Musical Monday: Disorder (also an Ian Curtis tribute)

Hello peeps and happy Musical Monday brought to you by Diane and Jori. I was planning on doing a little tribute on the singer of the band I chose for this week, so I just decided to incorporate it all into one for Musical Monday. So you don't need to go any further than the next couple of lines if you're not interested. OK, so first, I chose Joy Division's "Disorder" because I really enjoy their 1st song from their 1st album called Unknown Pleasures. I also chose this particular YouTube clip because it's a tribute to Ian Curtis, who passed away 29 years ago today-on May 18th, 1980. He was only 23 years old.

Ian Kevin Curtis was born on July 15th 1956 in England. He both got married and had a child at a very young age. His band Joy Division only made 2 albums in their short time span but left a huge impact on music. And right when they were about to go on their first tour of America in 1980, Ian committed suicide. Very sad. Again, he was only 23.

He had great stage presence and is known for his extremely deep/low voice, though he does not speak like that. Joy Division's biggest hit (single) was "Love will tear us apart," which his wife also put on his headstone. Ian was a very troubled soul and suffered from both depression (some would say bipolar disorder today) and epilepsy. He also was having an affair while he was married, but didn't want to leave his wife...and as a result was very troubled by this. Of course people don't exactly know why he killed himself with BIG fame right around the corner. But if you put some of the pieces together (like the depression, his affair, his marriage) you can see how he got to that place a bit.

I've read the book his widow, Debbie Curtis, wrote about him titled Touching From A Distance and it was really good. It showed Ian in a different light. She knew him quite well of course. I recommend that book for all you Joy Division fans. (It is also great for Joy Division fans because it has ALL his lyrics in it.)

Also one of my favorite photographers, Anton Corbijn (and friend to the band), made his first film within the past few years called Control, depicting Joy Division's rise to almost BIG fame (w/unknown actors except for Samatha Morton)...and much about Ian's rocky life too of course (the story was primarily based off his wife's book). I also recommend that to you if you're interested to know more about Joy Division, how they impacted music, and especially if you're curious about Ian and his very troubled soul.

But honestly I prefer the documentary over everything simply titled Joy Division. You can take a peek at it here. All the band members, producers, photographers, and even his mistress speak in this documentary (his wife doesn't appear but was interviewed somewhat through some quotes though, very curious). VERY very good piece of informative info on Joy Division and Ian Curtis' life-showing many live clips as well. Well, worth the money if you're a Joy Division fan...and definitely worth a renting for music lovers.

This picture above is my all-time favorite of Ian Curtis. It's a terribly sad story about him but the light at the end of the tunnel was that a great band came from the ashes of Joy Division and that band is New Order-the 3 remaining members of Joy Division formed this band also with a female keyboardist. I love New Order and if it wasn't for them I honestly would've never have found out about Joy Division.

It took me several years to realize it but I do prefer Joy Division over New Order's sound. Granted Joy Division only had 2 albums come out (while New Order have many under their belt)....but then there's other music/compilations that were made over the years with Joy Division's music on 'em like Still and Substance. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of his death, wow! I know 29 years is a long time but I wonder if anything will come out/etc... for that. I'm hoping for a live DVD or something along those lines. That would be great to see. RIP Ian.

I made this on Obamaicon a while back...using my fave image of him and the name of a Joy Division song.

Here's the music tribute clip...