Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division - Deborah Curtis

The list of rock stars who have been taken from us early is a long one. Many have lived the rock 'n roll lifestyle to excess and paid the ultimate price. Others have died through no fault of their own, their deaths a tragedy. Far fewer are those who have deliberately snuffed out their own spark. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana is perhaps the highest profile of these but more than a decade for he killed himself there was Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Deborah Curtis seems to be the person in the best position to talk about Ian Curtis' life, as she shared many years of it as his girlfriend and wife. She knew him from when he was just schoolboy with big dreams and was ...  Read the complete review

Manchester's Joy Division were and are still one of the most important British bands ever. To this day their music impresses and inspires as much as it did in back in the late 70's post-punk era, if not more so. The legacy has survived throughout the years with the development of 'Madchester' becoming a more relevant (or atleast popular) music scene than anywhere else in Britain, and with the (now refreshed) success of New Order - the band formed quickly from within the ruins of Joy Division, and with film interest in the Manchester scene of late. And so re-releasing the 1995 Faber & Faber publication of this book, which is a biography of the ...  Read the complete review