#363 - New Order - Substance 1987 (1987)
MUSIC HISTORY WRITTEN BY HEAD WRITER DJ MORTY COYLE:
Released on August 17th 1987 on Factory Records this is the multi-produced compilation album by the Salford, Manchester, England, Post-Punk, Dance-Pop, Synth-Pop, Alternative, Rock Group.
Childhood friends, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, were separately at the sparsely-attended, infamous, June 4th, 1976 Sex Pistols gig at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall that instantly spawned the British Punk and Post-Punk movements.
Like many others there they too were inspired to start their own group with Bernard on guitar and Peter on bass.
Vocalist Ian Curtis responded to their ad and was quickly hired and after playing with a few other drummers another ad got Stephen Morris as their permanent one.
The band went through several name changes before first settling on Warsaw, named after David Bowie’s song with Brian Eno, “Warszawa” and then Joy Division, named for the forced, Jewish, female, prostitution, barracks in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
Although they never overtly aligned themselves with the recent Punk Rock scene’s appropriation of swastikas and other shocking Nazi imagery and the rise of a far right neo-Nazi movement there was still some ambiguity on where their sympathies laid.
With Punk energy, Hook’s driving and melodic lead basslines, Sumner’s sparse guitar-work, Morris’ almost timid drumming, and Curtis’ sorrowful and dark lyrics sung in a low baritone that seemed to cross Jim Morrison with Berlin-era David Bowie they found their direction.
And producer Martin Hannett’s unique production on their singles, an EP, and an album molded their intriguing sound.
They rapidly built a cult following but things were getting darker.
On top of a crumbling marriage and an affair Ian was dealing with chronic health problems including depression and his recently discovered epilepsy.
In fact the long, sleepless, musician’s hours exacerbated his condition and he started regularly having seizures onstage which some audience members assumed were part of the show and caused Ian deep shame.
An attempted suicide by overdose happened in April of 1980 leading to him missing some shows.
A month later the band was poised to begin their first tour of the Americas the following day when Ian Curtis hung himself.
Their most famous single, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” came out shortly after followed by their second and final album, “Closer.”
The band was shattered but committed to moving forward with their career.
However they honored the commitment they all made with Ian that if any member left Joy Division they would retire the name and their songs.
While coming up with new names they wanted to avoid their previous controversy and ended up using a shortened version of a recent headline, "The People's New Order of Kampuchea" without realizing that Adolf Hitler had also used the “New Order” phrase in his book, “Mein Kampf.”
After a short stint as a three-piece with Sumner taking over vocal duties due to his ability to sing while playing guitar they added drummer Stephen Morris’ girlfriend (and soon-to-be-wife) Gillian Gilbert on keyboards, guitar, sequencing, and programming. This was an easy decision as she had already previously filled in for both Ian and Bernard at several shows.
They started their new recording career using Martin Hannett again but by writing all new songs and developing different tastes and skills they quickly evolved from a similar sound and style to Joy Division to their self-produced hybrid of danceable, Post-Disco, Electronica, and Rock inspired by cutting edge musicians and producers like Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder.
Along with absorbing the nascent New York Electro and Freestyle sounds they became one of the first artists to make multiple mixes and remixes of their songs concurrently available, a completely common practice today.
They became a band whose records also sounded great pumped onto the dance floors.
They also gained fame for their striking and elaborate singles and album covers designed by Factory Records in-house art director and co-founder Peter Saville that often cost more than the songs contained within.
After releasing four studio albums this compilation gathered all their 12-inch singles and b-sides as well as a couple re-recordings and a brand new song.
It was so popular that the following year Factory Records put out a similar compilation from Joy Division with the imaginative title, “Substance.”
Five more studio albums followed this and the band went through a few hiatuses, slight line-up changes, and lots of animosity between Hooky and Sumner before Hooky quit in 2007 and then Sumner and the band decided to continue on without him in 2011.
However Hooky bottom-lined their legacy by writing, “You are very lucky in a group to change the world culturally and musically once. We were very, very lucky to manage to do it twice.”
You can hear their influence in so many artists like LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, and even Black Eyed Peas (but it’s probably best to avoid their cover of “Bizarre Love Triangle.”)