I I Closer (Factory XXV) I I Still (Factory Fac 40) Double album. 10 inch I I Short Circuit: The Last Night at the Electric Circus (Virgin VCL 5003) ' ' First 5,000 copies in blue vinyl.

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ODDS & ENDS Private Life/Warm Leatherette/She's Lost Control - GRACE JONES Island 12-WIP 6629. Released July 1980 (limited edition - sold out) The first cover of a Joy Division song — and appropriately elusive as She's Lost Control was the 12 inch 'bonus' track and the limited edition quickly sold out as the record became very successful. Low-DAVID BOWIE RCA PL 12030. 1977 album. The source of the name Warsaw was the Low track Warszawa. Love Will Tear Us Apart - PAUL YOUNG on the No Parkez album CBS 25521 1983 WARSAW PAKT Largely forgotten late seventies British Heavy Metal band who forced Warsaw to change their name. Warsaw Pakt consisted of Lucas Fox, Andy Colquhoun, Chris Underhill, John Walker and Jimmy Coull and lost out on fame and fortune largely through making their bid for stardom at the height of Punk/New Wave popularity in Britain. They are best remembered for their elaborately hyped debut album for Island, Needletime (ILPS 9515), released in November 1977 rapidly after recording at Trident Studios. The album actually qualified for the Guinness Book of Records as the band recorded directly onto master discs which were used just hours later to press copies for sale and publicity as a 'direct-cut' super Hi Fi album and 'instant' release. THE NEW ORDER: Not to be confused with New Order. The New Order was a band formed in Detroit USA in 1975 by former Stooges guitarist Ron Ashetom (with ex-MC5er Dennis Thompson on drums, Iggy sideman Scott Thurston on keyboards and ex-Ted Nugent Amboy Duke Dave Gilbert on vocals) which allegedly took the WWII connotations of the name a little too seriously. One album, entitled The New Order was released in France (and nowhere else) by Fun Records in May 1978 — in case the sleeve picture fails to make the point — it has absolutely nothing to do with Bernie and the boys (and girl). Devils and Angels - THE PASSAGE Written as a reply to Heart and Soul Repetition - PETE PETROL (of Spizz Oil) on From Brussels With Love cassette. (Les Disques de Crepescule) was produced by Joy Division manager Rob Gretton.

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12. JOY DMSION LEFTOVERS I STUDIO RECORDINGS In November/December 1977 Warsaw recorded early material for a proposed album that was never released. Although quality is said to be poor these tapes may be of some interest. At least three finished Joy Division songs remain unreleased: The Drawback/ Exercise One/The Sound of Music. (The last two were replaced by the more satisfac tory John Peel Radio 1 session versions on the Still album so would seem unlikely ever to find their way onto a record). H OFFICIAL LIVE RECORDINGS The entire Joy Division performance (as Warsaw) at the Electric Circus, Manchester in October 1977 was recorded by the Manor Mobile but only At A Later Date was used for the Virgin Short Circuit live album. The band was of the opinion that their choice of song for inclusion was not a good one so it is likely that something of interest exists on these tapes in recordings of good technical quality. Several 1979/1980 Joy Division gigs were professionally recorded for a proposed German live album and such tapes certainly exist of the 3rd April 1980 Moonlight gig from which the encore of Sister Ray was taken for inclusion on the Still album. Many (if not most) Joy Division gigs were recorded in some form and 8mm and 16mm film of several gigs is also in existance — much of this provides the basis of the Factory Joy Division video (Here are the Young Men). Ill 'THE JOHN PEEL SESSIONS' Joy Division recorded two sessions for the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show during 1979 at the BBC's Maida Vale (London) 8 track studio with staff producer Tony Wilson: Recorded 31st January, 1979 Exercise One/Insight/Transmission/She's Lost Control Recorded 26th November, 1979: Sound of Music/Twenty-Four Hours/Colony/Love Will Tear Us Apart Both sessions were broadcast at least three times each and despite the limitations of^ only eight tracks and limited time are of very great interest as all versions are consid erably different to any officially recorded. In fact, Factory were keen to release an album of these sessions but because of complex BBC contractual agreements this was prohibitively costly and only Exercise One and Sound of Music could be included on the Still album. The first New Order recording session after the death of Ian Curtis was with the Factory protege Kevin Hewitt (two tracks — not used). In February 1981 New Order made their broadcast debut with a session for the John Peel programme and the early versions of songs much later to appear on the Movement album (November 1981) are in some ways more interesting. Once again, these are unlikely to be released officially.

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14. INDEX OF SONG TITLES E The Eternal (Studio version on Closer). A Means to An End (Studio version on Closer album and live version on Still live record). Exercise One (Studio version unreleased but John Peel January 1979 session version And Then Again (Uncredited third track on free included on Still album). flexi — on Side 2 after Incubation). At a Later Date (Live track recorded at Man chester Electric Circus, October 1977 featured on Virgin Short Grcuit album).

Failures (Early song recorded as Warsaw for Ideal for Living EP). Atmosphere (Originally a track on the limited Sordide Sentimentale project but also released From Safety to Where? (Studio out-take from Unknown Pleasures album released on Fast as a US 12 inch single and British pressing). Earcom 2 12 inch project). Atrocity Exhibition (Studio version on Closer album also featured on live bootlegs). G Auto-Suggestion (Studio out-take from Glass (Early Joy Division studio recording Unknown Pleasures album released on Fast released on Factory Sampler and re-issued as Earcom 2 12 inch). a track on Still). Candidate (Studio version on Unknown Pleasures album). Ceremony (One of the last Joy Division songs — recorded only as part of Still live record but featured as first single by New Order). Colony (Studio version on Closer album, also featured live and recorded at November 1979 John Peel session).

H Heart and Soul (Studio version on Closer album — also featured live. Manchester band The Passage have recorded a reply to this song Devils and Angels).

Ice Age (Studio version originally recorded for proposed Futurama Festival album but even tually released on Still). D In a Lonely Place (Performed live by Joy Division but not recorded. Featured by New Day of the Lords (Studio version on Unknown Pleasures album also featured live). Order on their first single. Words by Ian Curtis). Dead Souls (Originally the companion track to Atmosphere on the limited French Sordide Incubation (Studio version featured on Free Sentimentale single but re-issued as a track on Flexi). Still album). Insight (Studio version on Unknown Pleasures Decades (Studio version on Closer album and album, performed live and also featured on live version on Still). January 1979 John Peel Radio 1 sessions). Interzone (Studio version featured on Unknown Digital (Studio track originally released on Factory sampler and rare live version featured Pleasures album). on Still). Isolation (Studio version on Closer album also Disorder (Studio version on Unknown Pleasures featured live on Still). album, live version available on Still). The Drawback (Unreleased studio out-take).

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K The Kill (Early Joy Division song eventually released on Still album). Komakino (Studio version featured on Free Flexi).

Sister Ray (The only non-Joy Division song to be recorded by the band — exists only as a one-off spontaneous encore included on Still from a live tape of a performance at the Moonlight Club in April 1980. Originally recorded by the Velvet Underground, of course). Leaders of Men (Warsaw/Early Joy Division song Something Must Break (Studio out-take even tually included on Still album). recorded on Ideal for Living EP). Sound of Music (Unreleased studio version Love Will Tear Us Apart (Studio version featur exists, plus live tapes, only the November ed on 7 inch and 12 inch hit singles, the 1979 John Peel session version released — on November 1979 John Peel sessions and per Still). formed live). N These Days (Studio version on B side of Love New Dawn Fades (Studio version on Unknown Will Tear Us Apart 7 inch and 12 inch singles). Pleasures album, live version featured on Still). No Love Lost (Early song recorded on Ideal for Transmission (Studio version on 7 inch and 12 inch singles, live version on Still, recorded Living EP). January 1979 for BBC John Peel programme Novelty (Studio version used as B side of Trans and a live favourite). mission single). Twenty-Four Hours (Studio version on Closer album, also featured live and on November O 1979 John Peel Radio 1 session). The Only Mistake (Studio out-take eventually released on Still album). W Walked in Line (Studio out-take eventually re leased on Still album). Passover (Studio version on Closer, live version Warsaw (Early Warsaw/Joy Division song on Still). recorded on Ideal for Living EP). R Wilderness (Studio version recorded on Un known Pleasures album). Remember Nothing (Studio version on Un known Pleasures album).

Shadowplay (Studio version on Unknown Pleasures, live version on Still). She's Lost Control (Studio version on Unknown Pleasures, re-recorded and re-mixed versions on 7 inch and 12 inch singles, a different ver sion on January 1979 John Peel sessions and a live favourite. The only Joy Division song to be 'covered' by another artist — Grace Jones recorded a version on the B side of the limited 12 inch edition of her hit Private Life).

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15. THE STATISTICS a) On Record

b) The John Peel 'Festive 50'

Joy Division recorded just 48 different songs of which 47 were composed by the band them selves. These 48 songs are spread over: 2 12 inch albums 1 12 inch double album 3 7 inch singles plus 1 7 inch EP 3 12 inch singles plus 1 12 inch EP 1 7 inch three track flexi single 1 song on 10 inch various artists compil ation album 2 songs on various artists double 7 inch EP 2 songs on 12 inch various artists EP

For a band such as Joy Division a far better guide to the relative popularity of recorded songs is undoubtedly the BBC Radio 1 John Peel programme's 'Festive 50' — a semi-serious annual poll in which listeners vote for their all-time favourite tracks. Since Christmas 1980 Joy Division have dominated this poll and as the Peel programme occupies a very special place in the Joy Division story the results of the voting give a meaningful reflection of the Joy Division tracks most appreciated by the band's most ardent supporters.

Of the 17 records containing Joy Division mat 1980 (The figures refer to position in the over erial released between May 1978 and October all Top 50) 1981 5 have sold out or been deleted (7 inch 2 Atmosphere and 12 inch of Ideal for Living, Factory Sampler 3 Love Will Tear Us Apart EP, Atmosphere on Sordide Sentimentale and 10 Transmission US 12 inch Atmosphere). 14 Decades 20 New Dawn Fades The most successful of all Joy Division records 22 She's Lost Control was the 7 inch single of Love Will Tear Us Apart 41 Twenty-Four Hours which sold 160,000 (and is still available and (The No. 1 for 1980 was,4/iarc/ry in the UK). selling) reaching No. 12 (No. 8 in Melody Maker chart) in the British singles chart. The bestselling album has been Closer which reached No. 1981 1 Atmosphere 8 on the British album chart. (All Joy Division 2 Love Will Tear Us Apart records have been successful in selling out initial 4 Ceremony (New Order) pressings). 5 New Dawn Fades 7 Decades Joy Division tracks have appeared on six differ 11 Dead Souls ent record labels — Factory, Virgin, Fast, 14 Transmission Sordide Sentimentale, Enigma and Anonymous. 43 Twenty-Four Hours 44 Isolation

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c) Music Paper Polls Music paper polls generally succeed in saying a New Musical Express: (Published January 1981) lot more about the editorial policy of the maga 2nd Best Group zine than the tastes of the 'average' music fan 3rd Male Singer but even the most hard-bitten cynic cannot help 3rd Guitarist (Bernard Albrecht) but experience a satisfying sense of justice being 2nd Drums (Steve Morris) done when his favourite band gets a vote of 4th Bass (Peter Hook ) 4th Songwriter (Ian Curtis) popularity: 2nd Single (Love Will Tear Us Apart) 4th Single (Atmosphere) 1979 2nd Album (Closer) New Musical Express: 3rd Best Dressed Sleeve (Closer) (Published January 1980) 5th Best New Act 14th Most Wonderful Human Being (Ian Sounds: Curtis) (Published March 1980) No mentions Sounds: (Published February 1981) Melody Maker: 9th Band (Published January 1980) No mentions 3rd Single (Love Will Tear Us Apart) Record Mirror: Melody Maker: (Published October 1980) (Published February 1980) No mentions New York Rocker: 9th Brightest Hope (Joy Division) Record Mirror: (Published February 1981) (Published March 1980) 4th Best Independant record of 1979 (The Unknown Pleasures No mentions import album). 1981 New Musical Express (Published January 1982) 1980 19th Best Group (Joy Division) Zig-Zag: (Published May 1980) 2nd Most Missed Person (Ian Curtis — Lennon 5th Group was 1st) 9th Live Group 2nd Single (Ceremony) 6th Small Group 2nd Album (Still) 5th Male Singer (Ian Curtis) 2nd Best Dressed Sleeve (Still) 9th Songwriter (Joy Division) 6th Guitarist (Bernard Albrecht) 2nd Unrecorded Song (Love Will Tear Us 3rd Bass (Peter Hook ) Apart) 4th Drums (Steve Morris) 5th Tip For The Top 4th Album (Unknown Pleasures) 1982 5th Single (Transmission) New Musical Express (Published March 1982) 6th Label (Factory) 2nd Best LP (Still) (It's worth remembering that this voting took 2nd Best Single (Ceremony) place several weeks before Ian Curtis died)

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