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could joy division have saved us from the '80s?
 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 02:13 [#00387630]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker



and before you get started, i'm not talking about new
order. forget about them. i'm talking about ian curtis joy
division. had he not killed himself and the band kept going
for a few years where they left off at "love will tear us
apart" (their last and biggest single), could the band have
prevented the hair metal invasion and bad
synthesizer-treated pop (not to be confused with the genre
of "synth-pop")? if so, i think that would have changed the
direction of music in the 90s, whether or not joy division
kept going after 1989. it's interesting to think about. to
clarify, i'm not hypothesizing that joy division would have
went multi-platinum if ian curtis hadn't offed himself. i
think they would have continued to garner critical success
(provided that their label(s) stopped pushing for "hits" and
adding synth melodies over top of finished recordings) and
attained the commercial success that new order received.
however, i don't think they would have sounded like new
order (who, for a band that's mostly the same members, sound
quite different). i think their future songs would've been
as sincere and trend-defying as ever but the audience
would've caught onto their music. what do you think?


 

offline flea from depths of your mind (New Zealand) on 2002-09-11 02:21 [#00387634]
Points: 9083 Status: Regular



80's saw some crushingly powerful industrial, No Wave(Sonic
Youth, Lydia Lunch, SWANS), some excellent goth, (Siouxsie
etc) cool synth based stuff (Depeche Mode,FAD Gadget not to
mention ACID HOUSE anyone?)....and ended with the best and
tastiest of Grunge..pre Nevermind...so as far as I am
concerned the 80's were a resounding success..infact there
wont be a WARP if there were no 80's

multi-platinum sellers exist in addimetdly overwhelming but
still a totally parallel and detached existence for me..and
none of what the Hair Metallers perpetrated is any worse
than Limp DipShits..or Creed or KORN



 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 02:27 [#00387638]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker



flea: you're absolutely right! there was tons of amazing
stuff in the '80s. some of my favorite artists made their
best work during that decade. i prolly should've phrased my
topic differently, cos i don't think the '80s were bad at
all, but i gave in to the fact that most people cringe at
'80s music.

to continue my train of thought, i wasn't making the
assumption that ALL music in the '80s sounded like what was
popular on the radio and mtv. however,
subversive/non-mainstream is obviously not as influential on
the music "industry" and the masses as the mainstream. which
brings me back to my question: could joy division have
crossed over to the mainstream and change the course of
music as we knew it?


 

offline Spookyluke from United States on 2002-09-11 02:36 [#00387639]
Points: 1955 Status: Lurker



Hmm, I'd say Ian Curtis, though not likely to have changed a
genre, would've commanded a bit more respect than he ever
earned. There'd be Ian Curtis things on VH1, more Joy
Division covers, and he probably would've generated a large
enough fan base in the US to stay near the top of the
charts.


 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 02:59 [#00387660]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker



i totally think they would've had the reputation in the '80s
that radiohead got in the '90s (with the difference being
joy division's album is revered as a classic and
radiohead's, well, let's just say not a classic)


 

offline earthleakage from tell the world you're winning on 2002-09-11 03:33 [#00387677]
Points: 27795 Status: Regular



rocket from the crypt, anyone?


 

offline Cfern from Sacto (United States) on 2002-09-11 03:59 [#00387684]
Points: 1384 Status: Lurker



sorry guys Joy Division sucks balls


 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 04:02 [#00387688]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker | Followup to Cfern: #00387684



shit... and all this time i thought they were good. i feel
so embarassed right now. thanks for setting me straight,
cfern. autechre rule btw.


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2002-09-11 04:28 [#00387713]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



I've listened to nothing but Joy Division for two days, and
boned up on my Joy trivia... I get extremely obsessive when
I get into new music.

But I can't say just how good they are yet, till I give them
time... but fuck, been a while since I heard music that felt
this ''right'' to me... awesome stuff, I would do anything
to have 10 more years worth of JD output. Definitely would
have been a bright spot in those damned 80's... I'm not a
big fan of that decade.


 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 04:37 [#00387717]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker



i downloaded 5 joy division music videos today, all awesome.
anyone know if there's a video for "new dawn fades"? that's
my favorite.


 

offline Joyrex from watmm.com (United States) on 2002-09-11 04:49 [#00387727]
Points: 1389 Status: Lurker



Tits: Agreed - Ian had lots more to say, and the fact he
killed himself over a love-related incident is even more
sad.

I never knew they had 5 videos - I've only seen "Love Will
Tear Us Apart" a few times. What were the other tracks?


 

offline jand from Braintree (United Kingdom) on 2002-09-11 04:50 [#00387728]
Points: 5975 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



Great thread, tits....wish it wasn't 4:50am or I'd do a
longer reply but heres some random insomniac thoughts...

If JD had been that successful I doubt the Hacienda would
ever have been built...JD weren't that sort of band, but New
Order were...go figure...

And the effect that one club had on UK (& worldwide) culture
is huge...

JD meant a lot to me & yeah, I cried when that suicide shit
went down....but it was gonna happen with him sooner or
later; the guy was a very ill bloke & this may sound
heartless, but that was the key to the JD...

And the thought of them becoming the 80s Radiohead was
probably what pushed him over the edge...

"Oh Manchester, so much to answer for" - have fun spotting
that lyric...:)..


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2002-09-11 04:53 [#00387731]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



I watched the video for Love Will Tear Us Apart on
Rollingstone.com today... I love boring bands that stand
there and don't put on a show. Curtis was so introverted and
awkward. Cool like ice.


 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 05:37 [#00387773]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker | Followup to Ophecks: #00387731



thom yorke stole his trance-dance.

bernard sumner and the drummer put on a great show just
playing their instruments. they fucking rock in those 5
videos i have.


 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 05:39 [#00387779]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker | Followup to Joyrex: #00387727



joyrex:
love will tear us apart
atmosphere
decades
shadowplay
transmission

i got them all off soulseek. contact me if you have trouble
locating any of them, i can send them to you. decades might
be labeled "terrible" in parenthesis cos it's ripped from an
early 80s vhs tape, but i found that kind of charming.


 

offline flea from depths of your mind (New Zealand) on 2002-09-11 05:59 [#00387797]
Points: 9083 Status: Regular



I dont know the movie 24 hr party people kinda spoiled the
pristeen image of Ian Curtis for me..now when I pitcure him
I keep seeing the face of that actors ugly spastic face...
kinda bummy


 

offline hedphelym from Montreal (Canada) on 2002-09-11 06:04 [#00387804]
Points: 749 Status: Addict



No they couldn't have. Did Aphex save us from '90s pop
domination?


 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 06:05 [#00387806]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker | Followup to flea: #00387797



i'm kinda glad i didn't see that movie

i think afx and jd are a terrible comparison...


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2002-09-11 06:08 [#00387810]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Followup to titsworth: #00387773 | Show recordbag



Really... I've only seen LWTUApart, and he didn't do
anything tap his foot, and actually turned AWAY from the
camera when it was his guitar part. :-) Yeek.

But yeah, I read about his spastic seizures on stage... but
I've yet to see a live video of them. I guess that WOULD be
quite a show...

But music videos were boring back then. I bet they weren't
too into it, anyway... a bit disinterested.


 

offline neetta from Finland on 2002-09-11 06:10 [#00387811]
Points: 5924 Status: Regular



joy division is great but i really don't think ANYTHING
could have prevented the hair metal :(((

it's just one of the signs of the end i'd say :)


 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 06:12 [#00387815]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker



download the clips off me, mr. phecks. the only one w/o the
band is "atmosphere" (which combines footage of robed people
walking around in scening places with photos sequenced
together to "seem" like band footage)

also i can't get files to download off you now for some
reason


 

offline Inverted Whale from United States Minor Outlying Islands on 2002-09-11 06:45 [#00387863]
Points: 3301 Status: Lurker | Followup to jand: #00387728



"Oh Manchester, so much to answer for"

smiths - suffer little children

another great manchester band.

just to stay on topic, joy division is great but too bleak
to listen to on a regular basis ... usually I listen to New
Order but that's highly dependent on mood


 

offline IronLung from the 91fwy in soCAL (United States) on 2002-09-11 06:50 [#00387868]
Points: 8032 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



JOy Division are EASILY one of the best bands of the
80's....

Top 5 easy...They RULE....


 

offline LeCoeur from the outer edge of the universe (United States) on 2002-09-11 06:52 [#00387873]
Points: 8249 Status: Lurker | Followup to Inverted Whale: #00387863



i love both.....new order and joy division!

my moods drive the music i listen to...i usually listen to
happy stuff when i'm down and vice versa. some songs can
really put in you in the major dumper!

ians voice is just wonderful....emotional


 

offline Inverted Whale from United States Minor Outlying Islands on 2002-09-11 06:55 [#00387878]
Points: 3301 Status: Lurker | Followup to LeCoeur: #00387873



I know What you mean, nowadays the whale is pretty happy, so
upbeat New Order is in the playlist. But you have to be
careful, upbeat New Order tracks are often dirges in
disguises ...


 

offline jand from Braintree (United Kingdom) on 2002-09-11 07:01 [#00387887]
Points: 5975 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



the spastic seizures were because the guy was epileptic...

and IW...what a song that was!!!...The Smiths are probably
my fave band from my youth...Hatful of Hollow literally
saved my sanity as a teenager....

hehe...And Mozza was probably my first ever crush.... :)...



 

offline titsworth from Washington, DC (United States) on 2002-09-11 08:08 [#00387967]
Points: 14550 Status: Lurker | Followup to jand: #00387887



yea i know..... i dunno if thom is as well. i don't think
his "crazy dance"'s similarity to ian's convulsions are
purely coincidental.


 

offline Isaac from London (United Kingdom) on 2002-09-11 09:51 [#00388115]
Points: 110 Status: Regular



If you're interested, watch a film called 24Hour Party
People, all about the rise and fall of Factory Records and
the Manchester scene of the mid-80's to early 90's. It's an
enjoyable, occasionally funny film dealing with such bands
as Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays.
Worth checking out.


 


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