SONGS THAT SAVED MY LIFE #7

Joy Division - Substance (1977 - 1980)

In early 1995, i was watching an episode of Sounds Of The Seventies - one featuring Punk and New Wave bands, music which i was still discovering - when something very different made me sit up straight, something that stood out from the buzzsaw guitars and anarchic lyrics. I'd heard of the varied, experimental and creative period that followed Punk, dubbed Post-Punk by the music press, but i'd heard very little of it. Years later, there would be a host of bands influenced by this amazingly diverse era of music, but in the mid-90's it was barely mentioned. I'd also been made aware of the band that would become 80's electronic indie giants New Order, but not heard a single note. So when footage of Joy Division appeared on my tv screen i had no preconceptions about their sound. A performance of their 1979 debut single "Transmission", from a show called Something Else, a youth-oriented tv series.Four serious young men on stage, in shirts and trousers, no punk uniform here. When the staccato but melodic bass started up, followed some seconds later by quickfire, metronomic drumming, it already sounded different. A simple, clipped guitar melody came in. When singer Ian Curtis stood there, eyes closed, unleashed his deep, baritone vocal, it sounded like it should have been coming from a much older man, one with the world on his shoulders. "Radio... live transmission..." As the song continued and gathered intensity, Curtis' became more animated, looking like a man possessed : staring eyes, flailing arms, performing as if his very life depended on it. My Mum opined that he "looked like he was on something", and i was inclined to agree, until i began to learn more about the history of the band, and in particular their captivating vocalist. I was straight in the HMV near my work place the next day, looking for a cd to introduce me to the world of this band. As it turned out, they hadn't been around for long enough to record more than a couple of albums, and a handful of singles, an EP (under their original name, Warsaw), and a few tracks for sampler albums. Looking for something with "Transmission" on it, i came across a compilation: Substance 1977 - 1980, featuring all the singles and assorted non-album tracks that had been released in their short lifetime. From the opening raw, punkier tracks from their self-released debut EP "A Design For Living" (under the Warsaw moniker), to the stark, dystopian cityscapes invoked by songs like "Digital", "Autosuggestion", "Glass", and "From Safety To Where", the stuttering tour de force of "She's Lost Control" (written by Curtis about a girl he'd met at work who had a Epileptic seizure in front of him, something he would end up suffering from himself), the spectral synthscape of "Atmosphere", and their only hit - sadly after Curtis' suicide - the emotional "Love Will Tear Us Apart", the whole collection was one surprise after another. I would later buy their two studio albums, which would deepen my love of their music even more. Some people describe their music as depressing, but i don't hear that: it is dark music, inward looking, delving into the deepest recesses of Ian Curtis troubled psyche, but i find it beautiful and atmospheric.