Ian Curtis

Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis (third from left) with Joy Division
Background information
Birth name	Ian Kevin Curtis
Born	15 July 1956(1956-07-15) Stretford, England
Died	18 May 1980(1980-05-18) (aged 23) Macclesfield, Cheshire, England
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	vocals, guitar, keyboards, melodica
Associated acts	Joy Division

Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was the songwriter, lyricist and singer of the English post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released its critically-acclaimed debut album Unknown Pleasures in 1979, and recorded their follow-up Closer in 1980. Suffering from epilepsy and a failing marriage, Curtis committed suicide in May 1980, on the eve of Joy Division's first North American tour. In 1995, Curtis's widow Deborah published Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division, a biography of the singer. Curtis's life and death have been dramatised in the films 24 Hour Party People (2002) and Control (2007).

Life and career

Early life and marriage

Curtis was born at the Memorial Hospital in Stretford in Lancashire (now part of Greater Manchester). He grew up in Hurdsfield, an area of Macclesfield,^[1] and from a young age he exhibited talent as a poet. Proof of his ability was his admission at the age of eleven to The King's School, Macclesfield with a scholarship. Despite this, he was not a devout student and did not further his education after receiving his O-levels.^[2]

From his high school days, his ambitions and hopes were focused on the pursuit of art, literature and, most importantly, music. Curtis was employed in a variety of jobs, including as a civil servant in Manchester and later in Macclesfield.

He was influenced by the writers William S. Burroughs, Friedrich Nietzsche, J. G. Ballard and Franz Kafka (the song titles "Interzone", "Atrocity Exhibition",^[3] and "Colony" coming from the three authors, respectively), and by the musicians David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Jim Morrison.

Curtis married Deborah Woodruff, whom he met while still at school, on 23 August 1975, when he was 19 and she was 18. His widow survives him. Their only daughter, Natalie, was born on 16 April 1979.

Joy Division

In 1976, Curtis met two young musicians, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, at a Sex Pistols gig, who told him they were trying to form a band; he immediately put himself forward as a vocalist and lyricist. The three of them recruited and sacked a number of drummers before settling on Stephen Morris as their final member. Initially, the band was called Warsaw before changing its name to Joy Division in 1978, due to conflicts with the name of another band, Warsaw Pakt. The name "Joy Division" stemmed from the sexual slavery wing of a Nazi concentration camp in the 1955 novel The House of Dolls.

After starting Factory Records with Alan Erasmus, Tony Wilson signed the band to his label.

While 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.^[4] There were several incidents where he collapsed and had to be helped off stage.^[5] 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 motivation as: "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 once commented in an interview that he wrote about "the different ways different people can cope with certain problems, how they might or might not adapt." He sang in a bass-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 it was used 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", and the melodica on "In A Lonely Place", a song that was written and rehearsed for the cancelled American tour, and later salvaged as a New Order B-side. Many regard "In A Lonely Place" to be the last song Ian Curtis ever recorded with Joy Division.

Death

Curtis's last live performance was on 2 May 1980 at Chamberlain Hall of Birmingham University, a show that included Joy Division's first and only performance of the song "Ceremony", later recorded by New Order and released as their first single. The last song Curtis performed on stage was "Digital". The recording of this performance can be found on the compilation album Still.

Detailed in Debbie Curtis's Touching from a Distance, Curtis was staying at his parents' house at this time and attempted to talk his wife into staying with him on 17 May 1980, to no avail. He told her to leave him alone in the house until he caught his train to Manchester the next morning.^[6] In the early hours of 18 May 1980, Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield. He had just viewed Werner Herzog's film Stroszek and listened to Iggy Pop's The Idiot. At the time of his death, his health was failing as a result of the epilepsy and attempting to balance his musical ambitions with his marriage, which was foundering in the aftermath of his affair with journalist Annik Honoré. His wife found his body the next morning.

Curtis's memorial stone, which is inscribed with "Ian Curtis 18 - 5 - 80" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart", was stolen in July 2008 from the grounds of Macclesfield Cemetery.^[7] The missing memorial stone was later replaced by a new one.^[8]

Legacy

The musical tributes to Curtis include "Elegia", appearing on New Order's Low-Life album and the previously mentioned "ICB", "The Him" and "Dreams Never End", which appear on their debut album, Movement, U2's "A Day Without Me", the lead single from their 1980 debut album Boy, "It's Kinda Funny" by Scottish post-punk contemporaries, Josef K, "The Missing Boy" by label mates Durutti Column, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "Statues" on 1980's Organisation, Psychic TV's single "I.C. Water" from Towards Thee Infinite Beat, Alkaline Trio's "Help Me", Latterman's "He's a Good Sposato (I Still Love Ya Blue Blue)", Sumo's Divididos por la Felicidad, and Thursday's "Ian Curtis" on the album Waiting. Robert Smith of The Cure would dedicate the song "Primary" to Curtis in their early days.

Deborah Curtis wrote Touching from a Distance, published in 1995, a biographical account of their marriage, detailing in part his infidelity with Annik Honoré. Authors Mick Middles and Lindsay Reade released the book Torn Apart: The Life of Ian Curtis in 2006. This biography takes a more intimate look at Curtis and includes photographs from personal family albums and excerpts from his letters to Honoré during their affair.

Paul Morley wrote Joy Division, Piece by Piece, writing about Joy Division 1977-2007; it was published in late 2007. The book documents all of his writings and reviews about Joy Division from their forming, up until Wilson's death.

A wall on Wallace Street in Wellington, New Zealand, had the words "Ian Curtis Lives" written on it shortly after the singer's death. The message is repainted whenever it is painted over. A nearby wall on the same street on the 4 January 2005^[9] was originally emblazoned "Ian Curtis RIP", later modified to read "Ian Curtis R.I.P. Walk In Silence" along with the dates "1960 - 1981" (sic). Both are referred to as "The Ian Curtis Wall". On Thursday 10 September 2009, the wall was painted over by Wellington City Councils anti graffiti team.^[10] The wall was chalked back up on 16 September 2009. Following this, council spokesman Richard MacLean said "They [the anti-graffiti team] may turn a blind eye to it".^[11] The wall was repainted on the 17 September 2009, this time with correct dates.

Film portrayals

Curtis was portrayed by Sean Harris in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which dramatized the rise and fall of Factory Records from the 1970s to the 1990s.

In 2007 a British Ian Curtis biopic called Control was released, based on material from Deborah Curtis' book Touching from a Distance. It was directed by rock photographer and music video director Anton Corbijn, who had previously photographed the band and directed the video for "Atmosphere". Deborah Curtis and Tony Wilson were executive producers. Sam Riley, the lead singer of the band 10,000 Things, portrays Curtis, while Samantha Morton plays his wife, Deborah. The film had its debut at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007 to great acclaim, taking three awards at the Director's Fortnight. It portrays Curtis' secondary school romance with Deborah, their marriage, his problems balancing his domestic life with his rise to fame, his affair with Annik Honoré, his struggle with poorly medicated epilepsy and depression,^[12] and his suicide.

References

Further reading

External links

Joy Division Ian Curtis • Peter Hook • Stephen Morris • Bernard Sumner Studio albums Unknown Pleasures • Closer Compilations Still • Substance • The Peel Sessions • Warsaw • Permanent • Heart and Soul • Joy Division The Complete BBC Recordings • Martin Hannett's Personal Mixes • Let the Movie Begin • The Best of Joy Division EPs An Ideal for Living • Licht und Blindheit • The Peel Sessions • The Peel Sessions Live albums Preston 28 February 1980 • Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 Singles "Transmission" • "Komakino" • "Love Will Tear Us Apart" • "Atmosphere" / "She's Lost Control" Related Discography • New Order • Factory Records • Martin Hannett • Peter Saville • Tony Wilson • Rob Gretton • Alan Erasmus • 24 Hour Party People • Control • Joy Division • A Means to an End: The Music of Joy Division  Book •  Category