INTRODUCTION

Music is what makes me think,what inspires me.It's not only a sound and a melody ,its about lyrics, text is what inspires me to listen. Not just to the music, but people, friends. One late night I was watching a newest film called Connect .I didnt know what to expect from the movie. It starts with bands called Warsaw, then Joy Division and at the end New Order. I was surprised because one of my favorite bands is exactly New Order. Sometimes I ask myself what am I listening to. That arent just a few guys singing for us. Behind these boys lies a great history, ups and downs, and at the end death of the great voice, great leader of the band, Ian Curtis. So powerful and professional on the stage, but on the other side so painful and hartbreaking. He married young, had a child. He lived short. Couldnt see the world with his eyes opened. He was watching the world and emotional side of life only with one eye opened. Everything was depression and suffering. Its important to touch this theme, because its not a joke, but something that is in today, destroying(killing) not one another, but yourself. On the brighter side of his life there was this powerfull and ambitious man who was ready to help those people who weren't able to find a job for themselves,who are so full of energy to work,to look to the world and life like the helthiest people.From outside they were sick,but their inner beauty was what it was all about. The singer had two diferent lifes.One was with his wife and child,and the other were tours with the band and young Belgian girl,who messed his mind.He was happy and sad in the same time.His band was there for him.They were like a family.

HISTORY
FORMATION
Inspired by a Sex Pistols gig at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall on 20 July 1976 guitarist Bernard Sumner (also known as Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrech) and bassist Peter Hook formed a band with friend Terry Mason ,who tried to play drums but didn't last long in the band.They placed an advertisement in a Virgin Records store in Manchester,and employed singer Ian Curtis,who also watched the Sex Pistols gig with his wife Deborah and already knew Bernard Sumner,Peter Hook,and Terry Mason from previous gigs.Ian Curtis was hired without audition. (see picture 1)

1.Stephen Moriss , Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook

According to Sumner,I knew he was all right to get on with and that's what we based the whole group on.If we liked someone,they were in.(Curtis,Deborah.Touching from a Distance:Ian Curtis and Joy Division.London:Faber,1995,p.42) Not much of a punk drummer ,Tony Tabac joined the group in early 1977.They began practicing on a regular basis but did not have a name.Just before their first gig (at the Electric Circus on Sunday 29 May 1977) ,supporting the Buzzcocks and Penetration,the band decided on the name Warsaw,in reference to the song Warszawa by David Bowie,though they had already come out as the Stiff Kittens,a name sugested by Peter Shelley of the Buzzcocks and Richard Boon.After the gig,they immediately changed the name into Warsaw.

Few weeks later,Tony Tabac was replaced by punk drummer Steve Brotherdale from another band called Panik.They recorded their first demo on Manday 18 July 1977 at Oldham,consisting of five crude punk songs. Uneasy with Brotherdale's aggressive personality,the band fired him soon after the demo session.Driving home from the studio one night,they pulled over and asked Brotherdale to check on a flat tyre;when he got out of the car they speed off.Steve Brotherdale tried to get Ian Curtis to join Panik but he refused. Stephen Morris who responded to an ad in a music store window,was hired as a replacement,he was hired thanks to the fact that Ian Curtis remembered him from his school days.Deborah
2. In late 1977,Warsaw renamed themselves

to Joy Division

Curtis,Ian's wife,stated that Morris fitted perfectly with the other men,and that with his addition Warsaw became acomplete family'. Unlike the previous drummers,Stephen Morris clicked well the other three.(see picture 2) In late 1977,Warsaw renamed themselves to Joy Division to avoid confusion with the London punk band Warsaw Pakt.According to Ian Curtis,Joy Division is what the Nazis called female prisoners that were used as prostitutes for the German army.It was also mentioned in the 1955 novel The House of Dolls written by Karol Cetinsky.Curtis' interest in Nazi Germany arised from an unhealthy obsession with death and human suffering.His lyrics dramatise the idea of suicide. While Hook and Sumner later admitted to being intriged by fascism at the time,Morris insisted that the group's obsession with Nazi imagery came from desire to keep memories of the sacrifices of their parents and grandparents alive during World War two.He argued that accusations of neo-Nazi sympathies merely provoked the bandto keep on doing it,because that's the kind of people we are.(Reynolds,Simon(7 October 2007).Music to Brood by,Desolate and Stark.NYTimes.com.)

Joy Division (and late New Order) often had problems with nazi-rumours spreading around in the press.But since the band never had a good relationship with the press they never gave interviews to clear things up. The reason for the nazi-charges was partly their controversial name(but the press never reflected over that the name came from a novel that describes the horror of nazism!),and partly because of the things they'd said and done early in their career: Like Bernard's design for the An Ideal For Living
3.Design for the An Ideal For Living recordsleeve

record-sleeve,where there's a drawing of Hitler as a drummer boy.Or the version of At a later date

that was recorded for the Short Circuit compilation where Bernard shouts You all forget Rudolf Hess.At that point of times Rudolf Hess,80 years old,had been imprisoned at the Spandau castle in East Germany for more than 30 years. The weird thing was that most other punk-bands used much more direct nazi symbolism in their relation with the press,and still got away with it. It was also around this time that their music began to mature.Sessions recorded on Wednesday 14 December 1977 sound much different from the Warsaw demo.

EARLY RELEASES
The group played their first gig as Joy Division on Wednesday 25 January 1978.They then played regularly in the north of England throughout early 1978,and recorded enough material for a debut album.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 ten years later.Joy Division on vinyl was on a compilation in the summer of 1978 called Short Circuit.Though known as Joy Division,it was actually a track from the Warsaw days recorded live on Sunday 2 October 1977.

In June 1978,their December 1977 sessions were released as a 7EP under the title An Ideal For Living. In the Melody Maker review of the EP,Chris Brazier said that it has the familiar rough-hewn nature of home-produced records but they're no where dronevendors--there are a lot of good ideas here,and they could be a very interesting band by now,seven months on.(Brazier,Chris.An Ideal For Living review. Melody Maker.24 June 1978.)On Wednesday 20 Spetember 1978,they performed on the TV show Granada reports hosted by Tony Wilson with song Shadowplay. In December 1978,they appeared on the compilation double 7 a factory sample,contributing two tracks recorded a couple months earlier.This EP was sold out within a couple of months and was the first release to document the haunting and atmospheric sound that Joy Division had been developing since that past summer. On 27 December,Ian Curtis suffered his first recognisable epileptic episode.During the ride home after a show,he had a seizure and was taken to a hospital.In spite of his illness,Joy Division's career continued to progress.

4.Ian Curtis on the front cover of the Mojo magazine before and after death

Curtis appeared on the front cover in his now famous greatcoat of the 13 January 1979,issue of the NME due to the persistence of music journalist Paul Morley;that same month(31 January 1979) tha band recorded their first radio session for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel.According to Deborah Curtis,sandwiched in between these two important landmarks was the realization that Ian's illness was something we would have to learn to accommodate.(Curtis,p.71)(see picture 4)

UNKNOWN PLEASURES
On Sunday 4 March,they supported The Cure at the Marquee Club,a major venue in London.In April 1979,the band began recording their landmark debut album Unknown Pleasures at Strawberry Studio in Stockport.(see picture 5) The record was for far bleaker and darker than most contemporary rock music,feauturing Peter Hook's bass as the lead melodic instrument,drums soaked in icy reverb,Bernard Sumner's jagged guitar and Ian Curtis's baritone vocal style.Whereas punk rock had been extroverted and aggressive,Joy Division were more introverted and
5.Unknown Pleasures-cover

personal.(www.iancurtis.org/biography/)

The album cover was designed by Peter Saville.Bernard Sumner had found a diagram of radio waves emitted by the first pulsar discovered,described in an encyclopaedia.Saville had taken the diagram and presented it in negative-white on black,rather than converse,the end result being an equally dark and mysterious cover. Unknown Pleasures was released in June. Tony Wilson said that the relative success of the album turned the indie label into a true business and a revolutionary force that operated outside of the major record label system(Shadowplayers DVD,LTM,2006). 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.(Savage,John Unknown Pleasures rewiew.Melody Maker.21 July 1979.) Joy Division recorded five songs for Piccadilly Radio.They performed on Granada TV again on Friday 20 July 1979 with the songs She's lost control and Transmission ,and made their first and last nation wide TV appearance on Saturday 15 September 1979 on BBC2.Ian Curtis made a great impression on the audience with his obsessive robotic movements during She's lost control and Transmission.(see picture 6)
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They supported the Buzzcocks on their fifth UK tour during October and November,and performed again on John Peel's BBC radio show in December.While Unknown Pleasures sold well and received good reviews from the music press,all was not well.

6.Ian Curtis performing,dancing during She's lost control and Transmission

CLOSER AND CURTIS SUICIDE

Ian Curtis suffered from epilepsy and on stage he would often have seizures that resulted in dizziness and shaking, or absence seizures that would cause short trancelike pauses. Even after disposing of their lightshow, Ian Curtis would still have these problems and the band decided to rest over the Christmas holiday. In January 1980 Joy Division set out on a European tour. Several dates were cancelled because of Ian Curtiss deteriorating health. Unknown to Debbie, Annik Honor (Curtis mistress) accompanied the band on the tour, often becoming a major distraction to Ian. On his return from the tour, Ian was even more distant in his manner as far as Debbie was involved.(Curtis,Natalie,The Guardian,September 22,2007) With the money made on the European tour and projected record sales, plans were already being made for the previously suggested tour of the USA, with Joy Division as the headline act. At the same time, the band had been recording tracks for the planned new album, to be called Closer with Martin Hannett between Tuesday 18Sunday 30 March.(see picture 7)
7.Closer-cover

Lack of sleep and long hours destabilized Curtiss epilepsy and his seizures became almost uncontrollable. Curtis would often have seizures during shows, which lef t him feeling ashamed and depressed .While the band was concerned about their singer, audience members on occasions thought his behavior was part of the show.(Raggett,Ned.Substance(review).Allmusic.com) On April 7, Curtis attempted suicide by overdosing on phenobarbitone. The next evening, Joy Division was set to play a gig at the Derby Hall in Bury. With Curtis recovering, it was decided that the band would play a combined set with Alan Hempstall of Crispy Ambulance and Simon Topping of A Certain Radio filling in on vocals for the first few songs. Curtis came on stage to perform for part of the set.

When Topping came back out to finish the set for Curtis some in the audience started throwing bottles on the stage. Gretton leapt into the crowd and a riot ensued.(Shadowplayers,DVD,LTM,2006) Several April gigs were cancelled because of the continuing ill health of Curtis. The band played what would be their final show at the University of Birminghams High Hall on 2 May. They released their most famous song Love Will Tear Us Apart" in April (voted the number 1 single of all time by the New Musical Express in 2003 poll).Despite receiving brilliant reviews, the single failed to move beyond the independent charts. Joy Division filmed the video for Love Will Tear Us Apart,in warehouse room that they used to use for rehearsing.(see picture 8) Following a one off gig in early May, the band took two weeks rest before their first American tour was planned to start. At the time Ian Curtiss relationship with his wife Deborah Curtis(the couple married in 1975 as teenagers) was collapsing. The main factors were his ill health, her being mostly disconnected from his life with the band, and his relationship with a young Belgian woman named Annik Honor whom he had met on European tour The evening before Joy Division were to embark on the American tour, Curtis returned to his home on Macclesfield in order to talk with his strange wife. He asked her to drop the divorce suit she had filed; later, he told her to leave him alone in the house until he caught his train to Manchester the next morning. Alone in his Macclesfield home, on Saturday 17 May 1980,Ian Curtis watched a movie called Stroszek about an artist who commits suicide. On Sunday 18 May 1980, Ian Curtis was found by his wife Deborah in their kitchen, hanging by his neck, the victim of suicide. He had been listening to The Idiot, Iggy Pops debut solo album. Tony Wilson said in 2005,I think all of us made the mistake of not thinking his suicide was going to happenWe all completely underestimated the danger. We didnt take it seriously. Thats how stupid we were.(Raftery,Brian.Hes Lost Control.Spin.May 2005)
8.Love Will Tear Us Apart cover

 I cant go into detail yet, obviously. All I can say is that what he was found on Sunday morning I found out about it while I was in the studio mixing the new album and that he was a very sensitive young man .He obviously decided hed be happier somewhere else but at least wed had the opportunity of meeting him ,getting to know him. Were just left feeling sorry for ourselves, which I suppose is the wrong kind of emotion. (Tony Wilson) (www.joydivision.homestead.com/histoey.html) Tony Wilson died of cancer.

AFTERMATH
Curtiss suicide made for instant myth, in music critic Simon Reynoldss words. Jon Savage wrote in his obituary for Curtis in Melody Maker, Now no one will remember what his work with Joy Division was like when he was alive ;it will be perceived as tragic rather than courageous. (Savage,Jon.From safety to where?Melody Maker.14 June 1980) In June 1980, the posthumous single Love Will Tear Us Apart was released, which hit number thirteen on the British singles chart. In July 1980, Closerwas peaking at number six on the British album chart. NME reviewer Charles Shaar Murrary wrote,Closer is as
9.Deborah Curtis book Touching From A Distance

magnificent a memorial (for Joy Division as much as for Ian Curtis) as any post-Presley popular musician could have. The band had decided long time ago that if anyone of them left or was unable to perform for any reason they would end the band or change the name of the band. Sales of Unknown Pleasureswere also robust. At first glance Ian Curtiss suicide appears to be the product of his own depression and ill health. However, Deborah Curtiss book Touching From A Distance, gives the impression that Ian Curtis always wanted to die young.(see picture 9) Joy Division has influenced bands ranging from contemporaries U2 and The Cure to postpunk revival artists such as Interpol, Bloc Party and Editors.U2 frontman Bono stated that his group worshipped Joy Division.(NewOrderStory,DVD.Warner Bros.,2005).The singer said in the bands 2006 autobiography U2 by U2,

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It would be harder to find a darker place in music that Joy Division.Their name, their lyrics and their singer were as big a black cloud as you could find in the sky. And yet I sensed the pursuit of God , or light, or reasona reason to be. With Joy Division, you felt from this singer, beauty was truth and truth was beauty, and theirs was a search for both.(McCormick,Neil.U2 by U2,HarperCollins Publishers,2006,p.92) Artists including electronic performer Moby and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante have described their appreciation for Joy Division music and the influence it has had on their own material. In 2005, Joy Division were inducted along with New Order into the UK Music Hall of Fame. .(More names join UK Music Hall Of Fame.NME.com, 18 October 2005) The band reborn as New Order with Sumner taking vocal duties; the group later employed Morriss girlfriend Gillion
10.After Joy Division the band reborn as NEW ORDER

Gilbert to play keyboardis. New Orders first single, the 1991 release Ceremony, featured the last two songs written with Ian Curtis. While the group struggled in its early years to escape the shadow of Joy Divvision, New Order eventually went on to much greater success than their predecessor band.(see picture 10) Further Joy Division material has been released since the bands death. Still,a compilation of live tracks and rare recordings, was issued in 1981.Factory put out the Substance compilation on in 1988,which included several out-of print singles. Another compilation, Permanent,was released in 1995 by London Records, which had acquired the Joy Division catalogue after Factory Records went bankrupt in 1992.A wide box set, Heart and Soul,came out in 1997. Their first album, Movement, featured a song called I.C.B. which stands for Ian Curtis Buried.U2 released the song A Day Withouth Me, about Curtis suicide, as the lead single from their 1980 debut album Boy. Two biopics have been released that dramatise Joy Division on film 24 Hour Party People (2002) presented a somewhat fictionalized account of the rise and fall of Factory Records, in which the members of Joy Division served as supporting characters.

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Tony Wilson said of the film, Its all true ,its all not true, Its not a documentary, insisting that whenever possible during the production of the film, he favoured the myth over the truth.(Guardian.com.uk.,3 March 2002) The 2007 film Control,directed by Anton Corbijn, is a biography of Ian Curtis(portrayed by Sam Riley)that uses Deborah Curtiss biography of her late husband. Touching From The Distance (1995).as its basis; others consulted for the picture included Tony Wilson and New Order.(Corbijn,Anton;Wise,Damon.Joy Division.Mojo.November 2007)

MUSICAL STYLE
Joy Division took time to develop their sound. As Warsaw, the band played fairly undistinguished punk-inflected hard-rock. Critic Simon Reynolds asserted that Joy Divisions originality really became apparent as the songs got slower. The groups music took on 11.Joy Division having a break during one of their concerts a sparse quality; in Reynoldss description, Peter Hooks bass carried the melody ,Bernard Sumners guitar left gaps rather than filling up the groups sound with dense riffage, and Steve Morriss drums seemed to circle the rim of a crater. (Reynolds:110) Sumner described the bands characteristic sound in 1994:It came out naturally: Im more rhythm and chords, and Hooky was melody. He used to play high lead bass because I liked my guitar to sound distorted, and the amplified I had would only work when it was at full volume. When Hooky played low, he couldnt hear himself. Steve has his own style which is different to other drummers .To me, a drummer in the band is the clock ,but Steve wouldnt be the clock, because hes passive: he would follow the rhythm of the band, which gave us our own edge.

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12. Producer Martin Hannetti

Over time, Ian Currtis began to sing in a low, baritone voice, which often drew comparisons to Jim Morrison of The Doors(one of Curtiss favourite bands).(Reynolds:112)(see picture 11) Sumner acted as the unofficial musical director of the band, a role that he carried over into New Order. While Sumner was the groups primary guitarist, Curtis played the instrument on a few recorded songs and during a few shows. Curtis hated playing guitar, but the band insisted.

Sumner said.: He played in quite a bizarre way and that to us was interesting, because no one else would play like Ian.(Curtis:75) During the recording sessions for Closer, Sumner began using self-built synthesizers and Hook used a six-string bass for more melody. Producer Martin Hannetti dedicated himself to capturing and intensifying Joy Divisions eerie spatiality. Hannetti believed punk rock was sonically conservative because of its refusal to utilize studio technology to create sonic space. The producer instead aimed to create a more expansive sound on the groups records.(Reynolds:112) Hannetti said, Joy Division were a gift to a producer ,because they didnt have a clue. They didnt argue.(Savage,John.Joy Division:Someone take These Dreams Away.Mojo.July 1999) Hannetti demanded clean and clear sound separation not only for individual instruments, but even for individual pieces of Morriss drumkit.(see picture 12) Morris recalled,Typically on tracks he considered to be potential singles ,hed get me to play each drum on its own to avoid any bleed-through of sound.(Reynolad:113) Their characteristic, yet varied sound was interesting, and many of their songs would leave the listener in a state of immobility with their clear emotion and musical billance. Unknown Pleasures, their album has had the greatest actual effect on me out of all the many records I have liked over the years. It is atmospheric, suggesting so many different mental elements and conditions, confusion, depression, frustration, hate, peace and stability. The peace and stability that Ian Curtis has tried to find. Joy Division were sure an alienating band so they never introduce their songs live, they never did extras, they were professional on stage and immobile ,they strangely but
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purposely created a distance between themselves and their audience .Any mistakes they may have had in this respect were made up for their musical perfection and phenomenal song writing talent. One of the most talented figures in the music world has been taken from us, on the edge of his household recognition. In my view, it is the best band around today that has come to a sudden break, with the tragic suicide of their lead-singer. You probably think all this is a little over-the-top, but thats exactly how I feel. And I hope they have split up for good just couldnt be the same without Ian Curtis. G

LYRICS
Ian Curtis was the groups sole lyricist. Curtis would write frantically when the mood took him; he would then listen to the bands music (which was often arranged by Sumner) and would choose the lyrics that seemed appropriate.(Curtis:74) Words and images such as coldness, pressure, darkness, crisis, failure, collapse, loss of control often mentioned in his songs. In 1979, NME journalist Paul Rambali wrote, The themes of Joy Divisions music are sorrowful, painful,and sometimes deeply sad .The band refused to explain their lyrics to the press or print the words on lyrics sheets.(Rambali,Paul.Take No prisoners,Leave No Clues.NME.11 August 1979) Curtis told the fanzine Printed Noise, We havent got a message really; the lyrics are open to interpretation. Theyre multidimensional. You can read into them what you like.(Curtis:75) Deborah Curtis reminded that only with the release of Closer did many who were closer to the singer realize his 13.Ian Curtis depressed intentions and feelings were all there within the lyrics.

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The surviving members of the band in review regret not seeing warning signs in Curtiss lyrics. This sounds awful but it was only after Ian died that we sat down and listened to the lyrics,.(Sumner,Bernard.Joy DivisionSomeone take These Dreams Away.Mojo.July 1999) Morris said in 2007.Youd find yourself thinking, Oh my God ,I missed this one. Because Id look at Ians lyrics and think how clever he was putting himself in the position of someone else .I never believed he was writing about himself. Looking back, how could I have been so bleedin stupid? Of course he was writing about himself .But I didnt go in and grab him and ask, Whats up? I have to live with that.(Lester,Paul,31 August 2007.It felt like someone had ripped out my heart.Guardian.co.uk.)(see picture 12)

LIVE PERFORMANCES
In contrast to the sound of their studio recordings ,Joy Division played loud and aggressively during live performances. The band were unhappy with Hannetts mixing of Unknown Pleasures,which leaded to the let down of their sound. According to Sumner ,the music was loud and heavy,and we felt that Martin had toned it down, especially with the guitars. (Sumner,Bernard.Joy Division:Someone take These Dreams Away.Mojo.July 1994) In concert ,the group interacted little with the crowd; Paul Morley wrote, During a Joy Division set ,outside of the songs, youll be lucky to hear more than two or three words. Hello and goodbye. No introductions ,no promotion. (Morley,Paul.Simply the First Division.NME.16 February 1980.) While singing,Curtis would often perform what was referred to as his dead fly dance, where the singers arms would start flying in a semicircular, hypnotic curve. (Sumner,Bernard.Joy Division:Someone take These Dreams Away.Mojo.July 1994) Simon Reynolds noted that Curtiss dancing style was reminiscent of an epileptic fit, and that he was dancing in that manner for some months before he was diagnosed with epilepsy.

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Live performances became problematic for Joy Division, due to Ian Curtiss condition. Sumner later said ,We didnt have flashing lights, but sometimes a particular drum beat would do smoothing to him .Hed go off in a trance for a bit ,then hed lose it and have an epileptic fit. Wed have to stop the show and carry him off to the dressing-room where hed cry his eyes out because this appalling thing had just happened to him.(Lester,Paul.Torn Apart:The Legend of Joy Division.Record Collector.November 2007.) (see picture 14)

14.Joy Division performing live

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IAN CURTIS

EARLY LIFE
Ian Kevin Curtis was born in the Memorial Hospital,Old Trafford,Manchester,on 15th July in 1956 to Kevin and Doreen Curtis. He was an only son, with his sister Carol. With his sister, he made firm friends with a few of the other boys at school, continuing some of these friendships until his death in 1980. (see picture 15 and 16)
15.Ian Curtis as a little boy

He grew up in the Hurdsfield area of Macclesfield where he spent the most of his life. While he was a teenager, he come across to others as a

bit of a loner, with his wicked sense of humor. Lonely at times, he would sometimes puzzle and infuriate his close friend with his bizarre, introspective attitude to life. As teenager he also loved poetry, not only by the music he adored ,but his surroundings. He was awarded a scholarship to attend The Kings School, Macclesfield,at the age of 11.Curtis was never obsessed with art and literature ,eventually music. Curtis served as a civil servant in Manchester and later in Macclesfield. He was influenced by the writers William Burroughs, J.G.Ballard ,and Joseph Conrad(the song titles Interzone, Atrocity Exhibition and Colony are coming from the three authors),and by the musicians David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Ian married his girlfriend Deborah Woodruff in 1975, while they both were still teenagers with 19 years. They had one child named Natalie. Natalie Curtis was born in 16 April 1979. I was about three when my mum first told me that my father ,Ian Curtis-who died when I was one-was a singer ,but it just seemed normal ,like having an uncle who was a tradesman or whatever.( Curtis,Natalie,The Guardian,September 22,2007) Curtis had a lover, Belgian journalist Annik Honor, whom he had met after a concert in an interview, and was described as chubby, thin, a journalist and a tour arranger.
16.Doreen and Ian Curtis

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WITH JOY DIVISION

In 1976, Curtis convicted himself his destiny was as a performer .He finally met two young musicians, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook. Sumner and Hook mentioned to him they were trying to form a band and he immediately put himself as a vocalist and lyricist. His songs were about articulating extreme alienation ,and in that age I felt incredibly alienated and I just identified intensely with what he was saying....One of the greatest modernist of 20th century. What ever he was singing or talking about he ment it.(Hoskyns,Barney.Joy Division-Sex Drugs and Rockn Roll(1of4).August,2007)(see picture 17) You cant say what inspires you to write. It could be something youve seen, something subconscious..its up to people to decide what the songs are about. They have to form their own impressions. I dont write about anything in
17.Joy Division(the last on the right I.Curtis).Picture taken from Anton Corbijn

particular .Its all subconscious stuff. Scribble..sometimes feelings or things that pop

into your head. Does that sound

pretentious?(Curti,Ian.IanCurtis.org/biography.1979)

While performing for Joy Division , Curtis became known for his strange and clumsy demeanor ,as well as a unique dancing style reminiscent of the epileptic seizures he ecperienced, sometimes even on the stage. The similarity was such that audience members were sometimes uncertain if Curtis was dancing or having a seizure; there were several incidents where he collapsed and had to be helped off the stage. Towards the very end of 1978,Ian suffered his first major epileptic fit. The band was returning to Manchester from a gig at the Hope and Anchor in London, Bernar actually quite unwell, due to a bout of the flu. Worrying about Ians health, Steve Morris drove them all to hospital, where Ian was prescribed some tablets to help calm his condition.
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Around this point, the band felt so dejected that Ian even talked about leaving. His epileptic fits increased from being almost unnoticeable to sometimes four a week. Many of Curtiss writings were filled with imagery of emotional isolation, death, alienation, and urban degeneration. Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy at any one time. Epilepsy is usually controlled, but not cured, with medication, although surgery may be considered in difficult case. Not all epilepsy syndromes are lifelongsome forms are confined to particular stages of childhood. Epilepsy should not be understood as a single disorder, but rather as a group of syndromes with vastly divergent symptoms but all involving abnormal electric activity in the brain. Some people have said the music is all about death and destruction .It isnt really.Theres other thingsparticular feelings. None of the songs are about death and doom .Its such a heavy metal thing. Some of the things come out of confussion ,because Im not exactly sure what I want, now I feel more or less settled .Im doing what I want to do ,really.(Curti,Ian.IanCurtis.org/biography.October,1979) Nothing appealed to me ,I was listening to stuff like the Stones and whateverand there was just something when I got two of the Velvet Underground albums that seemed to be very real. There was stuff in the lyrics that I could relate to that there wasnt in anything else .It was just what I was going through at the timeIt was the attitude of the thing .I remember seeing Lou Reed on Old Grey Whistle Test or Disco Two or whatever they used to call it, and he wasnt the normal singer in the group, there was something ,ore to him that seemed to carry on to the way he lived and things like that. Instead of just singing about something you could show it as well-put it over in the way that it is, if you were totally involved in what you were doing. (Curti,Ian.IanCurtis.org/biography. 1979) He once commented in one interview that he wrote about the different ways, different people fight with different problems, how they might not give up.

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Deborah Curtis was expecting their child at this time. Ian told her of the bands deal, where, if any member either left the band or died, the others would carry on under a new name. She immediately taught on kicking Ian out of the band. This worry became greater trough the spring of 1979,as Ians fits became worse, and his dancing on the stage reflected his illness even more. He sang in a bass-baritone voice, different like his speaking voice, which was higher. Although mostly a vocalist, Curtis also played guitar, but only in few tracks ,usually when Bernard Sumner was playing synthesizer; Incubationwas a rare case where both played guitar. At first Curtis played Sumners Shergold Marquerader, but in Septem ber 1979 he received his own guitar, a Vox Phantom Special VI which had many built-in effects which were used also live and in the studio by Martin Hannett. After Curtis died, Sumner inherited the guitar, and it
18. Vox Phantom Special VI Curtis first guitar

was used in several early New Order songs, such as Everythings

Gone Green.(see picture 18) Joy Division was rehearsing for the American tour .When the songs seemed rehearsed EnoughIan announced he was having a break and he arranged to meet Annik in a small country. Ian and Annik ran out of money, didnt have a place to stay, and ended up on the doorstep of Rob Grettons flat. When Deborah finally admitted to herself that her husband was with someone else ,she decided to file for divorce. On Thursday 13th May Ian returned to Macclesfield. He met up with Bernard and another friend to play pool, and during the evening, they arranged to meet up again in next two days before the US tour. Ian had been staying at his parents house. He said Bernard that he wouldnt be able to make the Saturday meeting and would, instead, meet them at the airport on Monday morning.
19.Ian Curtis with his daughterNatalie Curtis

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On the Saturday Deborah was working, leaving Natalie in the care of her parents. Before starting her evening shift, she made her way home to see Ian. Ian had arrived back to the family home .Ian had been watching the Werners Herzog film Stroszek.After a long talk Ian told Debbie that he wanted to be alone that night, so she returned to her parents house and her daughter. That night Ian wrote a long letter to Debbie,to explain how he felt. By the time he had finished the writing, he was down and depressed. He was listening to Iggy Pops album,The Idiot. (see picture 19 and 20) After I had gone, Ian made himself still more coffee. In the pantry was the all-but-empty whisky bottle from which he squeezed every last drop. He listened to Iggy Pops The Idiot. He took Natalies photograph down from the wall, retrieved our wedding picture from the drawer and sat down to write me a letter. It was a long, very intimate letter in the same sprawling capitals he used to write his songs. He did say he wished he was dead, but didnt actually say that it was his intention to kill himself. He talked of our life together, romance and passion; his love for me, his love for Natalie and his hate for Annik. He couldnt have hated Annik. I never heard him say he hated anyone. I think he wrote that to try to please me. He told me he couldnt bring himself to be so cruel as to tell her he didnt want to see her again, even to save his marriage. The pages were full of contradictions. He asked me not to get in touch for a while as it was hard for him to talk to me. By the time he had finished writing, he told me, it wawn and he could hear the birds singing.(Curtis,p.142)

20. Ian married his girlfriend Deborah Woodruff in 1975

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DEATH
Curtiss last live performance was on 2 May 1980 at Birmingham University, a show that included Joy Divisions first and only performance of the song Ceremony ,later recorded by New Order and released as their first single. The last song Curtis performed on stage was Digital. Early in his musical career, he was diagnosed with epilepsy, and his dancing style onstage was very similar to his fits he would have offstage. Ian loved to perform, but it was often felt that his performances were real, that he was not a front man acting for his audience, but that he was exposing himself to them; his performances held a
21.Ians last taken photo before US tour for his passport

voyeuristic function for the audience. Then he cracked, in the early hours of Sunday,18 May 1980,in his

kitchen, he hanged himself. It was known that Ians philosophy was to live fast and die young. He was also idealizing tragic heroes like James Dean and Jim Morrison. When he was a teenager he decided that he didnt want to live beyond his early twenties. He even took an overdose with his friend, Tony Nuttall, in a failed attempt to take his own life. Those who were close to him thought his desire to live the rockn roll dream was just a phase, but it was proved reversely , tragically, that he was a man of his world. There were many rumors, possible reasons or his suicide, with his poor health and failed marriage most often suggested. He was only 23 years old. Ian left his baby daughter Natalie without the father ,his wife without a husband, and he left Joy Division without the singer, leaving the boys in front of a biggest success.(see picture 21) People constantly ask, Why did he kill himself? To me it seems obvious-because he was really depressed. Bernard Sumner told me that my father used to drink before performing, which may explain his on-stage fits, because alcohol is a seizure trigger. Seizures can also be triggered by flashing lights, lack of sleep and stress. Ians lifestyle abd the tension caused by the disintegration of his marriage would not have helped. He did the best he could; he was just very ill. . (Curtis,Natalie,The Guardian,September 22,2007)

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Tony Wilson speaking about the death said, Id been warned on a train to London two weeks earlier by Annik. I asked her, What do you think of the new album? She goes, Im terrified. I said ,What are you terrified of? She replies ,Dont you understand? He means it. And I go, No,he doesnt mean it; its art. And guess what, he realy meant it.(see pisture 22) Curtis was cremated ,and his ashes were buried in Macclesfield Cemetery.The inscription on his memorial stone, LOVE WILL TEAR US APART, was chosen by Deborah Curtis, and is a reference to the Joy Division song.(see picture 24)
22.Tony Wilson(1950-2007)- was in charge of Joy Division's record label, Factory Records

HIS WORK
Ian Curtis worked as a civil servant for the government department which was responsible for the payment of unemployment benefits and for helping unemployed people to find work. Ian was a full-time civil servant, when Joy Division's early successes gave him hopes of become a full-time musician. Ian worked first for the Manpower Services Commission, at the Sunley Building in Manchester city centre and then at Washington House on the border of Manchester and Salford. His work colleagues in Manchester found him a very quiet, lovely person. They kept in touch on work-related matters even after Ian transferred to Macclesfield. Ian would talk about his band but did not boast about it. A colleague recalls a conversation in a corridor by the lifts about the name change from Warsaw to Joy Division. Ian did on occasions bring in his latest release and a number of people who worked closely with Ian got him to sign them on the basis that one day he could be famous! Ian worked here until 1978 before moving to a new job as an Assistant Disablement Resettlement Officer based at the JobCentre in Macclesfield. The meaning of his new job was

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to help people with special needs, due to some type of physical or mental disability, to find and keep employment. One of the factors that motivated him to apply for the job in Macclesfield was that it would take him about five minutes to walk from home to work. In Macclesfield Ian was searching job vacancies and training opportunities that matched the abilities of those JobCentre clients he dealt with professionally. He was also there to influence employers to overcome any prejudices they might have towards considering people with disabilities. One can only imagine how Ian struggled with the responsibility he must have felt towards these people, who in the main would be unemployed and coming to terms with their own problems, in less brighter times when equality of opportunity was a myth. A senior training team member with the Employment Service based in Aytoun Street in Manchester educated Ian (in a group of ten) to develop the competence, skills and attitudes to carry out these interviewing and marketing activities successfully. He remembers Ian as a serious-minded member of the group who only talked when he had something worth saying. Ian had something about him that made him stand out. It would be pretentious to say it was an "aura". Ian's line manager was the Disablement Resettlement Officer (DRO) at Macclesfield Employment Exchange/JobCentre and he was a good friend to Ian. At that time there were layers of different generations of staff within the Department. To fight with the introduction of the national JobCentre programme, a fresh group of bright young things were recruited to breathe enthusiasm into the new age of helping people find jobs and employers find people. These included Ian.(see picture 23) The DRO was more than a boss to Ian and looked after him as a mentor and father. Ian would have confidence in him, much as young men do in their favourite uncle. He would have known that Ian suspected he suffered from epilepsy long before he started work with him and before he did his Assistant DRO training.
23.Ian having a break

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DRO and ADRO teams were a two-person bonded force. There was a closeness that other staff did not experience - there were no other teams like these. The DRO would have helped Ian with his decision to formally register as a disabled person himself and seek help from a national support group. Ian's boss was concerned about Ian's medical condition and the difficulties of him trying to juggle an "in your face" public service job with the growing demands of his music career and his developing domestic difficulties. At that time, at his age, and with his intelligence, it would have been expected that Ian would have the opportunity for fairly rapid promotion in the civil service. Part of Ian's training concentrated on specific types of physical and mental disabilities and certainly covered epilepsy in some depth, looking at symptoms, possible causes, grand mal and petit mal, the stigma (born out of ignorance) attached to it, activity limitations, and treatments. The effects of his own epilepsy and depression he would have seen in others and he would have been able to offer positive and constructive advice. Generally speaking, a person who is susceptible to epileptic attacks suffers more the greater their tiredness - especially their mental fatigue. Ian will have been completely aware that as his commitments to the band lifestyle grew and his work load did not decrease the chance of him having more frequent and violent attacks was a likely consequence. And so it proved. From the end of 1978 until he left his job about nine months later his attendance became erratic and his behavior less predictable. With all of his tensions something was going to give way. Although his fits became less frequent and Ian became more alert to when they were going to happen, he also recognised he was losing control of his social skills and was alienating those who were close to him. His line manager may well have seen the development of this trait and, because of their relationship, would have been distressed himself. Within another nine months, of course, Ian took his own life.

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CONCLUSION
Person, one human is not only a piece of meat, fat and lots of hair. This vertical and fulfilled thing is full of emotional feelings .Just one look, and spark in the eye is a lot to know about someones feelings. Some can really hide pain, sickness they are going through .Un til it is too painful and there is no more energy to survive the pain alone. You start to show it to the others, with grimaces and physical breakdowns. Just like Ian did it. He wasnt able to work in his own misery but he was doing his best, until he cracked, and ended his life. The strangest thing of all was that nobody was having the Ians suicide in the back of their mind. He realy did it. Without any warnings. Annik Honore was the closest one. She was looking after him and warning people in the band and also Tony Wilson that he really meant to do it. After his suicide he has left great sound and voice for future generations who have learned a lot from his lyrics and style of performing. Together with the Joy Division his name is written in the stars.

24. The inscription on his memorial stone,LOVE WILL TEAR US APART,was chosen by Deborah Curtis,and is a reference to the Joy Division song.

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WORKS CITED:
Brazier,Chris.An Ideal For Living review.Melody Maker.24 June 1978. Bush,John.Joy Division-Biography.Allmusic.com. Corbijn,Anton;Wise,Damon.Joy Division.Mojo.November 2007. Critics applaud Joy Division film.BBC.co.uk(17 May 2007) Curtis,Deborah. Touching from a Distance:Ian Curtis and Joy Division.London:Faber,1995 (2nd ed.2001,3rd ed.2005) Dalley,Helen.John Frusciante.Total Guitar.August 2002. It was the best party...ever.Guardian.co.uk(3 March 2002) Lester,Paul(31 August 2007).'It felt like someone had ripped out my heart'. Guardian.co.uk. Lester,Pauil.Torn Apart:The Legend of Joy Division.Record Collector.November 2007. McCormick,Nel(ed).U2 by U2.HarperCollins Publishers,2006 More names join UK Music Hall Of Fame.NME.com(18 October 2005) Morley,Paul;Thrills,Adrian.Don't Walk Away in Silence.NME.14 June 1980. Morley,Paul.Simply the First Division.NME.16 February 1980. Moss,Corey(24 June 2002).Moby Gets Cloned,Romps With Dirty Degenerates.MTV.com. Murrary,Charles Shaar.Closer to the Edge.(Closer review).NME.19 July 1980. NewOrderStory (DVD).Warner Bros., 2005. Raftery,Brian."He's Lost Control.Spin.May 2005. Raggetti,Ned.Substance(review).Allmusic.com. Rambali,Paul.Take No Prisoners,Leave No Clues.NME.11 August 1979.

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Reynolds,Simon(7 October 2007).Music to Brood by,Desolate and Stark.NYTimes.com. Savage,Jon.Foreword.Touching from a Distance:Ian Curtis and Joy Division.London:Faber,1995 (2nd ed.2001,3rd ed.2005) Savage,Jon.From safety to where?Melody Maker.14 June 1980. Savage,Jon.Joy Division:Someone Take These Dreams Away.Mojo.July 1994. Savage,Jon.Unknown Pleasures review.Melody Maker.21 July 1979. Sex Pistols gig:the truth.BBC.co.uk (27 June 2006). Shadowplayers(DVD).LTM,2006 Wilkinson,roy.Ode to Joy.Mojo Classic:Morrissey and the Story of Manchester.2006.

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