As seen on the last two-part post, the emergence of Factory Records and the influence of Tony Wilson were fundamental to what would become a strong music scene in Manchester in the 1980’s.
Factory released artists and bands that did innovative music back in the day, from acid house to post-punk, and one of the most emblematic, well known, and ground-breaking projects released by Factory would Joy Division’s debut album: Unknown Pleasures.
Founded in 1976 in Salford, a cathedral city in Greater Manchester, Joy Division consisted of Stephen Morris on drums, Peter Hook on bass, Bernard Sumner on guitars, and vocalist Ian Curtis.
The idea of Joy Division started when childhood friends Peter and Bernard separately attended a Sex Pistols concert held at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, legendary show that changed Mancunian music forever, Peter and Bernard would later partner with Ian Curits and Terry Mason and debut as Warsaw, and after a few gigs Terry was replaced by Stephen Morris and Joy Division was born.
Joy Division’s first release was the EP An Ideal for Living, in 1977, independently financed by Ian Curtis, through a bank loan, and released by the bands own label Enigma.
The first EP’s recording was amateur and didn’t achieve much success at the time, but the band later caught the attention of label owner Tony Wilson, which took the band to his legendary TV show, So It Goes, the band later signed with Tony’s label Factory Records, where the band shaped the sound, it became known for.
The album was produced by Factory’s household producer Martin Hannett, who changed a lot in the band’s sound, Joy Division’s sound was, primarily, punk oriented, influenced by The Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, but also glam rock acts such as T. Rex, David Bowie, and Roxy Music.
Martin took the punk oriented sound the band had, and made it atmospheric, adding layers of textures to the drums and guitars, ambient sounds and samples and trying all sorts of different recording methods to change the way things sounded.
Uknown Pleasures was released in 1979, becoming a classic album and making Joy Division a pioneering band to what would define the core sound of post-punk music.
Not just the band’s sound, but Curtis’ lyrics were a great contribution for making the band so emblematic, apart from the political oriented lyrics of most classic punk bands, Curtis’ lyrics were poetry influenced, introspective and sometimes abstract.
In Tony Wilson’s words, Joy Division took the simplicity and rawness of punk rock and used it to express complex feelings and emotions. And this is what made Joy Division a such unique and pioneering band.
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