I have sympathy for his estranged wife, can't be easy bringing up a young kid on your own, and her biography of Ian Curtis 'Touching From A Distance' was excellent. None of this romanticising nonesense which I've read loads of about Ian Curtis and Joy Division.
My fantastic Humanities teacher who I had a crush on at school was a big Joy Division fan.
> They had a chilly, abstract sound and the band's reticence led many
> journalists and outside observers to believe (for years, even into New
> Order) that they were dour and dull. Said Morrissey in 1983: "We're
> fed up with people who won't talk about the press, all this New Order
> crap. They probably REALLY haven't GOT anything to say." Set these
> facts against Morrissey's love of more, um, "flamboyant" music
> (glam, punk, 60s pop) and it's not hard to see why he didn't like them.
> A clue to his opinion (and Johnny's as well) is in The Smiths' not wishing
> to sign with Factory, and showering the Haçienda with flowers at their
> first gig in the venue. "We introduced [the flowers] as an antidote
> to the Haçienda when we played there; it was so sterile and inhuman. We
> wanted some harmony with nature. Also, to show some kind of optimism in
> Manchester, which the flowers represent." That first Haçienda gig
> took place in February of 1983, just weeks before "Blue Monday"
> stormed the world, if that gives any indication of what (*they* felt) they
> were up against-- the "sterile inhumanity" of New Wave, to which
> Joy Division and New Order had beem linked (unfairly in my opinion).
> Rogan stated that "Although Morrissey was no great fan of [Joy
> Division], he had recognized their importance as an influential voice in
> the city's independent music scene." This unsubstantiated claim feels
> untrue to me, as Rogan probably inserted this into his narrative to show
> due respect for Curtis' suicide in 1980, which is described in that
> passage, even though there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that
> proves Morrissey did or did not care.
> But Rogan did unearth this nugget of Morrissey's music journalism from
> 1978: "Of the new bands, Warsaw...and The Fall look the most likely
> to make any musical headway. Most of them are clumsy, all are energetic
> and enthusiastic. Warsaw were formed some time ago by vocalist Ian Curtis
> and have performed alongside more prominent bands like The Heartbreakers.
> Although they offer little originality with Ian's offstage antics
> resembling one Iggy Pop, highliting [sic] their set is 'Another Kill'
> which is at least memorable, if slightly typical." Sound criticism,
> incidentally.