The mysterious Joy Division Band On The Wall tape

The mysterious Joy Division "Band On The Wall tape"

There is one recording which has had Joy Division fans mystified for decades. The "Band On The Wall tape" has been circulating since the early 1980s but we don't know when it was recorded, or who by.

Tracks
01. Walked In Line
02. She's Lost Control
03. Shadowplay
04. New Dawn Fades
05. Day Of The Lords
06. Insight
07. Disorder
08. The Only Mistake
09. I Remember Nothing
10. Sister Ray.
Appx. duration: 45 mins.
Sound quality 5/9 (terrible)

One track, I Remember Nothing, appears on the House Of Dolls bootleg LP

It's generally been attributed to Manchester's Band On The Wall venue and given one of the following dates:

Band On The Wall sometime in October 1978

Band On The Wall 13th March 1979

Band On The Wall sometime in June 1979

Manchester, Lesser Free Trade Hall 3 July 1979 (tape traders wrongly had the venue as Band On The Wall)

In fact some of the early bootleg cassettes that were exchanged between collectors included two or more dates on the sleeves and labels to try and cover all the bases.

We think the correct one is 13th March 1979 . The venue matches and we have confirmation that they played that night. In 2020 we asked Stephen Morris and this was his belief too. You can read Stephen's thoughts as part of the ongoing investigations and debate on our message board.
If you were there let us know



The mysterious Joy Division "Band On The Wall tape"

There is one recording which has had Joy Division fans mystified for decades. The "Band On The Wall tape" has been circulating since the early 1980s but we don't know when it was recorded, or who by.

Tracks 01. Walked In Line 02. She's Lost Control 03. Shadowplay 04. New Dawn Fades 05. Day Of The Lords 06. Insight 07. Disorder 08. The Only Mistake 09. I Remember Nothing 10. Sister Ray. Appx. duration: 45 mins. Sound quality 5/9 (terrible) One track, I Remember Nothing, appears on the House Of Dolls bootleg LP

It's generally been attributed to Manchester's Band On The Wall venue and given one of the following dates: Band On The Wall sometime in October 1978 Band On The Wall 13th March 1979 Band On The Wall sometime in June 1979 Manchester, Lesser Free Trade Hall 3 July 1979 (tape traders wrongly had the venue as Band On The Wall) In fact some of the early bootleg cassettes that were exchanged between collectors included two or more dates on the sleeves and labels to try and cover all the bases. We think the correct one is 13th March 1979 . The venue matches and we have confirmation that they played that night. In 2020 we asked Stephen Morris and this was his belief too. You can read Stephen's thoughts as part of the ongoing investigations and debate on our message board. If you were there let us know