Song:Love Will Tear Us Apart
Album:Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the 80's Vol. 2
The 1980 single Love Will Tear Us Apart is one of the most durable songs of the late 70s Punk and New Wave movement. After lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide, the rest of Joy Division became New Order. Guitarist Bernard Sumner and bassist Peter Hook were at a 1976 Sex Pistols concert in Manchester. Though they were childhood friends, they attended the concert separately. It inspired them to start a band with drummer Terry Mason who was also at the show. An ad they placed in a local record store brought them lead singer Ian Curtis. They called themselves Stiff Kittens and then Warsaw. Mason became the band manager. He was replaced by Steve Brotherdale from the band Panik. After he tried to get Curtis to join Panik, they fired him and another ad in a record store brought them Stephen Morris who knew Curtis from school. To avoid confusion with the band Warsaw Pakt, the band was renamed Joy Division from the novel House of Dolls. An EP and some gigs attracted RCA. While recording an album, they met Tony Wilson who was just starting Factory Records and Rob Gretton who became their manager. The band was unhappy with the album they recorded for RCA. They asked to be released and the album was never released. After appearing on Wilson's TV show So It Goes, Joy Division signed with Factory. They also recorded with influential BBC DJ John Peel. The big problem was Curtis was epileptic and occasional seizures landed him in the hospital. Joy Division's 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures was produced by Factory house producer Martin Hammett. They started to have success tempered by Curtis' epileptic seizures were occurring more frequently and getting worse. They were on tour when Curtis attempted suicide by overdosing on his medication. He was also having marriage problems. His wife Deborah filed for divorce. It all ended when Curtis hung himself in his kitchen on May 18, 1980. Love Will Tear Us Apart was released June 1980. It reached #13 on the British Singles chart. The album Closer was also successful. And when Qwest released Love Will Tear Us Apart in the US in 1983, it became a big hit on dance floors. The song has been very durable since then. There is a Joy Division comp available on CD. But I think most music fans only want Love Will Tear Us Apart. And it is on this Rhino various artists budget CD featuring popular New Wave hits. The members of Joy Division made a pact that if anyone left, they would change the band name. So they became New Order. And though New Order had success, there's no question that Love Will Tear Us Apart cast a long shadow on them. Here's the video for Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division.
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