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Ian Curtis

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Ian Curtis

Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was the vocalist and lyricist of the band Joy Division, which he joined in 1976.

Years after his death, critics and fans continue to write and discuss at length Curtis's music, possible motivations and inspirations. News of his suicide in 1980 spurred many rumours, further accelerating interest in his work and troubled life.

Early life

Curtis was born in the Memorial Hospital, Old Trafford, Manchester, in 1956. He grew up in the Hurdsfield area of Macclesfield and from a young age he exhibited talent as a poet. Although awarded a scholarship to attend the The King's School, Macclesfield, at the age of 11, Curtis never pursued academic success. As he grew older, his ambitions and hopes became focused on a pursuit of art and literature, eventually culminating in music. Curtis served as a civil servant in Manchester and later in Macclesfield.

He was influenced by the writers William Burroughs, J. G. Ballard and Joseph Conrad (the song titles "Interzone", "Atrocity Exhibition",[1] and "Colony" coming from the three authors, respectively), and by the musicians David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

Curtis married his girlfriend Deborah Woodruff in 1975, while they both were still teenagers. They had one child, Natalie (born 16 April 1979). Curtis had a lover, Belgian journalist Annik Honoré, whom he met after a concert in an interview.

Joy Division

File:Joy Division.JPG
Joy Division, left to right: Stephen Morris, Peter Hook, Curtis, Bernard Sumner.

In 1976, Curtis convinced himself his destiny was as a performer. He eventually met two young musicians, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook. Sumner and Hook mentioned to him they were trying to form a band and he immediately put himself forward as a vocalist and lyricist. The three of them recruited and sacked a succession 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 up Factory Records with Alan Erasmus, Tony Wilson "signed" the band to his label (although no contracts were ever signed, despite the story of Wilson signing a contract in his own blood. This rumor first emerged in 2002 from Wilson himself in the run up to the release of 24 Hour Party People, where the scene is also portrayed.)

While performing for Joy Division, Curtis became known for his quiet and awkward demeanor, as well as a unique dancing style[2] reminiscent of the epileptic seizures he experienced, sometimes even on stage. The resemblance was such that audience members were sometimes uncertain if Curtis was dancing or having a seizure; there were several incidents where he collapsed and had to be helped off stage.

Many of Curtis's writings were filled with imagery of emotional isolation, death, alienation, and urban degeneration. 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 was higher pitched. Joy Division had its recorded 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 Bernard 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 which were exploited both live and in the studio by Martin Hannett. After Curtis died, Sumner inherited the guitar, and it was used in several early New Order songs, such as "Everything's Gone Green".

Death

Curtis' last live performance was on 2 May 1980 at 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.

In the early hours of Sunday, 18 May 1980, in his kitchen after having viewed Werner Herzog's film Stroszek and listening to Iggy Pop's The Idiot, Curtis hanged himself. Many rumours surround the possible reasons for his suicide, with his poor health (due to the drugs he was having to take for his epilepsy, an exhausting performing schedule and related epilepsy problems) and failed marriage most often suggested. He was 23 years old.

Tony Wilson speaking about the death said, "I'd been warned on a train to London two weeks earlier by Annik [Honoré, Curtis' lover]. I asked her, 'What do you think of the new album.' She goes, 'I'm terrified.' I said, 'What are you terrified of?' She replies, 'Don't you understand? He means it.' And I go, 'No, he doesn't mean it - it's art.' And guess what? He fucking meant it."[3]

Curtis was cremated, and his ashes were buried in Macclesfield Cemetery.[4] The inscription on his memorial stone, "Love Will Tear Us Apart", was chosen by Deborah Curtis, and is a reference to the Joy Division song.

Legacy

The remaining members of Joy Division formed the immensely successful New Order following Curtis's death. The band had agreed to not go on as Joy Division if any of the members left for whatever reason. Their first album, Movement, featured a song called "I.C.B.", which stands for "Ian Curtis Buried".

U2 released the song "A Day Without Me", about Curtis' suicide, as the lead single from their 1980 debut album Boy. An oft-repeated anecdote by Tony Wilson is that when U2 visited Factory Records, U2 frontman Bono said when Curtis was alive he was the best frontman in rock and he himself was only number two; Bono pledged to take Curtis' place.

Other musical tributes to Curtis include Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "Statues" on 1980's Organisation, Psychic TV's single "I.C. Water" from Towards Thee Infinite Beat, Thursday's "Ian Curtis" on the album Waiting, Xiu Xiu's "Ian Curtis Wish List" on the album "A Promise" (the artist also covers "Ceremony" on his "Chapel of the Chimes" EP), Robert Smith of The Cure would dedicate his song "Primary" to Curtis, New Order's "Elegia" and, Alkaline Trio's "Help Me".

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

Control, a film about Curtis' life based on Touching from a Distance, was released in 2007. The Killers covered the song "Shadowplay" (from the album Unknown Pleasures) for the film. Curtis is also a character in the film 24 Hour Party People.

Artist Glenn Brown painted Exercise One (for Ian Curtis) (1995) and Dark Angel (for Ian Curtis) (2002), inspired by the singer and appropriating the paintings of Chris Foss.

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, and another wall on the same street now bears the legend "Ian Curtis R.I.P. Walk In Silence" along with the dates "1960 - 1981" (sic). Both are referred to as "The Ian Curtis Wall".

Manchester United fans sing "Giggs will tear you apart" to the tune of "Love Will Tear Us Apart", but according to Peter Hook, "Ian was a Manchester City fan."

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, based on material from Deborah Curtis's book Touching from a Distance was released. 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 former Factory Records head Anthony Wilson were executive producers. Relatively unknown actor Sam Riley (who actually portrayed The Fall frontman Mark E Smith in 24 Hour Party People), the lead singer of band 10000 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's secondary school romance with Deborah, their marriage at a young age, his struggle to balance his domestic life against his rise to fame with Joy Division, and his struggle with poorly medicated epilepsy and depression.[5]

References

  1. ^ According to Vini Reilly in the documentary 'Joy Division - Sex Drugs and Rock n Roll' Ian loved the poetry of T. S. Eliot. cf the chorus of Atrocity Exhibition with the closing lines of The Hollow Men.
  2. ^ 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."
  3. ^ Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays. BBC documentary 2007
  4. ^ "Find a Grave" (HTTP). Retrieved 2007-07-06.
  5. ^ Biopic avoids venerating troubled artist antihero - Eureka Street

Further reading

  • Middles, Mick and Reade, Lindsay (2006). Torn Apart: The Life Of Ian Curtis. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-826-3.
  • Curtis, Deborah (1995). Touching from a Distance - Ian Curtis and Joy Division. Faber and Faber Limited. ISBN 0-571-17445-0.
  • Heylin, Clinton and Wood, Craig (1988). Joy Division: Form (and Substance). Sound Pub. ISBN 1-871407-00-1.
  • Middles, Mick (1996). From Joy Division to New Order. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0638-6.
  • Edge, Brian (1984). Pleasures and Wayward Distractions. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-1439-7
  • Johnson, Mark (1984). An Ideal For Living. An History of Joy Division. Proteus Books. ISBN 0-7119-1065-0

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