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A mural of Ian Curtis in Manchester
A mural of Ian Curtis in Manchester

Can a man who lived only 23 years be an inspiration for millions of people around the world? If we speak about Ian Curtis, then the answer is yes. The legendary frontman of Joy Division was born on July 15, 1956 and until the time he committed suicide, on May 18, 1980, his voice managed to enchant everyone who came along with it. He became an icon of the post-punk genre and many singers and groups have mentioned Curtis as their inspiration.

Ian Curtis was a unique character from his early years. He showed a passion for poetry and philosophy and was part of a choir in Manchester. While he was teenager, he realized that music was his passion and he wanted to become a singer. However, he was struggling financially and he had to work on jobs he didn’t like. There are reports about him stealing albums from local shops. At the age of 19, he married his wife, Deborah Woodruff and had one child, Natalie. Life was not easy for them and they had to move from house to house and even stay with Ian’s grandparents for some time.

Everything would start changing in 1976. At July of that year, Sex Pistols had a gig in Manchester. Curtis was there and met with some old school friends. These were Bernard Summer and Peter Hook. This trio, along with drummer Stephen Morris, who came in next year, would consist of ”Warsaw”, the group’s first name before turning into Joy Division. They had chosen the name “Warsaw” as a reference to David Bowie’s song “Warszawa” but had to change their name, because there was already a London punk band called “Warsaw Pakt” and they didn’t want to be confused. For the record, they borrowed the name “Joy Division” on early 1978 from the sexual slavery wing of a Nazi concentration camp mentioned in the 1955 novel “House of the Dolls”.

To begin with, the band had several issues. They were not able to record their tracks and even when they could, there would be problems with the producers. Moreover, they would get into gigs in Manchester, but not in other areas. Everything changed when they appeared for the first time on TV. They performed “Shadowplay” and people immediately loved them.

You could see the talent from the first notes. All the members of the group were exceptional. But Ian Curtis was divine. His quiet behaviour and then the sudden outbursts (caused by the epilepsy seizures he started having in 1978), his unique dancing. His barritone voice. In less than two years from that first TV appearance, Joy Division recorded two of the most iconic albums in the history of music, “Unknown Pleasures” and “Closer”. They would appear all over United Kingdom.

Unfortunately, this sudden popularity and the extensive schedules, deteriorated Curtis’ physical and mental health. He experienced seizures on stage and not only. His marriage was not going well, because Curtis was associated with another woman and he couldn’t bear the guilt. He attempted to commit suicide in April 1980 but he failed. Later this month, Joy Division would shoot the music video for the song “Love Will Tear Us Apart”.

3 weeks after shooting the video, Curtis would sit home and watch Werner Herzog’s film “Stroszek”, a film about an artist who goes to USA but fails, and would listen to Iggy Pop’s album “The Idiot”. The latter was inspired by Dostoevsky’s novel with the same name, where a man with epileptic seizures is being driven mad. In the afternoon of May 18, 1980, Deborrah would find Curtis’ body hanging in the kitchen. He was only 23 years old, but his legacy will stay forever.

And we totally recommend you to watch the 2007’s film “Control”, by Anton Corbijn, which perfectly explores the enigmatic figure of Ian Curtis.

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