Joy Division

Until the death of singer Ian Curtis in 1980, Joy Division was one of Britain's most admired and promising postpunk bands. New Order built on that promise, with 1983's "Blue Monday" forging an influential alliance of new wave and dance music.

Joy Division's Velvet Underground-derived drone and Curtis' matter-of-fact, gloomy lyrics scored significant club hits with "She's Lost Control," "Transmission," and "Love Will Tear Us Apart," a British hit single (#13 U.K., 1980). Formed by Hook and Sumner after seeing the Sex Pistols play in Manchester on June 4, 1976, the group took shape after Curtis responded to a “seeking singer” ad posted by the two at the local Virgin record store. Morris joined on drums the following year. The band, naming itself Joy Division after Nazi military prostitute compounds, released a four-song EP, Ideal for Living, by year’s end.

In April 1978 the band generated a buzz when they performed at a Stiff Records battle of the bands. After turning down deals with Britain’s RCA and Radar labels, the group recorded their first album, Unknown Pleasures, with producer Martin Hannent. They chose Manchester independent Factory Records to release the album, which was an immediate success in the U.K.

The next year the band’s acclaim grew as they toured England and Europe. In March they returned to the studio to record their second album, Closer. Curtis, who was responsible for much of the group’s dark vision, suffered from epileptic grand mal seizures - occasionally while performing onstage. Having attempted suicide in the past, Curtis hanged himself on May 18, 1980, just prior to the release of Closer (Joy Division’s most commercially successful album) and the group’s first U.S. tour. A collection of demos, outtakes, and live performances, Still, was released in 1981.

The remaining members regrouped as New Order and added Morris’ girlfriend Gillian Gilbert on keyboards. Like Joy Division, it has eschewed publicity, with no band photos on album covers, and playing low-key, unemotional concerts. The group’s sound - a brighter but still moody version of Joy Division, with Sumner’s monotonal yet plaintive vocals at the center - gained it club hits with “Everything’s Gone Green” (1981) and “Temptation” (1982).

“Blue Monday” (1983) was New Order’s breakthrough. Released only as a 12-inch single, it matched the band’s usual emotional chill to a propulsive dance track and reached #5 on the Billboard dance chart, selling over 3 million copies worldwide. Sessions with dance producer Arthur Baker followed, producing “Confusion” (1983), another dance-floor favorite, which hit #71 R&B.

The band left Factory Records in 1985, signing with Quincy Jones’ new Qwest label. Although Low-life (#94, 1985) and Brotherhood (#117, 1986) were their first American chart albums, sales were disappointing. Substance (#36, 1987), Technique (#32, 1989), and the hit single “True Faith” (#32, 1987) turned things around, but the band members turned their backs on stardom, releasing only the British World Cup Soccer theme “World in Motion...” (#1 U.K., 1990) before unofficially parting ways to pursue solo projects.

Sumner had the greatest success, teaming with ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant on “Getting Away With It” (#38, 1990), featured on Electronic (#109, 1991). Bassist Peter Hook’s solo project, Revenge, released One True Passion (#190, 1990), while Morris and Gilbert wrote British TV themes, eventually releasing an album as the Other Two.

New Order re-formed in 1993, releasing Republic (#11), followed by a successful tour of the U.S. But the band members went their own ways after the tour, Sumner continuing with Electronic, Hook exiling himself in Monaco, and Gilbert and Morris (now husband and wife) remaining the Other Two.

Joy Division remained an influence on modern rock, as shown by the continuing interest in their scant output, reissued in Permanent, a “greatest hits” collection with several rare and unreleased tracks, and Heart & Soul, a four-CD box set that collected their every extant recording. In 1998 New Order performed a hometown reunion show. In the following year, they recorded their first new song in more than six years, “Bruta,” for the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Beach.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)