Joy Division
Four young men from Manchester and Salford made a sound that felt colder and larger than anything else coming out of punk's wreckage, anchored by Ian Curtis's baritone and a rhythm section that moved like machinery. 'We never, any of us, were interested in the money it might make us,' Bernard Sumner recalled. 'We just wanted to make something that was beautiful to listen to and stirred our emotions. We weren't interested in a career, or any of that. We never planned one single day.' Peter Hook called Curtis 'the Spotter': the one who'd sit listening while the others worked out parts, then say, 'That sounds good, let's get some guitar to go with that.' Offstage he was quiet, almost timid, according to drummer Stephen Morris, until a couple of Breakers malt liquors loosened him up. Onstage he became someone else entirely, arms flailing in that frantic windmill dance that Morris said he could barely believe the first time he saw it. In his last interview, recorded before a gig at Preston Warehouse weeks before his death in May 1980, Curtis named the bands he actually rated: A Certain Ratio, Section 25, and Bauhaus, a group he'd only just discovered and thought were from London.
At a glance
- Active
- 1976–1980
- From
- Manchester, England
- Records in the issues
- 2 (1979–1980), 1 of them a Start here pick
- Original label
- Factory
- Listening guide track
- “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
Listen
In the UK Post-Punk listening guide: “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
In the issues
- UK Post-PunkPrincipal · 1977-1984
UK Post-Punk is a music scene from United Kingdom, 1977–1984. Its principal artists include Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Fall and Public Image Ltd. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 18 dated events.
- UK GothSupporting cast · 1978-1985 · Members
UK Goth is a music scene from London, Leeds, Northampton, UK, 1978–1985. Its principal artists include Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Sisters of Mercy and The Cure. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 14 dated events.
- Darkwave and Synth GothAn influence · 1979-1995 · Members
Darkwave and Synth Goth is a genre from Europe (particularly Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France) and United States, 1979–1995. Its principal artists include Clan of Xymox, Depeche Mode and The Frozen Autumn. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 18 dated events.
Records
Unknown Pleasures
1979 · Start here in UK Post-Punk · Start here in Darkwave and Synth GothOriginal release: Factory · FACT 10 · 12″ Vinyl · UK 1979Martin Hannett's production turned Joy Division's live aggression into something colder and stranger, recording Stephen Morris's drums in the studio's stairwells and toilets and running the mix through AMS digital delays until the synths stuttered and hung in the air. Peter Hook called the result 'a cerebral and ghostly sound,' one the band reportedly hated at first because it sounded nothing like the raw, punk-driven set they played live. It became post-punk's production blueprint anyway.
Listen on SpotifyCloser
1980 · Go deeper in UK Post-Punk · Go deeper in UK GothOriginal release: Factory · FACT 25 · 12″ Vinyl · UK 1980Released two months after Ian Curtis's suicide on 18 May 1980, Closer reached number 6 on the UK charts and sealed Joy Division's reputation as post-punk's most tragic and influential band. 'On the second album, Closer, it was a bit less subtle,' Hook said of Hannett's overdubbing this time around. Curtis's lyrics, written as his epilepsy worsened and his marriage collapsed, read now as almost unbearably direct.
Listen on Spotify
Family tree
Bands that shared members with Joy Division, and who.
- Warsaw1976–1978Bernard Sumner, Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris
- New Order1980–Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris
Places
- Lesser Free Trade HallManchester · 1856-1996 · UK Post-Punk
This venue hosted the Sex Pistols' legendary June 4, 1976 gig that inspired the founding members of Joy Division, The Fall, Buzzcocks, and the Smiths, becoming post-punk's creation myth and launching Manchester's entire musical revolution.
- Strawberry StudiosStockport · 1968-1993 · UK Post-Punk
10cc's studio where Martin Hannett recorded Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures and Closer, creating post-punk's defining atmospheric production sound using experimental techniques and spatial effects that became the genre's sonic template.
- Eric'sLiverpool · 1976-1980 · UK Post-Punk
This Mathew Street club rivaled Manchester's venues as a crucial post-punk venue from 1976-1980, hosting early performances by Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, and The Teardrop Explodes before closing due to financial pressures.
- The Moonlight ClubLondon · 1976-1990 · UK Post-Punk
This West Hampstead venue became a key London post-punk space in the late 1970s, hosting regular performances by Joy Division, Bauhaus, and Killing Joke before transforming into different incarnations throughout the 1980s.
Voices
Quotations from the issues, each matched word for word against the source it links to.
“I'm more rhythm and chords, and Hooky was melody. He used to play high lead bass because I liked my guitar to sound distorted, and the amplifier I had would only work when it was at full volume. When Hooky played low, he couldn't hear himself. Steve has his own style which is different to other drummers. To me, a drummer in the band is the clock, but Steve wouldn't be the clock, because he's passive: he would follow the rhythm of the band, which gave us our own edge.”
“[Joy Division] were a gift to a producer, because they didn't have a clue. They didn't argue”
“Typically on tracks he considered to be potential singles, he'd get me to play each drum on its own to avoid any bleed-through of sound”
“I was like, head in hands, 'Oh fucking hell, it's happening again ... Martin had fucking melted the guitar with his Marshall Time Waster. Made it sound like someone strangling a cat and, to my mind, absolutely killed the song. I was so annoyed with him and went in and gave him a piece of my mind but he just turned round and told me to fuck off.”
Terms
- Motorik
- A steady, driving 4/4 drumbeat associated with German krautrock, pioneered by Can's Jaki Liebezeit and Neu!'s Klaus Dinger.