1995 05 Joy Division Vox
FROM DESPAIR TO WHERE? Hundreds of stars have over-indulged in order to sustain rock’n’roll's central tenet: Live fast, die young. Far fewer have taken the extreme decision deliberately to end their own lives with a bullet or a rope. Fifteen years after the death by suicide of Ian Curtis, the Joy Division singer’s ex-wife has written a book about his life. Why, asks Deborah Curtis, have no lessons been learned? In September 1979, a Manchester group called Joy Division showcased their latest single, 'Transmission', on BBC2's new-wave show, Something Else . The opening camera shots panned in on the members of the band, finally stopping on the ghost-grey frame of the singer, hunched over the microphone, his pale blue eyes half-closed in concentration. As the song went on, Ian Curtis became more animated, jerking his arms and knocking the microphone stand to the floor. No language just sound, that's all w