- (This page is about the band. For the film documentary of the same name, see Joy Division(2)).
Career Outline[]
Joy Division were a post-punk band formed in 1976 in Manchester from an earlier congregation called Warsaw. They took their name from the prostitution wing of a Nazi concentration camp (actually from references in the novelized account of life in such a camp, House of Dolls), and the lyrics of their songs constantly detailed broken relationships and the futility of existence: the music was often suitably minor key and highly emotive. The line-up consisted of Ian Curtis (vocals and occasional guitar), Bernard Sumner (a.k.a. Albrecht, guitar), Peter Hook (bass) and Stephen Morris (drums). Throughout their relatively short lifespan, they released stark, rhythmic singles, at first independently and then on the Factory label (the myth propounded by late owner Tony Wilson that he signed them and Durutti Column in his own blood was no more than that; what is true, however, is that he invested £8,000 of his own money in the recording of their debut LP) and two LPs, Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (released after Curtis's death in 1980).
Their proposed American tour was aborted after Curtis took his own life on May 18 1980, as a result of overwhelming depression caused by the breakup of his marriage and diagnosed epilepsy. Many of the songs he wrote contain references to his ill-fated life, and his widow Deborah had the line 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' engraved on his memorial stone. The band decided not to continue as Joy Division without him, and the remaining members subsequently formed New Order.
Links To Peel[]
The genesis of JP's relationship with the band can be gleaned from this extract from 1987's Peeling Back The Years, in which Peel and John Walters discuss their effect on music:
JOHN WALTERS: Here’s somebody I certainly didn’t get onto at the start, but you did…Joy Division, that are still, in a sense, a lasting force, Joy Division/New Order, of course, and I see we had a session in January 1979. The kids got onto it quite quickly…I remember walking by a big place like the Lyceum, and saying, ‘Who’s on tonight?’, there were crowds outside, and they said, ‘Joy Division’. I thought, ‘Joy Division?!?’…What was it? Was it the sort of gloom that attracted you?
JOHN PEEL: Well, they weren’t initially of course all that gloomy, their early things, some tracks on the Factory sampler and so forth…they had some tracks on a 10″ LP from Virgin…They weren’t by any means punky, and they’d moved away from that sort of thrashy…
JW: Do you know what I mean by gloom?…There is an aspect of teen life which is looking moodily into your bedroom mirror…and seeing yourself as gloomy, kind of as a rebel without a cause…Isn’t that almost something you’ve carried on into middle age in your own life, and…I wonder if it touched a chord as it did with the kids who went for Joy Division…with you?
JP: I suppose it might have done, I mean, it wasn’t something I was aware of particularly at the time…I always think of them in a rather romantic way as being introspective and rather Russian, although I have no Russian ancestry at all that I’m aware of…I read somewhere that that kind of introspection was classed as Russian…it always makes me feel at least slightly central European if I get into one of these what most people would describe as feeling sorry for myself…
JW: Did you get onto Joy Division because you thought, ‘Hello, there’s a bit of a buzz’, or did you hear some and think, ‘I don’t know who this lot are, but this goes’? What did your ears say to Joy Division?
JP: …The first of the post-punk bands did seem to be coming out of Manchester, which is something I deeply resented…I didn’t at the time think that Joy Division were a band that I was going to prefer above any other…they were just one of a whole handful of bands whose work I was quite enjoying at that time.
JW: They were not punky in the noise they made as I remember it, but they became a sort of seminal band just after, the first real seminal post-punk band…they influenced so many other people.
JP: Well, that’s true and obviously the death of Ian Curtis sort of mythologised them to a degree to which I think the surviving members of the band must have found very difficult to cope with…a very melancholy thing to have to live with. I still get demo tapes from America and from Europe by bands which are quite clearly influenced by nothing as much as they’re influenced by Joy Division. You get a bit fed up with it, really.
The band featured in the Festive Fifty constantly between 1980-1982, and scored several entries in the All-Time 2000 chart. Curiously, although John championed them via the sessions and constant track airplay throughout 1979, none of their songs featured in that year's chart. During the repeat of their first session on 05 April 1979, Peel bemoaned the fact that the group weren't getting enough attention, outside the Manchester area at least. By marked contrast, the All-Time Chart of 2000 had 'Atmosphere' at number 1.
John played 'New Dawn Fades', from Unknown Pleasures, near the start of his show on 19 May 1980, in tribute to Ian Curtis, and a year to the day of his suicide, played it again without comment at the start of 18 May 1981 and 'Decades', from the posthumous release Closer, at the end.
JP mentioned during the 1982 FF that his favourite Joy Division track was probably '24 Hours', from Closer.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- 'Dead Souls' (1981 Festive Fifty #11, 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #12, and 2000 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #12)
- '24 Hours' (1980 Festive Fifty #41, 1981 Festive Fifty #43, and 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #23)
- 'She's Lost Control' (1980 Festive Fifty #22 and 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #41)
- 'New Dawn Fades' (1980 Festive Fifty #20, 1981 Festive Fifty #5, 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #4, and 2000 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #15)
- 'Decades' (1980 Festive Fifty #14, 1981 Festive Fifty #7, and 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #7)
- 'Transmission' (1980 Festive Fifty #10, 1981 Festive Fifty #14, 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #26, and 2000 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #28)
- 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' (1980 Festive Fifty #3, 1981 Festive Fifty #3, 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #3, and 2000 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #3)
- 'Atmosphere' (1980 Festive Fifty #2, 1981 Festive Fifty #1, 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #2, and 2000 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #1)
- 'Isolation' (1981 Festive Fifty #44 and 1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #38)
- 'The Eternal' (1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #48)
Sessions[]
- Joy Division recorded two sessions for Peel's programme, both in 1979, and both of which are available on The Complete BBC Recordings (Strange Fruit).
1. Recorded: 1979-01-31. First broadcast: 14 February 1979. Repeated: 05 April 1979, 31 July 1979, 23 June 1980, 01 September 1983 and 30 September 1986.
- Exercise One / Insight / She's Lost Control / Transmission
2. Recorded: 1979-11-26. First broadcast: 10 December 1979. Repeated: 22 January 1980, 23 June 1980, 01 September 1983 and 04 February 1986.
- Love Will Tear Us Apart / 24 Hours / Colony / Sound Of Music
Other Shows Played[]
- 1978
- 03 March 1978: 'Failures (EP-An Ideal For Living)' (Enigma)
- 16 March 1978: 'No Love Lost (EP-An Ideal For Living)' (Enigma)
- 23 June 1978: At A Later Date (v/a 10" - Short Circuit - Live At The Electric Circus) Virgin
- 1979
- 16 January 1979: Glass (2x7” EP – A Factory Sample) Factory
- 25 January 1979: Digital (EP - A Factory Sample) (Factory)
- 16 July 1979: New Dawn Fades (LP – Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 17 July 1979: Insight (LP – Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 18 July 1979: She’s Lost Control (LP – Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 19 July 1979: 'Shadowplay (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 24 July 1979: Wilderness (LP – Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 25 July 1979: Shadowplay (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 26 July 1979: 'Day Of The Lords (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 28 July 1979 (BFBS): She's Lost Control (LP - Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 28 July 1979 (BFBS): Day Of The Lords (LP - Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 30 July 1979: 'Shadowplay (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 04 August 1979 (BFBS): Insight (LP – Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 04 August 1979 (BFBS): Wilderness (LP – Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 11 August 1979 (BFBS): Day Of The Lords (LP - Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 14 August 1979: 'Shadowplay (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 18 August 1979 (BFBS): 'Shadowplay (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 21 August 1979: Day Of The Lords (LP - Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 10 September 1979: 'She's Lost Control (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 12 September 1979: 'Shadowplay (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 13 September 1979: 'Disorder (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 22 September 1979 (BFBS): New Dawn Fades (LP - Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 09 October 1979: Shadowplay (LP – Unknown Pleasures) Factory
- 10 October 1979: Transmission (single) Factory
- 10 October 1979: Auto-suggestion / From Safety To Where...? (LP – Earcom 2) Fast
- 16 October 1979: Auto-suggestion (LP – Earcom 2) Fast
- 17 October 1979: Transmission (7") Factory
- 20 October 1979 (BFBS): Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 24 October 1979: Transmission (7") Factory
- 27 October 1979 (BFBS): Auto-Suggestion (v/a album - Earcom 2) Fast Product FAST 9B
- 20 November 1979: Transmission (7") Factory
- 24 November 1979 (BFBS): Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 26 November 1979: Novelty (7" b-side - Transmission) Factory
- 15 December 1979 (BFBS): Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 1980
- 19 February 1980: Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 23 February 1980 (BFBS): Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 12 March 1980: Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 15 March 1980 (BFBS): Atmosphere (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 15 March 1980 (BFBS): Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 17 March 1980: Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 19 March 1980: 'Atmosphere (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 25 March 1980: Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 09 April 1980: Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 12 April 1980 (BFBS): Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 15 April 1980: Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 06 May 1980: 'Atmosphere (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 19 May 1980: 'New Dawn Fades (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 20 May 1980: Atmosphere (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 24 May 1980 (BFBS): Atmosphere (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 04 June 1980: Atmosphere (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 07 June 1980 (BFBS): Day Of The Lords (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 09 June 1980: 'Komakino / Incubation (free flexi disc)' (Factory)
- 10 June 1980: 'Love Will Tear Us Apart (7 inch)' (Factory) - First play
- 11 June 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory FAC 23
- 12 June 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart (b/w - 7") Factory FAC 23
- 14 June 1980 (BFBS): These Days (7" - Love Will Tear Us Apart) Factory FAC 23
- 14 June 1980 (BFBS): Warszaw (7" EP - An Ideal For Living) Enigma PSS 139
- 14 June 1980 (BFBS): Love Will Tear Us Apart (Long Version) (7") Factory FAC 23
- 14 June 1980 (BFBS): No Love Lost (7" EP - An Ideal For Living) Enigma PSS 139
- 14 June 1980 (BFBS): Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory FAC 23
- 17 June 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart (7”) Factory
- 18 June 1980: Warsaw / No Love Lost / Leaders Of Men / Failures (EP – An Ideal For Living) Enigma
- 19 June 1980: 'Love Will Tear Us Apart (7 inch)' (Factory)
- 19 June 1980: These Days (7” – Love Will Tear Us Apart) Factory
- 21 June 1980 (BFBS): These Days (7" - Love Will Tear Us Apart) Factory FAC 23
- 24 June 1980: These Days (7" b-side - Love Will Tear Us Apart) Factory (Paul Gambaccini sits in)
- 25 June 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory (Paul Gambaccini sits in)
- 26 June 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory (Paul Gambaccini sits in)
- 26 June 1980: Komakino (7" flexi) Factory FAC 28 (Paul Gambaccini sits in)
- 26 June 1980: Incubation (7" flexi - Komakino) Factory FAC 28 (Paul Gambaccini sits in)
- 26 June 1980: As You Said (7" flexi - Komakino) Factory FAC 28 (Paul Gambaccini sits in)
- 30 June 1980: Komakino (7" flexi) Factory FAC 28
- 01 July 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory
- 02 July 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory
- 03 July 1980: 'She's Lost Control (LP - Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 05 July 1980 (BFBS): Incubation (7" flexi - Komakino) Factory FAC 28
- 05 July 1980 (BFBS): Komakino (7" flexi) Factory FAC 28
- 07 July 1980: Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 08 July 1980: 'Love Will Tear Us Apart (7 inch)' (Factory)
- 10 July 1980: 'Love Will Tear Us Apart (7 inch)' (Factory)
- 12 July 1980 (BFBS): Leaders Of Men (7" EP - An Ideal For Living) Enigma PSS 139
- 12 July 1980 (BFBS): Failures Of The Modern Man (7" EP - An Ideal For Living) Enigma PSS 139
- 14 July 1980: Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 14 July 1980: 'Atrocity Exhibition (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 15 July 1980: Twenty Four Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 15 July 1980: Passover (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 15 July 1980: Colony (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 16 July 1980: 'A Means To An End (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 17 July 1980: 'Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 19 July 1980 (BFBS): Atrocity Exhibition (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 19 July 1980 (BFBS): Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 19 July 1980 (BFBS): Passover (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 19 July 1980 (BFBS): Colony (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 19 July 1980 (BFBS): A Means To An End (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 19 July 1980 (BFBS): Heart And Soul (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 19 July 1980 (BFBS): Twenty Four Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 21 July 1980: Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 28 July 1980: These Days (12" - Love Will Tear Us Apart) Factory FAC 23-12
- 30 July 1980: At A Later Date (10" EP - Short Circuit - Live At The Electric Circus) Virgin VCL 5003
- 31 July 1980 (BFBS): Twenty Four Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 31 July 1980 (BFBS): Heart And Soul (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 02 August 1980 (BFBS): Twenty Four Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 04 August 1980: Twenty Four Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 07 August 1980: Heart And Soul (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 09 August 1980 (BFBS): Heart And Soul (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 12 August 1980: Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 14 August 1980: Decades (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 16 August 1980 (BFBS): Colony (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 23 August 1980 (BFBS): Heart And Soul (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 30 August 1980 (BFBS): Komakino (7" flexi) Factory FAC 28
- 06 September 1980 (BFBS): Colony (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 08 September 1980: ‘Komakino’ or ‘Incubation’ or ‘As You Said’ (7" flexi) Factory FAC 28
- 23 September 1980: Auto-suggestion (v/a 12" - Earcom 2) Fast Product FAST 9b
- 24 September 1980: From Safety To Where (compilation LP - Earcom 2) Fast Product
- 27 September 1980 (BFBS): Twenty Four Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 02 October 1980: She's Lost Control (12" - Atmosphere) Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 29 September 1980: She's Lost Control (12" - Atmosphere) Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 04 October 1980 (BFBS): She's Lost Control (12" - Atmosphere) Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 04 October 1980 (BFBS): Atmosphere (12") Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 18 October 1980 (BFBS): Atmosphere (12") Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 15 November 1980 (BFBS): Komakino (7" flexi) Factory FAC 28
- 17 November 1980: Digital (2x7" - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 18 November 1980: Glass (2x7" - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 22 November 1980 (BFBS): Digital (2x7" - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 22 November 1980 (BFBS): Glass (2x7" - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 22 December 1980: 'Twenty Four Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 24 December 1980: 'She's Lost Control (12 inch)' (Factory US)
- 27 December 1980 (BFBS): Atmosphere (12") Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 27 December 1980 (BFBS): Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 29 December 1980: 'Decades (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 30 December 1980: Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 30 December 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apar (7") Factory FAC 23
- 30 December 1980: Atmosphere (12") Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 1981
- 19 January 1981: Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT. 25
- 05 February 1981: Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 05 February 1981 (BFBS): Atrocity Exhibition (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 08 February 1981 (BFBS): Colony (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 19 February 1981 (BFBS): At A Later Date (v/a 10" EP - Short Circuit - Live At The Electric Circus) Virgin VCL 5003
- 24 March 1981: Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale
- 23 April 1981 (BFBS): Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 10 May 1981 (BFBS): Glass (v/a 2x7" EP - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 12 May 1981: 'Digital (v/a 2x7" EP - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 13 May 1981: 'Glass (v/a 2x7" EP - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 18 May 1981: New Dawn Fades (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 18 May 1981: Decades (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 04 June 1981 (BFBS): New Dawn Fades (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 21 June 1981 (BFBS): New Dawn Fades (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 28 June 1981 (BFBS): These Days (7" - Love Will Tear Us Apart) Factory FAC 23
- 03 September 1981 (BFBS): Digital / Glass (2x7" - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 07 September 1981: Digital (2x7" - A Factory Sample) Factory FAC-2
- 10 September 1981 (BFBS): Day Of The Lords (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 06 October 1981: Ceremony (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 06 October 1981: Shadowplay (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 06 October 1981: A Means To An End (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 06 October 1981: Passover (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 07 October 1981: New Dawn Fades (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 07 October 1981: Twenty Fours (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 15 October 1981 (BFBS): The Only Mistake (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 15 October 1981 (BFBS): Ice Age (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 15 October 1981 (BFBS): Exercise One (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 15 October 1981 (BFBS): Sound Of Music (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 20 October 1981: Exercise One (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): Something Must Break (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): Walked In Line (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): The Kill (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 27 October 1981: Ice Age (2xLP - Still) Factory
- 01 November 1981 (BFBS): Exercise One (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 02 November 1981: Walked In Line (album - Still) Factory FACT 40
- 12 November 1981 (BBC World Service): Sound Of Music (album - Still) Factory
- 15 November 1981 (BFBS): Komakino (7" flexi) Factory FAC 28
- 06 December 1981 (BFBS): Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 23 December 1981: 'Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25 / '24 Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 29 December 1981: 'Transmission (7 inch)' (Factory) / 'Dead Souls (LP-Still)' (Factory)
- 30 December 1981: 'Decades (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25 / 'New Dawn Fades (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory) / 'Love Will Tear Us Apart (7 inch)' (Factory) / 'Atmosphere (12 inch)' (Factory)
- 1982
- 21 February 1982 (BFBS): Dead Souls
- 07 March 1982 (BFBS): The Eternal (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 10 March 1982: No Love Lost (EP - An Ideal For Living)
- 14 March 1982 (BFBS): No Love Lost (EP - An Ideal For Living)
- 08 June 1982: She's Lost Control (12" - Atmosphere) Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 30 June 1982 (BFBS): She's Lost Control (12" - Atmosphere) Factory FACUS 2/UK
- John Peel 1982 edited 2: Shadowplay (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 11 August 1982: Day Of The Lords (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 11 August 1982 (BFBS): New Dawn Fades (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 01 September 1982 (BFBS): Auto-suggestion (v/a 12" - Earcom 2) Fast Product FAST 9b
- 20 September 1982: Atmosphere (12") Factory
- 29 September 1982 (BFBS): Dead Souls (7" - Licht Und Blindheit) Sordide Sentimentale SS 33 002
- 15 December 1982: The Eternal (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 16 December 1982: She's Lost Control (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 20 December 1982: Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 23 December 1982: 24 Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 28 December 1982: 'Dead Souls (7 inch-Licht Und Blindheit)' (Sordide Sentimentale)
- 29 December 1982: Decades (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 30 December 1982: 'New Dawn Fades (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory) / 'Love Will Tear Us Apart (7 inch)' (Factory) / 'Atmosphere (12 inch)' (Factory)
- 1983
- 06 March 1983 (BFBS): 24 Hours (album - Closer) Factory FACT. 2
- 06 April 1983 (BFBS): Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory FAC 23
- 26 May 1983 (Mark Ellen sitting in): Atmosphere (12") Factory FACUS 2/UK
- 13 June 1983: Warsaw (EP – Ideal For Living) Factory
- 19 June 1983 (BFBS): Warsaw (7" - An Ideal For Living) Enigma
- 19 June 1983 (BFBS): Failures (7" - An Ideal For Living) Enigma
- 20 July 1983 (BFBS): These Days (single - Love Will Tear Us Apart) FAC 23
- 21 June 1983: Failures (EP - An Ideal For Living) Anonymous ANON1
- 01 August 1983: Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory
- 17 October 1983: Atmosphere (12") Factory FACUS 2
- 05 November 1983 (BFBS): These Days (single - Love Will Tear Us Apart) FAC 23
- 19 November 1983 (BFBS): Komakino (7" flexi) Factory FAC 28
- 23 November 1983: Komakino (album - Komackino) Joy Division J.D. 01 available on flexidisc but John plays from his secret record
- Tremble The Dog: New Dawn Fades
- 10 December 1983 (BFBS): Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") Factory FAC 23
- 21 December 1983 (BFBS): Novelty (7" - Transmission) Factory FAC 13
- 1984
- 24 March 1984 (BFBS): These Days (single - Love Will Tear Us Apart) FAC 23
- 09 May 1984 (BFBS): Transmission (7") Factory FAC 13
- 19 August 1984 (BFBS): She's Lost Control (album - Unknown Pleasures) Factory FACT 10
- 09 September 1984 (BFBS): Novelty (7" - Transmission) Factory FAC 13
- 1985
- 09 September 1985 (BFBS): Isolation (album - Closer) Factory FACT 25
- 1986
- 01 January 1986: Digital (v/a 2x7" - A Factory Sample) Factory
- 14 August 1986 (BFBS) (Peel 039 (BFBS)): The Sound Of Music (2xLP-Still)' (Factory)
- 24 November 1986: The Only Mistake (LP - Still) Factory
- 01 December 1986: She's Lost Control (EP - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit
- 09 December 1986: Excercise One (EP - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit
- 13 December 1986 (BFBS) (Peel 047 (BFBS)): 'Leaders Of Men (7"-An Ideal For Living)' (Enigma)
- 1987
- 15 September 1987: 24 Hours (12" - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit SFPS033
- September 1987 (2) (BBC World Service): 24 Hours (12" - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit SFPS033
- 29 September 1987: Love Will Tear Us Apart (12" - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit SFPS033
- 28 October 1987: 24 Hours (12" - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit SFPS033
- 1988
- 30 May 1988: Atmosphere (7") Factory
- 13 June 1988: Love Will Tear Us Apart (LP - Substance) Factory
- 25 June 1988 (BFBS): Love Will Tear Us Apart (CD - Substance) Factory
- 05 July 1988: Leaders Of Men (LP - Substance) Factory
- 1990s
- 06 August 1990: 'I Remember Nothing (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 07 October 1990: '24 Hours (12"-The Peel Sessions)' (Strange Fruit)
- 12 October 1990 (BFBS): '24 Hours (12"-The Peel Sessions)' (Strange Fruit)
- 26 October 1990 (BFBS): 'She's Lost Control (12"-The Peel Sessions)' (Strange Fruit)
- 08 December 1991: Transmission (LP - Palatine: The Factory Story - Tears In Their Eyes 1979-82) Factory
- 20 December 1991 (BFBS): Transmission (LP - Palatine: The Factory Story - Tears In Their Eyes 1979-82) Factory
- 09 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles)): 'Love Will Tear Us Apart (7 inch)' (Factory)
- 10 July 1993: 24 Hours (12" EP - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit
- How Does It Feel - The New Order Story (07 August 1993) - Love Will Tear Us Apart and other Joy Division tracks played in part
- 03 April 1996: Transmission
- 01 July 1996: Love Will Tear Us Apart (session) (John Peel's Classic Sessions)
- 30 December 1998: 'New Dawn Fades (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 31 August 1999: 'Atmosphere (12 inch)' (Factory)
- 02 December 1999: Twenty Four Hours (LP-Closer)' (Factory) (Peelenium 1980)
- 2000s
- 13 January 2000: 'Transmission (LP-Substance)' (Factory)
- 19 January 2000: 'She's Lost Control (LP-Unknown Pleasures)' (Factory)
- 19 December 2000: 'Atmosphere' (Factory)
- 08 March 2001 (Radio Eins): Transmission
- 10 April 2001: 'Walked In Line (LP-Still)' (Factory)
- 18 July 2001: 'Walked In Line (LP-Still)' (Factory)
- 30 November 2004 (Rob Da Bank): ‘Decades’ (LP- Closer) - (Factory Records)
- 28 December 2004 (Rob Da Bank): 'Transmission (CD-Substance)' (London)
Top Of The Pops[]
- 10 November 1983 (TOTP): Love Will Tear Us Apart (video with audience dancing / end credits)
Covered[]
Several artists recorded a Joy Division cover for a Peel session, perhaps reflecting the influence of the band on subsequent musicians.
(The list below was compiled only from the Cover Versions page of this site. Please add more information if known.)
Artist | Track | First Known Play
- Aislers Set: Walked In Line (session) 10 April 2001
- Antihero: Love Will Tear Us Apart (session) 18 February 2003
- Bis: Love Will Tear Us Apart March 2002 (FSK)
- Further: Insight 30 September 1995 (BFBS)
- If Thousands: Isolation 04 February 2003
- Jack O'Fire: No Love Lost 07 January 1994
- Grace Jones: She's Lost Control 03 July 1980
- King: Love Will Tear Us Apart 25 September 1997
- Nouvelle Vague: Love Will Tear Us Apart 26 May 2004
- P.J. Proby: Love Will Tear Us Apart 25 November 1985
- Rogers Sisters: Shadowplay (session) 10 June 2003
- Shanes: Love Will Tear Us Apart 5 September 1993
- Swans: Love Will Tear Us Apart 04 May 1988
- V/Vm: Love Will Tear Us Apart 07 June 2001
- Paul Young: Love Will Tear Us Apart 01 August 1983
See Also[]
- Indie Charts
- Record Collector
- 1979 Top Twenty Albums
- Peel's Sounds Of The 60s And 70s
- Record Collection: Auction
- Books
- How Does It Feel - The New Order Story
- Sounds
- St Winifred's School Choir
External Links[]
- Wikipedia entry
- Incubation: Official site
- Joy Division Central: Unofficial fan site
- Remember Ian Curtis: Tribute site
- Teenage Kicks: Flawed Timing
- YouTube: Joy Division Documentary - John Peel & Atmosphere
- Joy Division: An Ideal For Living, 1978 (Property From The John Peel Archive, Bonham's auction, 2022)