ian curtis dead at 23 — 31 years ago today

Share

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.

unreleased new order on new 'best of' compilation

Share

If you don't already own New Order's Substance and/or Singles and/or The Best Of, hang on — there's another repackaging on the way.

Total: From Joy Division To New Order will be released June 6 in the UK on Rhino Records. As slicingupeyeballs points out, this is the first commercial release to combine Joy Division and New Order material. It culls the most recognizable Joy Division tracks and pairs them with a selection of a-side New Order singles spanning from "Ceremony" to "Krafty" — see the full tracklist below.

The big news here though, is the inclusion of the previously unreleased New Order song "Hellbent." Speculation is it could be a leftover from the Waiting For The Sirens' Call sessions. 

(UPDATE: Stream "Hellbent" here)

While we all wait to find out, here are a couple of the aforementioned New Order singles, "Fine Time" and "Regret." Who remembers this ridiculous video?






Here's the full tracklist for Total: From Joy Division To New Order:

1. Transmission (Joy Division FAC 13 7” Single)
2. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division FAC23 7” Single)
3. Isolation (Joy Division FAC25 12” Album)
4. She’s Lost Control (Joy Division FACUS2 12” Single)
5. Atmosphere (Joy Division SS33002 7” Single)
6. Ceremony (New Order FAC33 7” Single)
7. Temptation (New Order FAC63 7” Single)
8. Blue Monday (New Order FAC73 12” Single)
9. Thieves Like Us (New Order FAC103 12” Single)
10. The Perfect Kiss (New Order FAC123 7” Single)
11. Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order FAC163 7” Single)
12. True Faith (New Order FAC183 7” Single)
13. Fine Time (New Order FAC223 7” Single)
14. World In Motion (New Order FAC293 7” Single)
15. Regret (New Order NUO1 7” Single)
16. Crystal (New Order NUOCD8 CD Single)
17. Krafty (New Order NUOX13 12” Single)
18. Hellbent (Previously unreleased New Order track)

peter hook and the light unveil two new videos

Share

We've made our peace with Peter Hook touring in support of Joy Division albums, and documented his falling out with former Freebass bandmate Mani — who since apologized — but this might be taking this nostalgia trip a little too far.

Hooky has named his Joy Division cover band — it's now Peter Hook And The Light — and is releasing an EP of old and new material.

1102/2011 is due out May 9 in the UK, and it features "Atmosphere," "New Dawn Fades" and "Insight" with Rowetta (of the Happy Mondays) on vocals, plus a newly resurfaced Joy Division song "Pictures In My Mind" sung by Hook.

If you'd like to hear Hook's rationale for the EP and the new tune, you can listen to his recent BBC Radio 6 interview. Or you could get right to it and check out the videos just released for "Atmosphere" and "Pictures In My Mind."

Rowetta's up first:


(via slicingupeyeballs)

Mkay. "Pictures In My Mind" shows more of the punk side of Joy Division. As for where it came from, listenbeforeyoubuy notes "it was an unfinished Joy Division track that had been uncovered on a rehearsal tape that was stolen in 1977, and now it’s been finished and mastered with bassist Peter Hook taking the lead on the vocals."

Take it away, Pete:




Definitely the less uncomfortable of the two. Of course, Hook has every right to record whatever the hell he wants, and evidently he's taking this Joy Division victory lap to the next level.

It'll be interesting to see how Joy Division/New Order loyalists take to The Light. We'll have our first indication May 9.

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

Share

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.

peter hook to perform closer, milk ian curtis to the last drop

Share

Last year, Peter Hook began his Joy Division victory lap by performing Unknown Pleasures in its entirety — first at the legendary Hacienda and then on a club tour around the world. Now he has plans for Joy Division's other full-length, Closer.

As reported by the preeminent new wave blog, slicingupeyeballs, Hook and his band The Light — featuring his son Jack Bates on bass and vocals from Rowetta of the Happy Mondays — will perform Closer on May 18 at The Hacienda. The performance will be recorded and pressed to vinyl later in 2011.

Also to come from Hook and The Light is a 4-song EP of studio recordings of Joy Division tracks “Insight,” “New Dawn Fades,” “Atmosphere,” and the previously unreleased “Pictures In My Mind.”

Here's a taste of the Unknown Pleasures tour:




Before Hooky butchers Closer, here's what it's supposed to sound like:

"Isolation" live in Buckinghamshire 1980


"A Means To An End" live in France 1979


"Heart And Soul" live in Lancashire 1980


"Twenty Four Hours" live in France 1979



Try to RIP, Ian.

joy division singles and rarities

Share

As mentioned yesterday, the Recycle: Joy Division & New Order blog has taken on the task of remastering and making available every single in the catalog of those transcendent bands.

To recreate these singles in a digital format, they've painstakingly sourced the earliest available recordings — some vinyl, some CD and some from low-generation cassette. The New Order singles were pretty faithful to the originals with a few extra remixes thrown in for good measure.

The Joy Division singles are less essential considering the recent release of the +- Singles Box and the 2001 box set Heart & Soul. However, the addition of some rare demos and live versions definitely make things interesting.

First up is "Warsaw" from the 1978 EP An Ideal For Living. This recording comes from the Japanese version of Substance:

Next is a 1979 demo of "Digital" that they've kindly added to the retooling of A Factory Sample EP:

Another rare addition is this early version of "Transmission" uncovered on cassette by someone close to the band:

And last, but not least, the gents at Recycle: Joy Division & New Order have reimagined the 1988 "Atmosphere" single as a live EP featuring performances from a January 1980 Paradiso, Amsterdam gig "directly from Dutch radio". Here's a lovely version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - as long as you can forgive Hooky's sloppiness:



Thank you, good sirs, thank you.

mani vs hooky and the stillbirth of freebass

Share

So much for that "supergroup". The ill conceived triple bass attack of Freebass — featuring Andy Rourke of The Smiths, Mani of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream, and of course Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order — is DOA.

The group's debut, Its a Beautiful Life, is due for release in a couple weeks. Rourke had already quit the band and now Mani is going scorched earth, trashing the project and Hook on his twitter feed yesterday — as reported by NME.


Mani counted among the things visible from space the Great Wall of China and "Peter Hook's wallet stuffed with Ian Curtis' blood money." Ouch.

Hook has been making the rounds with "friends" performing Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures to the chagrin of many.




Contrast that to the real deal from 1979:




I think Mani's got a point. He added "I don’t feel the need to exploit my past glories. I exist in the here and the now." His here and now is returning to the Primal Scream fold, to which he said "I'm getting back with the 'real' players tomorrow, thank fuck. Can’t be doing with talentless nostalgia fuckwit whores."

Dang. Mani had one last bullet in the chamber for the truly awful Freebass album — "It's where it belongs mate… in the fucking bargain bin before it's even released."