On this day in 1980, Ian Curtis hanged himself at the age of 23.
Curtis' life was featured on the BBC program Great Lives in 2008. Host Matthew Parris, British poet Simon Armitage and Peter Hook discussed Curtis' life, musical impact, and his final days. During the show, Hook played a short snippet of an unreleased version of Ian Curtis singing "Love Will Tear Us Apart" recorded by Malcolm McLaren. Stream the episode of Great Lives below - more info on the episode is posted here.
In 2007 a excellent documentary on Joy Division was released featuring interviews with band members and key players like Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Peter Saville, Anton Corbijn, Kevin Cummins, and more. Watch Joy Division below and buy a copy here.
The Ian Curtis biopic Control, directed by Anton Corbijn was released in 2007 and was based on Deborah Curtis' book, Touching From A Distance. The trailer is posted below along with links to watch and purchase:
Official trailer
Control is available to purchase here. Some of the film is available to view on YouTube. Part 1 starts here.
Q & A with director Anton Corbijn
Curtis took his own life the day before Joy Division were scheduled to leave England to come to America for their first tour. The full Joy Division North American tour itinerary isn't officially available to view, however this website attempted to piece the tour together using Rob Gretton's notes, club ads, and other scraps of info. FYI, there was a Detroit date scheduled for May 26th at Bookies.
Here's a collection of Joy Division live appearances
Stream (audio only) a full concert recorded in London in February 1980:
Stream Joy Division Peel Sessions. Both sessions were recorded in 1979
Peel Session #1 recorded January 1979
Peel Session #2 recorded November, 1979
FYI, the Joy Divison Peel Sessions were released as separate eps, then later were compiled on one disc.
2012 interview with Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris discussing Ian Curtis published in Sabotage Times
Finally, Peter Hook recently released his Joy Division memoir Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division which is available to purchase here. A very entertaining interview with Hook is posted here and a recent audio interview with Hook discussing Joy Division and Ian Curtis was featured on the May 17th episode of Sound Opinions here (starts at 6:30 into the show).
Curtis' life was featured on the BBC program Great Lives in 2008. Host Matthew Parris, British poet Simon Armitage and Peter Hook discussed Curtis' life, musical impact, and his final days. During the show, Hook played a short snippet of an unreleased version of Ian Curtis singing "Love Will Tear Us Apart" recorded by Malcolm McLaren. Stream the episode of Great Lives below - more info on the episode is posted here.
In 2007 a excellent documentary on Joy Division was released featuring interviews with band members and key players like Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Peter Saville, Anton Corbijn, Kevin Cummins, and more. Watch Joy Division below and buy a copy here.
The Ian Curtis biopic Control, directed by Anton Corbijn was released in 2007 and was based on Deborah Curtis' book, Touching From A Distance. The trailer is posted below along with links to watch and purchase:
Official trailer
Control is available to purchase here. Some of the film is available to view on YouTube. Part 1 starts here.
Q & A with director Anton Corbijn
Curtis took his own life the day before Joy Division were scheduled to leave England to come to America for their first tour. The full Joy Division North American tour itinerary isn't officially available to view, however this website attempted to piece the tour together using Rob Gretton's notes, club ads, and other scraps of info. FYI, there was a Detroit date scheduled for May 26th at Bookies.
Here's a collection of Joy Division live appearances
Stream (audio only) a full concert recorded in London in February 1980:
Stream Joy Division Peel Sessions. Both sessions were recorded in 1979
Peel Session #1 recorded January 1979
Peel Session #2 recorded November, 1979
FYI, the Joy Divison Peel Sessions were released as separate eps, then later were compiled on one disc.
2012 interview with Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris discussing Ian Curtis published in Sabotage Times
Finally, Peter Hook recently released his Joy Division memoir Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division which is available to purchase here. A very entertaining interview with Hook is posted here and a recent audio interview with Hook discussing Joy Division and Ian Curtis was featured on the May 17th episode of Sound Opinions here (starts at 6:30 into the show).
