JOY DIVISION DAY .
_I surveyed a few of my friends with the following question,
_I surveyed a few of my friends with the following question,
“Want to give me a Joy Division lesson?”
Here are their reactions, mostly non-verbatim:
_Players
Liser, age 20-yrs (L)
Mike Wolf, age 22-yrs (Mw)
Chrisy B, age 22-yrs (Cb)
Tommy IV, age 34-yrs (T4)
*All of the above have no relation to one another ,& therefore are completely &totally impartial responses. All were caught off guard.
_Do you like Joy Division?
T4 likes what they were “trying to do,” and called them “very raw and primitive.”
L said they sound “like shit,” and when asked to elaborate, “it’s like shoegazeish .” That word still has yet to be defined. On a wicked better note,
Mw really, really “lovelovelovelove[s] joy division,” which I 100% expected, Btw.
_Here’s what I got for a basic overarching generalization description of Joy Division
Cb said simply, “just download Unknown Pleasures” because it is so sick. &Added a picture along with it,
To quote T4, the story of Joy Division goes as follows—“punkish band incorporating elements of early electronic, depressing emo-ish lyrics, lead singer with charisma and cult appeal, hung himself when he was like 22, gains even more cult appeal, remaining members go on to form new order, the end.”
Mw: “Amazing band.”
_Any particular songs?
L says nope, just boring all the way through.
Cb’s favorite JD song is “Day of the Lords.” Least Favorite? “Heart and Soul .”
T4 mentioned that Brothers Past, his band, plays one of their songs. What a fuckin’ coincidence! It is Love Will Tear Us Apart. Made the comment it was not only Joy Division’s most famous song, but also definitely their best song.
Link: Joy Division: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHYOXyy1ToI&feature=fvst
Link: Brothers Past cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO_cSBHjiUI
_Then I asked T4 what he meant by “trying to do,” earlier& he said,
“They were trying to do what [Brothers Past] does now. Combine catchy songs with dance music…before anyone knew what dance music was…synths, drum machines…”
Compare to in Mw’s conversation where he notes, “without [Ian Curtis] and Joy Division music would be so different right now .”
_Mw gives me a serious lesson
First, I need to hear the album Unknown Pleasures, which is a complete masterpiece and started so many genres. He gets back to the latter point, but first, he brings up that Ian Curtis—a legend—killed himself and that sucks. Apparently he hung himself the day before Joy Division was scheduled to begin their first US tour. Off the top of his head &on the spur of the moment, Mw mentioned the genres new wave, punk, britrock, indie, and others, spawned from JD—hard to put a label on the band itself—and “definitely” paved the way for “everything right now.” No Joy Division = no Nirvana, even U2 would sound slightly different (they’ve been quoted as naming JD an influence). Also, all 80’s music took a page from the Joy Division handbook, culminating in the band New Order, or Joy Division without Ian Curtis, which became one of the biggest bands of that decade. Mw next suggested I watch the movie Control, which is about JD.
Mw: “This documentary is pretty rad, too .”
_Extra little tidbits from Mw
Ian Curtis had epilepsy and it fucked with him hardcore.
His lyrics are pretty amazing; he is a total poet. Suggested songs for checking out the poetry embedded in the lyrics—She lost control, Transmission, Love will tear us apart, atmosphere. ‘Lwtua’ popped up again!
_Concluding thoughts
Mw: “I dunno, they rule. Dude died way too young.”
_Conclusion
I had never listened to Joy Division before this adventure. Now I have. Thanks Wolf & DC for the opportunity through this JDD!
_P.s. Looking forward to learning even more from all of you guys &gals &every in-between.
Xoxo
Lb .
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