Joy Division: the story

In 1976, the punk movement erupted, waking up pop music from its apathy. The leading band was the Sex Pistols, whose famous anthems, like Anarchy in the UK or God save the Queen, were the symbols of this "no future" generation. Most punk musicians could not play, but they did not see this as an obstacle to reach their goal: get on stage, and yell their rage at the world! Many of them were influenced by celebrated cult bands of the late 60's and early 70's: The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, The Stooges, Iggy Pop, The Doors, Van Der Graaf Generator, etc.

During the "Anarchy in the UK" tour, the Pistols played in Manchester on June 4 and July 20. In the audience were four young guys living around Manchester: school mates Peter Hook, Bernard Albrecht, and Terry Mason plus Ian Curtis - who only attended the July gig. Right away, Peter, Bernard and Terry decided to start a band, with Peter on bass, Bernard on guitar and Terry on drums, but they were in need of a singer. They placed an ad in the Virgin record shop in Manchester and Ian answered it and became the singer of the band, called at the time the Stiff Kittens. He would also write the lyrics.

They rehearsed a lot and wrote their first songs, in direct inheritance of punk. In May of 1977 the band's name was changed to Warsaw (linked to Bowie's Warszawa and Terry was replaced on drums by Tony Tabac, though Terry remained close to the band. Just a month later, Tony left and Steve Brotherdale was hired as new drummer.
It was at the same time that Paul Morley of the NME and DJ Rob Gretton discovered the band and perceived its huge potential. Warsaw recorded a five song demo tape in the Pennine Sound Studios in July, but Steve quit a few days later. Finally Stephen Morris joined the band. In October, they played at the Electric Circus, which was due to close down, along with The Fall and The Buzzcocks. Some songs were recorded by Virgin as a testimony of the mancunian punk scene.

They recorded four songs in December, which were to appear later as An Ideal For Living. In January of 1978 the band changed its name to Joy Division to avoid any confusion with another group. They rehearsed intensively and wrote new songs. On April 14, they played along with 16 bands in a contest. Tony Wilson, who worked for Granada TV, and Rob Gretton were greatly impressed by their performance.

Joy Division returned to the studio to record eleven songs with the RCA label. It was the first time they did not sound just like any other punk band. But they were not pleased with some musical changes made by the producer and by the conditions of the agreement with RCA. On May 21, Bernard had the group to hire Rob as manager. On June 8, Tony opened a club in Manchester, called The Factory I - named after Warhol's Factory or simply after a sign seen in the neighbourhood by Alan Erasmus, a theatre actor, friend of Tony. Peter Saville, a young local artist designed a poster for the event, and Joy Division appeared full of promise to many reviewers.

The band rehearsed during all summer, which immediately brought some maturity to their music. With Rob Gretton's help, they managed to avoid the release of the RCA record (later known as the bootleg Warsaw). After all the rehearsing and many gigs organized thanks to Rob and Tony efforts, they had considerably improved, and critics as well as audiences were more and more impressed. On September 20, they were invited on Granada TV for what would be a live appearance, and decided to play Shadowplay, one of their recent songs. Another concert took place at the Factory where free copies of An Ideal for Living were given to journalists. It was on that occasion that Martin Hannett and Joy Division were linked for the first time.

At the end of 1978, Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus started a record company called Factory Records, which will happen to be the most celebrated and creative indie label of its time. Peter Saville was chosen to be the designer of the label, and Martin Hannett its producer. In October, Hannett produced two Joy Division songs, which appeared in a compilation named A Factory Sample. During the following months, Rob Gretton organized concerts in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Canterbury, Bristol, York and London, and the band started to create a real follow-up. They had to face one serious problem though, as Ian was now having epilepsy fits.

On 1979 January 31, they recorded four songs for John Peel, the famous DJ on BBC Radio 1. This Peel session was aired two weeks later, then followed by another gig in London, and a recording session of a few songs for a WEA label, and then again by some more gigs, along with The Cure. Joy Division shows had some special characteristics: they chose the songs they would play just before the concert, and they played with few light because of Ian's epilepsy.

Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson agreed to produce the band's first LP. Joy Division rehearsed almost day and night during April, and wrote some fifteen new songs. Martin Hannett and the group worked on Unknown Pleasures most intensely. The ten tracks are remarkable, due to the music and the lyrics of course, but also to the aura Hannett managed to bring. The atmosphere and the sound of the songs are oppressing, dark and claustrophobic, but at the same time powerful, vivid and deeply moving.

Soon they were back on the road in the UK, playing along with Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and other groups, and in the studio recording some titles for a local radio, Piccadilly Radio. Joy Division's impact and fame were growing quickly, even if they almost systematically refused interviews - believing that their music perfectly spoke for them. They had no marketing promotion: just concerts, concerts and concerts, mainly in the Manchester area. In July of 1979, Unknown Pleasures was released, in its black cover, with just a black and white graphic on it. Peter Saville's design included no pictures of the band and no names either. The album enjoyed immense critical acclaim - named best album since the Doors' L.A. Woman - and it was to stay long in the UK indie charts. Funnily though, they were still amateurs, having day jobs as well!

The drums sounded like gun shots, except when Stephen delivered furious rolls, the bass was omnipresent, sometimes threatening, sometimes softer, but always used in a totally different way from its usual purpose in pop bands, having a most important part in the songs architecture and melody. The guitar often played along with the bass, in a kind of counter-point; its sound changing, distorted or clear, more or less aggressive, blurred or brilliant and surgically accurate. Ian's lyrics and singing brought the music even to a higher level: you could feel that Joy Division were not cheating, but revealing themselves. The anger or the fear you heard in his voice were merely the bare truth.

Upon this remarkable basis, Hannett's touch, including use of synthesizers and noises, plus an extraordinary work on the instruments sound (with engineer Chris Nagle) created a unique atmosphere of tension and chaos.

At the end of July, Paul Slattery photographed Joy Division in Stockport and the band gave an interview to the NME. At the same time, they worked with Martin Hannett on two songs for a single. In August they toured again, mainly in London, with Echo And The Bunnymen and Orchestral Manoeuvres, and in Liverpool. Ian, Peter, Steve and Bernard could now quit their day jobs and dedicate themselves to Joy Division.

Their performance was highly praised at the Leeds Futurama One festival - where they played along other groups like Cabaret Voltaire, A Certain Ratio, Public Image Limited, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark... - and in London at the Nashville Club. Invited by the BBC, they played two songs for the TV show "Something Else".

After another concert at The Factory I they toured the UK as support band for The Buzzcocks: Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Bangor, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester, Oxford, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Bristol, London, among others. Each night, the audience was stunned and moved by Joy Division's music and the intensity of their performance on stage.
In Liverpool, the audience left just after Joy Division played, as if they knew nothing could be as powerful as what they had witnessed. That included many people who had never heard of the band. In Bristol, the audience was literally drained after their appearance. Various reviewers, from the NME, Melody Maker or Sounds, shared exactly the same feeling. Of course, The Buzzcocks were rather jealous about Joy Division's success... In between the tour dates, they played around Manchester, and for the first time out of the UK, in Brussels.

The band was then contacted by Warner Brothers Records' vice-chairman, who offered them one million dollar to have them on his label. Rob Gretton and the group declined the offer.

On November 26, Joy Division recorded a second John Peel session with Tony Wilson (but not THE Tony Wison), which aired a few weeks later on Radio One.

Rob Gretton scheduled a European tour for Joy Division in December of 1979 and January of 1980. Eleven gigs in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The first concert took place in Paris, at Les Bains-Douches. Bernard Lenoir, who could be thought of as the French John Peel, aired the band live on the French radio; this was followed by a mancunian gig on New Year's eve, and the Paradiso show in Amsterdam, where Joy Division, having not been able to find a support band, played twice in a row!

The next gigs took place in The Hague, Nijmegen, Antwerp, Cologne - in an ancient church -, Rotterdam, Brussels, Eindhoven, Groningen and Berlin. Back in the UK the band worked on new songs - including Love Will Tear Us Apart - and played five dates, supported by A Certain Ratio: London, High Wycombe, Preston, London again and Bristol. During the Preston gig, they experienced many technical issues, and Ian uncharacteristically talked to the audience for a while, to have them waiting!

In March of 1980, they entered the Britannia Row Studios in London to record their second LP with Martin Hannett. Meanwhile they had recorded Atmosphere and Dead Souls, wich appeared on the single Licht Und Blindheit, in a French limited edition of 1578 copies. In this second LP, Closer, they dug deeper in their inner thoughts and feelings. Once again, Martin Hannett's incredible work and talent offered a perfect setting for Joy Division's brilliant music.

After the recording in April, the group was on the road again: in London, at the Moonlight Club and at the Rainbow Theatre, where the lights, too strong, caused Ian to have a terrible epilepsy fit at the end of the gig. But the band had to play a second gig the same night, again at the Moonlight Club. After a furious start, Ian collapsed, unable to move or to sing anymore.

The band achieved a cult status and concerts were close to provoke internal and external chaos or even riots: Unlike The Fall, who make me want to go out and kick a cat, Joy Division convince me that I could spit in the face of God. (Neil Norman, NME).

As Joy Division had to prepare their first US tour with The Buzzcocks, eight gigs were organized in the UK for that purpose: as Ian's health was deteriorating, they could only play five ot them, in Malvern, Bury - where Ian quickly failed to sing, Manchester, Derby and Birmingham on May 2.

Factory published a free flexi single with new songs and Closer was to be released shortly, the band were to start the US tour - which had been booked by Ruth Polsky, who later booked New Order and many other British post-punk or new-wave acts in the early 80s before her untimely death -, and had been offered a one million dollar agreement once again, plus total artistic freedom, by Warner Brothers Records.

But Ian could not cope anymore: his epilepsy had worsened with an increasing number of severe fits, the heavy and inefficient medication was taking its toll, and sentimental problems were more than he could take. On May 17, he went back to his house in Macclesfield, watched Stroszek, a movie by Werner Herzog, the story of a singer, a loser, who finally kills himself, listened to Iggy Pop's The Idiot and on the morning of May 18 he hang himself in the kitchen. Ian was cremated in Macclesfield cemetery on May 23.

John Peel announced Ian's death on Radio One on May 19, and payed his tribute to the band and the man with Atmosphere, which very few people knew at the time in the UK. Peter, Stephen, Bernard, Martin, Rob, Tony and the others were devastated by Ian's suicide. Closer and the single Love Will Tear Us Apart were finally released at the end of June of 1980. The artwork, which had been chosen months before, was as usual designed by Peter Saville; it included two B&W photos by Bernard Pierre Wolff, an amazingly gifted French photographer, taken in Genoa's cemetery, Il Staglieno: a dead Christ with mourners for Closer, and a weeping angel for LWTUA.

LWTUA included two versions of the song, because neither Joy Division nor Martin Hannett could decide which one they liked best. The song was number 5 in the Indies chart. A video of the song was broadcasted at the same time. The beauty and strength of Closer come from the convergence of the intense work of the band, Ian's inner world just before it collapsed, and the visions and magic of Martin.

Strangely enough, a couple of books have been written on Unknown Pleasures but none on Closer. Maybe because Closer goes where no other "pop" band ever ventured?

The songs seemed to come - more than ever - from a foreign world, with Ian's lyrics filled with doubts, restlesness and fears, Peter's droning bass, Bernard's jagged guitar riffs and Stephen's hypnotizing drums, all of that once again refined by Martin's contribution (synthesizers, sound-work, etc., with the assistance of John Caffery and Michael Johnson).

Closer peaked at number 6 in the British charts, and critics were unanimous in praising it. LWTUA rose to number 13 in the singles chart and Joy Division raided the NME annual prize-list. Though their music did not sound as anything else, it was labelled as post-punk, new-wave, cold-wave or gothic, but whatever its name, it influenced many other groups, starting with OMD, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, U2, The Sound, etc.

The band had agreed that if any member left for any reason, Joy Division would cease to exist. Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Albrecht (now Sumner) formed New Order, soon joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards, Bernard becoming the singer. But from their gloomy but remarkable debut album, Movement - still produced by Martin Hannett and close to Joy Division - to their weird dance music songs, that is another story, which includes the biggest maxi-single ever sold in the world: Blue Monday.

For more than a decade and a half, New Order almost never played any Joy Division's songs - except the last two ones which had not been recorded in the studio by Joy Division (Ceremony and In A Lonely Place). Since their return in the late 90s, they have usually played a couple of Joy Division's songs at every concert.

In 1980 and 1981, Factory released the single Atmosphere and the album Still, with rare or unreleased tracks and the songs from Joy Division's very last concert in Birmingham, May 1980, which rose to number 5 on the British charts.
In 1982, Ikon released a video of Joy Division filmed in various gigs Here are the young men. The Peel Sessions were published in 1986 and 1987. Factory released a CD called Substance in 1988, with Joy Division's singles and some previously unreleased songs, as well as another Substance, for New Order that one. A video for Atmosphere was shot by Anton Corbijn, who had taken photographs of the band on several occasions.

In 1995, fifteen years after Ian had died, a new compilation Permanent was released and in 1998 the 4-CD box Heart And Soul was commercialized, followed by the Preston 28 February 1980 concert the following year.
The Peel sessions were rereleased in the The Complete BBC Recordings CD in 2000, and the Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 Paris gig was issued in 2001. In the next couple of years several other records were released including the Refractured BoxOne and many semi-official records, mostly live recordings, but also Martin Hannett's Personal Mixes.
In 2007 Unknown Pleasures, Closer, LWTUA & Still were re-released with bonuses as double CDs but also as vinyls.

Many books have been written on Joy Division, New Order and Ian Curtis in different countries, including Ian's biography by his widow, Deborah, and another particularly interesting biography by Mick Middles and Lindsay Reade, Tony Wilson's ex-wife. All three surviving members of Joy Division also wrote several books which give different points of views and sometimes totally different accounts on the events.

The movie 24 Hour Party People directed by Michael Winterbottom, one of England's finest film makers, depicts the story of Factory, from the punk era to the label's bankruptcy. In 2007, Control, a biopic on Ian Curtis, directed by Anton Corbijn won several prizes at the Cannes Film Festival.

Grant Gee's Joy Division - A Documentary, also released in 2007, is an excellent complement to the movies. Last but not least, 2007 was also the year of the release of the long awaited book of Kevin Cummins' photos of Joy Division, Juvenes and of the exhibition of Pierre René-Worms photos of the band in Paris.

More books were published in the following months, some on Joy Division or Factory associates (Martin Hannett, Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton...) - some by or about the band members (Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook), followed by a new book of photos by Kevin Cummins in 2010.

Unknown Pleasures, an exhibition at Macclesfield Silk Museum celebrating Ian Curtis and Joy Division ran during the summer of 2010, with some 150 artefacts lent both by fans and members of the band, including original posters, flyers, artwork proofs, photos and letters.
Another exhibition took place at the Charles Roe House in Macclesfield in December 2013, and Incubation Arts hosts a permanent exhibition space for Joy Division/New Order.
Last but not least the online community Manchester Digital Music Archive celebrating Manchester music has a rich collection and has organized several events or online exhibitions with Joy Division artefacts.

In Paris, the Cité de la Musique museum presented several artefacts and videos featuring Joy Division in its temporary exhibition Europunk, which took place from October 2013 to early 2014.
The French choreographer Christian Rizzo created Le syndrome ian in memory of Ian, Joy Division and clubbing in 2015. The work was presented in Paris and other French cities.

Following his departure from New Order - which was temporarily renamed Bad Lieutenant - Peter Hook formed a new band, The Light, initially to perform all songs from Unknown Pleasures on May 18 2010, as a celebration if Ian and Joy Division. What was supposed to be a one shot became permanent, and Peter Hook and the Light have since been touring on several continents, playing Unknown Pleasures and Closer in turn, with special evenings with all songs from both albums played like the gigs in Salford in November 2011.
They have also recorded several Joy Division songs and started touring playing New Order material as well.

Some early songs from the Warsaw period have been unearthed and have made their way to the Internet or bootlegs (Reaction, Tension, Lost), one has been recorded by the Light (Pictures In My Mind).

As Joy Division had built a strong follow-up and achieved a cult-band status, many bootlegs have been listed, from various gigs, in these days where music was created and played by men - not DJs or machines. And some of these men were not willing to compromise for fame nor money.