I watched Anton Corbijn’s Control last night and was mesmerized by it. Truth be told, I had forgotten the impact that Joy Division had on me in me in my youth – the simplicity of their music and yet its mesmerizing power. The only downside to the film was the fact that during the closing credits a cover of Shadowplay by The Killers was included. I mention that only because, to me, The Killers are a poor man’s version of Joy Division and have built a career on resurrecting something that others did far better, and with far greater risk, thirty years ago.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with Joy Division I urge you to head directly to iTunes and purchase The Best Of Joy Division as a place to start. Once you do that, listen to Transmission, which was released as a single in 1979, at a volume that will piss off everyone within a 1 mile radius. Either that or watch them perform it live below…
Joy Division’s catalogue is small, consisting of only two LP’s and a handful of singles, though what they began would ultimately produce a group that would go on to sell millions of records and influence an entire generation – New Order, which consisted of Joy Division’s remaining original members following Ian Curtis’ suicide with the addition of Gillian Gilbert. Truth be told, had Curtis lived, Joy Division may have very well outdone New Order’s global success.
All of that said, the film was very well done. One aspect of it that I truly appreciated was that Curtis’s widow, Deborah, who helped produce the film, and whose book it was based on, was extremely open with regards to the extra marital relationship that Curtis had with Annik Honoré, what she meant to him, and how the strife caused by it truly affected him.
One thing about Ian Curtis that I have always admired was his dislike of fame and for admitting that Joy Division’s growing popularity was something that he felt suffocating. At the time of his suicide the band had gained notoriety but did not enjoy the sort of sales that are usually equated with a band of significant popularity. Even at that level, Curtis found it difficult to cope. Coupled with his battle against epilepsy and the stresses of his personal relationships, his death seemed an inevitability in many ways. Unfortunately, as is the case throughout modern music history, his suicide cemented Joy Division’s place in history instead of providing a wakeup call to the realities of what can happen to artists when their personal difficulties are given less attention than the pressures placed upon them to placate audiences.
August 18, 2008 33 Comments