Ich habe ja mich kürzlich schon lobend über Peter Hooks Joy-Division-Buch „Unknown Pleasures – Inside Joy Division“ geäußert, hier drei der besten Stellen aus dem Buch:

Über das berühmte Sex Pistols Konzert in der Lesser Free Trade Hall 1976, das nicht nur Gründungsmoment von Joy Division war, sondern dessen Mythos auch im Factory Records Film „24 Hour Party People“ wunderbar zelebriert wurde (siehe Video unter dem Zitat):

„The Sex Pistols’ gear was set up and then, without further ceremony, they come on: Johnny Rotten, Glen Matlock, Steve Jones and Paul Cook. Steve Jones was wearing a boiler suit and the rest of them looked like they’d vandalized an Oxfam shop. Rotten had on this torn-open yellow sweater and he glared out into the audience like he wanted to kill each and every one of us, one at a time, before the band struck up into something that might have been ‘Did You No Wrong’ but you couldn’t tell because it was so loud and distorted.

I remember feeling as though I’d been sitting in a darkened room all of my life – comfortable and warm and safe and quiet – and then all of a sudden someone had kicked the door in, and it had burst open to let an intense bright light and this even more intense noise, showing me another world, another life, a way out. I was immediately no longer comfortable and safe, but that didn’t matter because it felt great. I felt alive. It was the weirdest situation. It wasn’t just me feeling it either – we were all like that.
We just stood there, stock still, watching the Pistols. Absolutely, utterly, gobsmacked.“

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vvGp_VPeLI

Über Business-Entscheidungen von Tony Wilson und Factory Records, die unter anderem dazu führten, dass „Atmosphere“, Joy Divisions wohl zugänglichster Song, zwar als Single herausgebracht wurde – aber nur auf einer Split-EP, limitiert auf 1.578 Einheiten, ausschließlich per Mailorder erhältlich, weil veröffentlicht auf dem obskuren französischen Label Sordide Sentimental, das Wilson und Bandmanager Rob Gretton zuvor mit einem Throbbing-Gristle-Release beeindruckt hatte:

„The tracks that Throbbing Gristle put out on Sordide Sentimental were never going anywehre else. I mean, they were harsh even by the standards of Throbbing Gristle. Whenever I put that EP on my cat used to run out of the room. Us? We put two of our best songs on it. On a limited edition that we never even got any money for. The run was 1.578 copies; I found out later that 1578 was also the last time the French beat the English in a war.
Having said that, it didn’t bother us at the time – this came during a period when we were continually writing great songs, so it didn’t seem like such a big deal, to be honest. And, looking at it in terms of the whole Joy Division story, well, it’s just „Us“, isn’t it? That special attitude championed by Rob and accepted by Tony that was either total naivety, utter stupidity, incredible foresight or a weird mix of all three.“

Über den Unterschied zwischen den Aufnahmen zum Joy Division Debütalbum „Unknown Pleasures“ und allen weiteren Platten, die Hook mit Joy Division und New Order aufgenommen hat und all die Streitereien, die vor allem zwischen ihm und Barney Sumner in den nächsten Jahrzehnten folgen sollten (oh, und natürlich über die Eigenheit von Factory Records, alles mit einer eigenen Katalognummer zu versehen, so wie legendärerweise auch die Plakate zum ersten Gig eine eigene Katalognummer bekamen):

„If only I’d known then what I know now I’d have savoured making our first album – because by the time we got to the second one there were already divisions beginning to form and we were very worried about Ian (Curtis). Martin (Hannett, Produzent) was having a hard time with the drugs so it got very fraught and very stressful. Then, on Movement, the first New Order album – well, we were fucked from that album on as fas as I’m concerned. Whatever record we were making from that point on, there was always some elephant in the room. Whether it was Ian’s death, or business matters, personal disputes, the Hacienda sucking the life out of us or Factory going to the wall, there was always something. Always an elephant. Should have given it a catalogue number.“