JOY DIVISION

Inspired by a Sex Pistols concert they attended in Manchester in the summer of 1976, Bernard Albrecht, Peter Hook and Ian Curtis formed a punk band in the spring of 1977, which they named Warsaw, after the David Bowie song Warszawa. In early 1978, with a new drummer, Steven Morris, they took the name Joy Division.

The band transformed the unk music of the 1970s by purifying it, and ended up externalizing their torments, thus opening the way to the post-punk period. We can already find in the band's music what would become its "signature". The strongly marked melody, the rhythm and structure given by the guitar and drums. Finally, complex lyrics imbued with literary references and stage performances evoking the afterlife. The band's first album, Unknown Pleasures (1979), was released on the Factory label. Its visionary atmosphere and frenetic rhythm set the tone for most of the albums that followed. Joy Division began to attract crowds in the United Kingdom.

Working at a dizzying pace, the band began to use drum machines and synthesizers as they evolved from a rock sound to a subdued, European-inspired electronic sound. In concert, Ian Curtis gave his all: his performances seemed to bring nightmare visions to life. In addition to his intensity, a chaotic private life and worsening crises finally got the better of Curtis. In 1980, he committed suicide at his ex-wife's home. But after tragedy came success. The title track Love Will Tear Us Apart became one of the ten best-selling singles in the United Kingdom. While Closer, the band's second album, was among the country's twenty best-sellers. After Curtis' death, the three other members of the group, joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards, continued their career under the name New Order.