Cuttings

 

Polish 7" of Blue Monday and Thieves Like Us 1984 12" Interview Picture Disc 1984 Soundwave Cassette Magazine with New Order interview  

50 GREAT MANCHESTER ALBUMS From the Buzzcocks to Doves, Britain's second city has unleashed a succession of albums that changed the face of music. Here's your guide to the best of them.... THE DURUTTI COLUMN The Return Of The Durutti Column FACTORY 1979 Cult miserabillst plays super-sad instrumental guitar. For a movement that was meant to be about free minds and expression, punk dogmas were quick to harden. The Durutti Column, aka guitarist Vini Reilly, kicked against them profoundly with nine meditative instrumental pieces, augmented by minimal programmed rhythms and the judicious use of an Echoplex unit, courtesy of producer Martin Hannett. The seemingly improvised results were delicate and melancholic. But there’s still comfort and even joy here. IH JOY DIVISION Unknown Pleasures FACTORY, 1979 Stark and atmospheric - this is their solemn, definitive st

THE 20 BEST MANCHESTER ALBUMS 1 JOY DIVISION CLOSER Factory (1980) IAN Curtis was beset by health, psychological and personal problems when Joy Division entered Britannia Row studios to record Closer in March, 1980. Their second tour de force was far removed from its predecessor: side two particularly revealed a new, breathtaking, almost supernatural, symphonic music. Painfully honest and unflinchingly emotional, Closer was Joy Division's triumph and Ian Curtis’ personal testament. By the time of its release, he’d committed suicide.  (Un?)intentional parting message to bandmates:  " You take my place in the showdown. I'll observe with a pitiful eye ” (“ Heart And Soul ”)  Highest UK chart position: 6 3 JOY DIVISION UNKNOWN PLEASURES Factory (1979) FORMERLY

Mancunian City Blues Apart from a new Electronic album, everything's gone quiet in the NEW ORDER camp. Through the NME archives, we look back at this seminal band's career, from their early days as proto-miserabilist JOY DIVISION to their reinvention as dance culture's elder statesmen, Here are the young men... Research by Ian Fortnam and John Perry FROM SPIKED hair to where? When punk rock degenerated into a sad cliché, many of its second- generation protagonists had to reconsider their tack and embrace a brave new world. One such combo were Warsaw. And so, in 1978, Ian Curtis (vocals), Bernard Dicken (AKA Sumner/ Albrecht) (guitar), Peter Hook (bass) and Stephen Morris (drums) changed their name to Joy Division, developed a minimalistic sound and hijacked the musical zeitgeist with one of the finest albums of the decade, ‘Unknown Pleasures'. Those who witnessed their live shows were stunned by vocalist Ian Curtis, whose jerky, spasmodic choreography and d

New Order's only concert in Hertfordshire, and they didn't scrimp on the ticket design... I did try and get tickets for the Sheffield Octagon gig the night after ULU, but had insufficient time to send a cheque and receive them back in time, and they were unable to reserve either. So much easier nowadays (assuming you can get through to the "buy" section of ticket selling sites). The venue wasn't the easiest to find (again, not so much of an issue nowadays), and apparently is another that's no more (following Tiffany's, Tower Ballroom and the Mayfair). The Beloved were the support (although I only found this out later) and it appears I enjoyed them. New Order were on for just under an hour, starting with Age of Consent . At its end Hooky said he couldn't hear something as their " mouth was full of shit ". Maybe he was channeling this into the " long farewell to your soul " scream in Dreams Never End . On one of its last live ou

A massive earthquake hit Mexico City on 19 September 1985 , prompting this benefit gig at ULU. I only actually found out about it on the Tuesday (22 October) of the same week of the gig, so we didn't have advance tickets and it was a case of chancing it on the night. The car breaking down twice, once in Trafalgar Square, the second in Shaftesbury Avenue, didn't exactly help our chances, but we did it just - with one of us being the last but one admitted. Support were James , who performed a slow version of " Fire So Close " and a song about earwigs (amongst others). New Order were on top form this night, borne out by the reviews in Melody Maker and NME below. State of the Nation featured some additional lyrics and interesting use of echo on the drums towards the end. Echo also featured on guitar parts in Everything's Gone Green , embellishing it nicely.  Hooky introduced Age of Consent as a tribute to Gary Holton , who'd died earlier that day, and was

The East of England has not been served well by New Order. Only one gig in Norfolk ( Pennies in Norwich in 1982 ), none in Suffolk, only one in Kent ( Margate Winter Gardens in 1984 ), and this, their sole appearance in my own county of Essex. I wonder if in part it's proximity to London, although that logic can hardly be applied to part of Suffolk, Norfolk and Kent that can easily be two hours away. WOMAD itself has had a nomadic existence, although unlike some of its venues, Mersea Island was not repeated. Mersea Island sits a little way outside of Colchester in North Essex, and is reached by a causeway that can flood at high tide (and the official programme for the event included high tide times to help with that). This meant that getting to and away from the venue was not an easy task. On the Saturday in question, there'd already been plenty of thunderstorms rattling around, so a late July festival was not likely to be as pleasant as the season would s