Cuttings

THE VIKING Low-slung bass hero Peter Hook has survived both Joy Division and New Order with his impish humour intact. Roy Wilkinson hears tales of Michael Schumacher’s leather jacket, rucks with Moz and Mexican rave music. WE JOIN PETER Hook in the studio annexe at his Cheshire home. He’s in the middle of remixing a track for Rock Kills Kid, a new and hygienic Los Angeles quintet. This extracurricular remix work is new terrain for Peter. His first commission was a recent makeover for The Killers’ track All These Things That I've Done that never saw the light of day. Playing on the song’s “I got soul but I’m not a soldier" refrain, Peter added the voices of young US servicemen, talking about their imminent dispatch to Iraq. The record company decided this was far too contentious for release. Was the indomitable Hook bothered? Of course not. “I was quite flattered,” he laughs. “Getting banned when I'm knocking on ...

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT... MANCHESTER PETER HOOK MUSICIAN WHY VISIT...? You could spend your life trying to figure out why it is so special - how could any city feel so comfortable? I’m a well-travelled man, but there is nothing to compare with the feeling of returning home. In the old days, I would immediately head out to Dry, the bar that I used to own with the rest of New Order. These days, like many men of my age and ilk, I now like to go straight to bed. For those with more energy, there’s always lots going on. The In the City (inthecity.co.uk) music convention and unsigned bands festival starts today and runs until Tuesday, the Manchester Comedy Festival (manchestercomedyfestival.co.uk) started last week and runs till Sunday, and a major new exhibition on UK hip hop has just opened at the Urbis (urbis.org.uk). CHECK IN... Whenever New Order played Manchester, we would stay in a city centre hotel. I like the Lowry (0161 827 4000; thelowryhotel.com) but it is very minimalist and...

Is this it? His bass goes so low he's got back problems but that won't stop ex-New Order man Peter Hook having it. Just don’t call him a fake DJ Where's your head at? I'm not bad. Although I've had a bit of internet trouble lately, with people slagging me off online, saying I'm a “fake DJ”. I've never claimed to be a DJ, I'm a celebrity. Come and laugh at the old git who used to be in a band, that’s the way me, Shaun [Ryder] and Mani do it. But these kids who’ve paid their dues and spent 20 years honing their craft have taken it upon themselves to expose me. My reply was, “Listen, mate, if you’ve taken 20 years to hone your craft, then you’re effing useless.” Which didn’t go down too well! Do you remember the first time? It was with the Buzzcocks at the Electric Circus in Manchester when we were Warsaw, although they had us down on the bill as Stiff Kittens. I was fucking terrified. I remember walking onstage and I remember coming off, but the rest is a ...

MY TEAM PETER HOOK, NEW ORDER MANCHESTER UNITED AS A KID I used to live near Old Trafford. We couldn’t afford to go in, but we used to hang round the stadium. I was about 14 when I went to my first match. It was when the Stretford End used to riot. You spent most of the time watching the fans rather than the match. None of my family supported United and my mates in Salford were City fans. We used to go to the derbies together - there was always a lot of trouble. My God, it was frightening. I guess that was what stopped me from going, and once I got into the band I lost the passion for it. It’s only recently that I’ve been settled enough to buy a season ticket. When I’m on tour, I always watch United’s matches on TV. Football is such a big part of my life. There’s a misconception that New Order are all mad about football because we did the World Cup song. We are supporters but we’re not rabid. It was great to do World In Motion’ and meet the 1990 England team. Gazza drank three bo...

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/may/09/peter-hook-ian-curtis MUSIC In memory of Ian’s pleasures and pain Thirty years after the death of Ian Curtis, Peter Hook brings his Joy Division pal to life In the newly converted rehearsal studio behind his Alderley Edge home, Peter Hook is sifting through his personal collection of Joy Division memorabilia, including his first ever bass, bought the day after he saw the Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester, his ticket for said gig, and the itinerary for the first Joy Division US tour. The latter never happened, because on the eve of the dates, singer Ian Curtis killed himself. Hook, the hand’s bassist, is musing on his decision to commemorate Curtis’s life by playing Joy Division’s debut, Unknown Pleasures , live, on the 30th anniversary of his death, at Hook’s new club, Factory. “There’s a nervousness because of what you’re dealing with... a nervousness about whether you’re doing the right thing.” Part of the...

(Despite being titled on cover as "New Order", this is really only Peter Hook from the band) WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS ROCK GOD MARRIES THIS OLD LADY? A strange and wonderful tale of comedy, nuns, New Order and good old fashioned romance. We give you Mr and Mrs Peter Hook... story by Jon 'Derek Batey' Wilde Half an hour after interrogating top married couple Peter and Caroline Hook about the ins and outs of their rampant sex life, I'm safely ensconced in my hotel room attempting to locate the Swedish pom channel on the goggle-box, when the telephone rings. Someone purporting to be a loaded employee is on the line, eager to find out how the interview had gone. It all sounds innocent enough. How was Caroline? Friendly enough but a touch on the tentative side. A bit dull? Not dull exactly. But inclined to keep her cards too close to her ample chest. Did I find her attractive? Well, put it this way, I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating Chocol...

The agony and the ecstasy  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/27/hacienda-peter-hook Walking through today's regenerated and gentrified Manchester, it's almost impossible to recall how dark and depressing the city was in the late 70s. The home of the industrial revolution was at a low ebb and the only people who believed any kind of revolution was now possible were the romantic idealists behind Factory Records. Emboldened by the spirit of punk and an excess of civic pride, Factory's founders, in particular Tony Wilson and Robert Gretton, believed in Manchester more than they believed in themselves. The Haçienda club, launched in 1982, was the physical realisation of their vision; Wilson found the name in an essay by French theorist Ivan Chtcheglov entitled "Formulary for a New Urbanism" ("We are bored in the city, everybody is bored, there is no longer any temple to the sun... you'll never see the Haçienda. It doesn't exist. The ...