Del.icio.usJoy Division
Fact Sheet
| Country | England, UK |
| Years active | 1977-1980 |
The name Joy Division is a reference to groups of women in Nazi concentration camps who were used as prostitutes, as described in Ka-Tzetnik 135633's 1955 book The House of Dolls.
Joy Division were later viewed as one of the first "Goth" bands; Bauhaus, The Cult, and The Cure were 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.
After a chance meeting at a Sex Pistols gig at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, Guitarist Bernard Sumner (also listed on labels as "Bernard Dicken," "Bernard Albrecht" and "Bernard Albrecht-Dicken") and bassist Peter Hook formed a band which may have been called "The Stiff Kittens." They placed an advertisement in a Manchester record store, and thus 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 regularly 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 it. 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. Whereas 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 sleeve 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' deteriorating 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 collapsing due to his infidelity. Alone in his Macclesfield home, on 17 May 1980, Ian watched a movie called Stroszek about an artist who commits suicide. On 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 any one 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, their biggest commercial success to date. In August 1980, Closer was finally released to overwhelmingly positive reviews and also charted, peaking at number 6 on the British Album Chart. Sales of Unknown Pleasures were also robust.
At first glance Ian Curtis' suicide appears to be exclusively the product of his own depression and ill health. However, Deborah Curtis' book Touching From A Distance, gives the impression that Ian always wanted to die young. Ian Curtis has been an inspiration for numerous musicians including Kurt Cobain and Trent Reznor.
The surviving members formed an electronic band called New Order, often cited as one of the leading synth pop, techno and dance music groups of their era.