Joy Division
Joy Division formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band consisted of Ian Curtis (vocals and occasional guitar), Bernard Sumner (guitar and keyboards), Peter Hook (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Stephen Morris (drums and percussion). Producer Martin Hannett contributed significantly to the band’s sound on record – though the band initially disliked the ‘spacious, atmospheric sound’ of Hannett’s production which did not reflect their more aggressive live sound.
Fac 23 Joy Division Love Will Tear Us Apart
Although inspired by the energy of punk, Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences, to develop a sound and style that pioneered the post-punk movement of the late seventies. Joy Division’s debut album, Unknown Pleasures, Fact 10, was released in 1979 on Factory Records, drawing critical acclaim from the British press. Reviewing the album for Melody Maker, writer Jon Savage called Unknown Pleasures an “opaque manifesto” and declared “(leaving) the twentieth century is difficult; most people prefer to go back and nostalgize, Oh boy. Joy Division at least set a course in the present with contrails for the future—perhaps you can’t ask for much more. Indeed, Unknown Pleasures may very well be one of the best, white, English, debut LPs of the year”
Joy Division performed on Granada TV in July 1979, and made their only nationwide TV appearance in September on BBC2’s Something Else. They supported the Buzzcocks in a 24-venue UK tour that began that October, which allowed the band to quit their regular jobs. The non-album single Transmission, Fac 13, was released in November. Despite the band’s growing success, vocalist Ian Curtis was beset with depression and personal difficulties, including a dissolving marriage and his diagnosis with epilepsy. Curtis found it increasingly difficult to perform at live concerts, and often had seizures during performances. Words and images such as ‘coldness, pressure, darkness, crisis, failure, collapse, loss of control’ re-occur in Curtis’s lyrics. In 1979, NME journalist Paul Rambali wrote “The themes of Joy Division’s music are sorrowful, painful, and sometimes deeply sad.”
Fact 25 Joy Division Closer
In May 1980, on the eve of the band’s first American tour, Curtis, overwhelmed with depression, committed suicide. In 1980, Joy Division’s posthumously released second album, Closer, Fact 25, and the single Love Will Tear Us Apart, Fac 23, became the band’s highest charting releases. In 1982 Factory released a compilation of previously unreleased Joy Division material, Still, Fact 40. The sleeve, designed by Peter Saville/Grafica Industria was made from recycled card stock and was also available in a heavy cloth-covered cover, bound by a silk ribbon. The cover, with its austere, block-printed lettering in Copperplate Gothic, had a simplicity that aims at longevity – the eternal. The release of Still was seen as a fitting conclusion – and memorial – to Joy Division, whose remaining members went on to form New Order.
Fact 40 Joy Division Still
In May 1980, on the eve of the band’s first American tour, Curtis, overwhelmed with depression, committed suicide. In 1980, Joy Division’s posthumously released second album, Closer, Fact 25, and the single Love Will Tear Us Apart, Fac 23, became the band’s highest charting releases. In 1982 Factory released a compilation of previously unreleased Joy Division material, Still, Fact 40. The sleeve, designed by Peter Saville/Grafica Industria was made from recycled card stock and was also available in a heavy cloth-covered cover, bound by a silk ribbon. The cover, with its austere, block-printed lettering in Copperplate Gothic, had a simplicity that aims at longevity – the eternal. The release of Still was seen as a fitting conclusion – and memorial – to Joy Division, whose remaining members went on to form New Order.
Fact 40 Joy Division Still
