Final Thoughts - Joy Division

…and so to Joy Division — from skin-deep isolation & unnerving alienation of Unknown Pleasures, the brutal honesty of Closer to the screams of Movement(half the tracks sound like Joy Division to me) — making both art & history.

Coming back to it all, certainly from the Pete Saville show at Urbis onwards, and what with recent events taking over, I came across something that made me think: on the sleeve of the Sordide Sentimental 7" single "Atmosphere/Dead Souls", there are three striking images. The first is a photograph taken of the band in a well-lit London Underground passage, Bernard & Ian both looking over their shoulders towards something that has caught their attention — Ian is smiling as well. The second and third images — the smaller of the two is a black & white illustration of a person descending a steep, dark path illuminated by a bright light emanating from a cave or tunnel — whilst the third & final image shows a painting of a cowled figure standing on a precipice overlooking a range of mountains — almost Caspar David Freidrich in execution but much much stranger and certainly much more mystically interior — the brown rocks changing to a beautiful deep blue, giving immediate depth and distance of another world.

Whether this was deliberate planning is unknown, but this is a serious pointer as to where both Factory & Joy Division were heading and where they wanted to go — a new world, virgin, unspoilt & unsullied - a place to start again and to tell others about.

Look out for any of the listed below for even further insight & understanding the Joy Division story —

Joy Division (Brown Owl Films) – scripted by Jon Savage, this includes rare & unseen footage of Joy Division as well film of the city of Manchester itself in all it’s decay.

Shadowplayers – Factory Records 1978-81(LTMDVD) – interviews and info with Peter Saville, Peter Hook, Tony Wilson, Vini Reilly, Section 25, Martin Moscrop & Simon Topping from A Certain Ratio. Excellent.

The Factory Records Story(BBC4) – again with interviews with most of the above as well as previously unseen footage.

Joy Division – Piece by Piece 1977-2007(Plexus) by Paul Morley –very dreamy and interesting writing, excellent when you can get into it, so stick with it! Covers it from angles not thought about before ; also sleeve notes on the re-issued/re-mastered "Closer" cd (London Records) by the same author.

Juvenes – The Joy Division photographs of Kevin Cummins(To Hell With) – includes photographs of long-gone places such as the Factory and Mayflower clubs and essays from various people regarding the band. Bound in a fabric-mesh cover and box, it is the Factory Records project that never happened , pricey but beautiful.

Soundtrack – The Peter Saville Show 2004 (London Records) - Features remaining members of Joy Division/New Order with a 30 minute + piece that was played throughout the exhibition at Urbis in Manchester ; very very dreamy, evocative, mystical, simultaneously reflective, sad & exalting - get hold of a copy and cry again.

Rick – does this sound ok… or have I gone too far?