Ian Curtis - Joy Division

Joy Division

In 1976 at a Sex Pistols gig, Curtis met Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook. They were trying to form a band, and Curtis immediately proposed himself as vocalist and lyricist. The trio then unsuccessfully recruited a number of drummers before selecting Stephen Morris as their final member.

Initially the band was called Warsaw, but as their name conflicted with that of another group, Warsaw Pakt, the name was changed to Joy Division. The moniker was derived from a 1955 novel The House of Dolls which featured a Nazi concentration camp with a sexual slavery wing called the "Joy Division".

After starting Factory Records with Alan Erasmus, Tony Wilson signed the band to his label following the band's appearance on Wilson's 'Something Else' television programme, itself prompted by an abusive letter sent to Wilson by Curtis.

Whilst performing for Joy Division, Curtis became known for his quiet and awkward demeanour, as well as a unique dancing style reminiscent of the epileptic seizures he experienced, sometimes even on stage. There were several incidents where he collapsed and had to be helped off stage. In an interview for Northern Lights cassette magazine in November 1979 Ian Curtis made his only public comment on his dancing and performance. He explained the dance as a type of sign language with which to further express a song's emotional and lyrical content: "Instead of just singing about something you could show it as well, put it over in the way that it is, if you were totally involved in what you were doing".

Curtis's writing was filled with imagery of emotional isolation, death, alienation, and urban decay. He sang in a baritone voice, in contrast to his speaking voice, which fell in the tenor range. Earlier in their career, Curtis would sing in a loud snarling voice similar to shouting; it is best displayed on the band's debut EP, An Ideal for Living (1978). Joy Division had its sparse recording style developed by producer Martin Hannett, with some of their most innovative work being created in Strawberry Studios in Stockport (owned by Manchester act 10cc) and Cargo Recording Studios Rochdale in 1979, a studio which was developed from John Peel investing money into the music business in Rochdale.

Although predominantly a vocalist, Curtis also played guitar on a handful of tracks (usually when Sumner was playing synthesizer; "Incubation" was a rare case where both played guitar). At first Curtis played Sumner's Shergold Masquerader, but in September 1979 he acquired his own guitar, a Vox Phantom Special VI (often described incorrectly as a Teardrop or ordinary Phantom model) which had many built-in effects used both live and in studio. After Curtis' death, Sumner inherited the guitar, and used it in several early New Order songs, such as "Everything's Gone Green". Curtis also played keyboard on some live versions of "She's Lost Control". He also played the melodica on "Decades" and "In A Lonely Place"; the latter was written and rehearsed for the cancelled American tour, and later salvaged as a New Order B-side.