Thanks to Simon's enthusiastic 11/18/06 review, I finally got around to watching 24 Hour Party People (2002), an evocative and often startlingly visual and cerebral film. Man, does it bring me back in time to the period spannning the late 1970s right into the 1990s.
In the film, we see the rise and fall of Joy Division (among many other interconnected happenings); and after the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis, its rebirth as New Order. Both these bands appeal to a certain sensibility that I can relate well to. It may be for this reason that I've held on to their early records for all these years.
Manchester's Ian Curtis (7/15/1956-5/18/1980) brings a dark and aggrieved vocal style to the dark, brooding and yet subtly energetic instrumental backdrop of Joy Division. It comes as absolutely no surprise that he killed himself, leaving his wife Deborah and girlfriend Annik widows. On the last day of his life, the epileptic Curtis, a fan of William S. Burroughs, David Bowie, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop, and Werner Herzog (among others), watched Herzog's Stroszek (1977, in which the lead character shoots himself in a ski lift), listened to Iggy's The Idiot (1977), and hanged himself. Perhaps it was his depression and epilepsy that drove him to it -- I'm into the exact same artists he was, but have no intention of offing myself. In any case, in terms of suicidal tendencies, a comparable American singer was Kurt Cobain.
The song names for Unknown Pleasures (Factory, 1979-1980) provide a telling glimpse into the worldview of Joy Division:
Disorder
Day of the Lords
Candidate
Insight
New Dawn Fades
She's Lost Control
Shadowplay
Wilderness
Interzone
I Remember Nothing
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" may be the most famous Joy Division song of them all -- it's become iconic in some circles, and if one looks carefully, posters proclaiming it can be seen in the background of numerous films and photographs. New Order later released "Blue Monday," another way cool tune.
Today's Rune: Harvest.
May you go with Joy in your hearts.
4 comments:
I have a Joy Division cassette tape somewhere in my office and my New Order albums are long gone (replaced with cd's). My favorite band from the whole factory scene was The Happy Mondays - have you heard of them? Great band, especially their album "Pills, Chills, Thrills, and Bellyaches." Every song is kick ass.
Hey Jim,
I missed the Happy Mondays completely and will check 'em out. They are big in 24 Hour Party People, too. It's a wild ride.
Found that Joy Division tape--The Peel Sessions. Hey, good luck finding music by The Happy Mondays. I'm not sure whether the brothers died from heroin overdoses or what. "Kinky Afro" is a cool song.
24 hour party people? No, no, no, that's just too much party for me. hehe
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