ian curtis dead at 23 — 31 years ago today

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In an unfortunate coincidence, unreleased New Order track "Hellbent" — from the forthcoming collection Total: From Joy Division To New Order — has surfaced on the 31st anniversary of Ian Curtis' death.

On May 18, 1980, Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of his parents' home in Macclesfield. His body was discovered that morning by his wife, Deborah Woodruff. In his final hours, he had watched Werner Herzog's film Stroszek and listened to Iggy Pop's The Idiot. Curtis and Joy Division were scheduled to embark on their first US tour the following day.

As detailed in the films 24 Hour Party People and Control, Curtis was struggling with depression as a result of his increasingly frequent epileptic seizures and the failing of his marriage following an affair with journalist Annik Honoré.

Joy Division's final live show was May 2, 1980 at Birmingham University's Chamberlain Hall. Here's "A Means To And End" from that performance:




That night was also the only time "Ceremony" was performed live by Joy Division. That version appears on Still, but here's a superior version recorded during a rehearsal in Manchester prior to the show:




Finally, here's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which is the inscription on Curtis' headstone:

RIP, Ian.

the smiths, new order & the bunnymen for record store day

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Rhino UK has some lovely plans to celebrate Record Store Day this Saturday. Unfortunately, these are UK-only releases, so we in the US will need to hit ebay or ring up a mate in Merseyside.

First off, The Smiths classic The Queen Is Dead has been reworked into a 10" vinyl format. Johnny Marr consulted expert vinyl cutter Frank Arkwright to create new masters, promising incredible clarity. This pressing is limited to 1,500.

I want one:




As for New Order, their classic 12" "Ceremony" (FAC33) gets a truly unique repressing. The a-side are remastered versions of the original New Order tracks "Ceremony" and "In A Lonely Place." The b-side are versions of those same tunes as recorded by Joy Division.

It's an amazing slice of new wave history, limited to 1,000 copies. Have a listen to a Joy Division recording of "In A Lonely Place":




And finally, Echo And The Bunnymen's triumph "The Killing Moon" has had its original radio promo 7" recreated.

On the b-side is a studio version of "Do It Clean," rather than the live version of the 12". Let's go ahead and listen to the a-side anyway:




As for the US version of Record Store Day, here's the whole list of what's available on our side of the Atlantic. Not quite the same, but still not bad.

all barney all the time

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As we excitedly mentioned yesterday, today you can download Bernard Sumner's new track featuring Hot Chip and Hot City for free at the Converse UK site.

"I Didn't Know What Love Was" surprisingly — or expectedly, depending on your point of view — kicks all kinds of ass:

IDKWLW by oldwaver

All the talk about Barney this week has me seriously jonesing for some New Order. If you are as well, may I humbly recommend New Order - 316. The 2-DVD set has a '98 set from the Reading Festival...  you can watch that at your own risk.

Worth the price alone is the first disc featuring one of New Order's first US appearances, a November 1981 show at the Ukrainian National Home in New York City. Just check out "Ceremony" and you'll be sold:



God bless Barney. Peter Hook, not so much.