Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Joy Division's ultra-rare single


Joy Division: Atmosphere


On March 18, 1980 Joy Division released their rare "Licht und Blindheit" single in France on the Sordide Sentimental label, which combined art, music and text in a lavish fold-out folder that featured text by label founder Jean-Pierre Turmel, with the Joy Division 45 inside.  Only 1,578 copies were made. They were sold in shops for 2.50 pounds. On Ebay, the record is posted at 1,1750 pounds

On Side A there is the brooding "Atmosphere", one of the band's greatest songs. This is the song DJ John Peel would play after announcing the death of singer Ian Curtis. With its lines "Walk in silence/ Don't walk away, in silence", the song seems to be about Curtis's attempts to reconcile with his unwilling wife after his affair. the song would top the UK Indie charts in October of 1980.



In 1988 the band's photographer and the future director of the bio-pic Control, Anton Corbjin, made a video for the song.


"Dead Souls" reveals Curtis's inner turmoil. His self doubts, his mood swings, his "dual of personalities" that keep calling him. Another great song.



No comments:

Post a Comment