The Joy Division (band) reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Joy Division (band)

Joy Division was a rock band formed in 1977 in Manchester, England.

The name Joy Division is a reference to groups of Jewish women in the concentration camps during WWII who were used as prostitutes by the Nazis, as described in Karol Cetinsky's 1955 book, The House of Dolls

Joy Division were later viewed as one of the first Goth band, Bauhaus The Cult, The Cure and others. However, due to their highly original sound, within their short career Joy Division were categorized alongside numerous other bands of eclectic styles as Post-Punk.

Table of contents
1 History
2 Impact
3 Line up
4 Discography
5 External links and references

History

After a chance meeting at a Sex Pistols gig at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, Guitarist Bernard Albrecht(also performed as Bernard Dicken and Bernard Sumner) and Bassist Peter Hook formed a band called The Stiff Kittens. They placed an advert in a Manchester record store, and through this advert they recruited Singer Ian Curtis and Drummer Steve Brotherdale. They renamed the band Warsaw, derived from David Bowie's song Warzsawa from his 1977 album Low. They played their first gig supporting The Buzzcocks and Penetration at Manchester's Electric Circus in May 1977.

Brotherdale was fired by asking him to fix a flat tire while on the motorway; the remaining band members drove off without him Stephen Morris was hired as a replacement. His metronome-like drumming owed more to krautrock than the aggressive bombast typical of many punk drummers. Warsaw renamed themselves Joy Division to avoid confusion with London punk band Warsaw Pakt.

They played constantly in the north of England throughout early 1978, and recorded enough material for a debut album. However, after the studio engineer added synthesizers to several tracks, the band scrapped the album. It would be released as a bootleg in 1982 and then officially 10 years later. In June 1978 their original Warsaw demos would be released by Factory Records as an EP under the title An Ideal For Living. In early 1979 Joy Division recorded a radio session to be aired on BBC Radio 2 by the respected indie DJ John Peel.

In July 1979, the band began recording their landmark debut album Unknown Pleasures. The record was far bleaker and darker than most rock music, featuring Hook's bass as the lead instrument, drums soaked in icy reverb, Albrecht's jagged guitar and Curtis' baritone vocal style. Whereares punk rock had been extroverted and aggressive, Joy Division were more introverted and personal. The album cover, designed by Peter Saville is regarded a classic of minimalist design, in contrast to more dynamic album covers of the period.

However, all was not well. Curtis suffered from epilepsy and on stage he would often have Tonic-clonic seizures that resulted in unconsciousness and convulsions, or absence seizures that would cause brief trancelike pauses. Even after disposing of their lightshow, Curtis would still have these problems and the band decided to rest over the Christmas holiday.

In January, Joy Division set out on a European tour. Several dates were cancelled though due to Curtis' increasingly poor health.

With Martin Hannett, who also produced Unknown Pleasures, the band began recording their second album Closer at the end of the European tour. They released their most famous song Love Will Tear Us Apart (recently voted the number 1 single of all time by the New Musical Express), in April. Despite receiving brilliant reviews, the single failed to move beyond the independent charts.

Following a one off gig in early May, the band took two weeks rest before their first American tour was scheduled to start. At the time, Curtis' relationship with his wife Deborah Curtis was breaking down due to him having an affair with another woman and was on the brink of divorce. Alone in his Macclesfield home, on 17 May 1980 Ian watched a movie called Stroesyk about an artist who commits suicide. On the 18 May 1980, Ian Curtis was discovered by his wife Deborah in their kitchen, hanging by his neck, the victim of suicide. He was reportedly listening to Iggy Pop's album, The Idiot.

The band had decided long ago that if anyone of them left or was unable to perform for any reason they would end the band. In the Summer of 1980, a reissued Love Will Tear Us Apart hit number 13 on the British Singles Chart, it was their biggest commercial success to date. In August 1980, Closer was finally released to overwhelming positive reviews and also charted, peaking at number 6 on the British Album Chart. Sales of Unknown Pleasures were also healthy, making this one of the truly sad cases in rock history.

At first glance Ian Curtis' suicide appears to be exclusively the product of his own depression and ill health. However, if you read Deborah Curtis' book Touching From A Distance, you get the impression that Ian always wanted to die young. It is a tragedy either way and Ian Curtis has been an inspiration for numerous musicians including Kurt Cobain and Trent Reznor.

Impact

The surviving members formed an electronic band called New Order, one of the many synth pop groups of the time which would later evolve into the techno and dance music revolutions of the late '80s. They are most famous for the biggest selling 12" of all time Blue Monday, which lost money on every sale due to its expensive packaging, as well as recording World In Motion, a football anthem used by the England team in the 1990 World Cup.

Line up

See also: Post punk, Goth, New Wave

Discography

(all released on Factory Records unless otherwise stated)

External links and references