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

15

4.

"THIS BAND IS BUSY DOING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE MUSIC OF

THE EIGHTIES" - MICK MIDDLES, SOUNDS, 1980

18

5.

LIFE AFTER A DEATH - 1980

26

6.

THE NEW ORDER: BEYOND 1980

34

7.

JOY DIVISION LIVE GUIDE

38

8.

EQUIPMENT FILE

41

9.

DISCOGRAPHY

42

10.

VINYL COLLECTORS CHECKLIST

50

11.

ODDS & ENDS

52

12.

JOY DIVISION LEFTOVERS

i) Studio Recordings
ii) The John Peel Sessions
iii) Bootlegs

53

13.

FILMS & VIDEOS

55

14.

INDEX OF SONG TITLES

56

15.

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

58

Page 4
8

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

12

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

20

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-

21

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

22

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

24

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

29

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

30

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.

33

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

36

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.

37

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)

41

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

44

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

48

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)

50

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)
1I 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.

51

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.

52

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.

53

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).

56

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).

57

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

58

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)

59