Handwritten Ian Curtis letter sells for £6,000 at Sotheby's September 2024
Sotheby's auction description: A handwritten letter from Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis to a fan, accompanied by the original envelope, hand-addressed by Curtis. The letter was sent from Macclesfield, Cheshire, and is postmarked 30th November 1979. The name and address of the band's record label, Factory Records, is written at the top of the letter. Dimensions The letter 5 1/4in x 7 1/4in (13.25cm x 18cm) The envelope 9in x 4in (23cm x 10cm) In the letter, Curtis discusses Joy Division recording Love Will Tear Us Apart, among other songs, with John Peel, one of the original disco jockeys on BBC Radio 1: 'Sorry I’m late writing, but we’ve just finished recording another John Peel session to be shown within the next two weeks. (The tracks were all unrecorded: Colony: Twenty Four Hours: Sound of Music: Love Will Tear Us Apart). I’m not sure whether you’ve heard any of these but I’m pretty sure we played at least one of them at Blackburn.' Curtis also discusses the band's upcoming performance at Les Bains Douches in Paris on 10th December 1979: 'We’re playing in Paris on December 18th which should be nice + I’m looking forward to that.' This letter comes from a time when Joy Division were beginning to gain national attention. They had appeared on BBC 2's Something Else just two months prior, which was to be their only nationwide television appearance, and were also preparing to embark on an European tour, beginning in January 1980. The band's ascent to stardom was tragically cut short by Curtis' death in May 1980, although the cult following surrounding Joy Division has ensured that Curtis' legacy as an exceptional songwriter has endured.   The letter is undated but Ian says "we've just finished recording another John Peel Session" which was recorded 26 November 1979. He gives the address as '76 Palatine Road' - Factory were based at 86 Palatine Road.
Handwritten Ian Curtis letter up for auction 5th July 2024
A hand written letter from Ian Curtis to a close school friend who moved to London aged 19 has come up for sale at auction on the Saleroom. Written just 12 weeks before Ian's wedding, and postmarked 21 April 1975, this letter is interesting as it gives a "new" address for the Curtis family in New Moston which is in the Failsworth area of East Manchester. The Bowie album he refers to would have been Young Americans and 'Helen' is Helen Atkinson Wood.   The seller, Oliver Cleaver, and Ian became close friends at Kings School in Macclesfield as he explains in the provenance section of the auction -  which also included two later letters from Deborah Curtis to Oliver regarding her Touching From a Distance book: 'the letters were sent by Ian and Debbie to a schoolfriend who has provided a letter of authenticity which reads: 'I went to Kings School Macclesfield with Ian Curtis in the late 1960s and 1970s and we became close friends. We spent our spare time playing records in Ian's bedroom at his parents' flat in Huddersfield, or hanging round Sparrow park sniffing Dab-it-off, a dry cleaning fluid you could buy and soak onto a handkerchief with head-spinning effects. I grew close to Debbie as well when she started going out with Ian and then married him. Ian was expelled from Kings after he and I had our stomachs pumped at Macclesfield Infirmary after we'd overdosed on Largactil, a strong antipsychotic drug used to treat anxiety. We had stolen it from an old people's home during a school trip. I was allowed to return to school after two months' suspension. My parents were teachers and I suspect they pulled some strings. Ian's dad was a policeman. So Ian was kicked out and went to work in a record shop. We kept in touch for a while and he wrote to me in the summer of 1975 while I was living in London, aged 19. Ian was living at 35 Belgrave Road, New Moston. Debbie Curtis wrote to me in the summer of 1990 as she prepared her book "Touching From a Distance". We met up and two years later she wrote again at length to check some stories before publication.' Update: The auction did not meet the £4,000 auction reserve
Joy Division - clips reel Betacam video
This 'Joy Division - clips reel' Betacam  was produced by Dubbs in 2008.  It includes a printed A4 size sheet dated 18th April 2008 with "Client name: The Works Distribution" on it along with the title, duration (14:29) and technical details. The tape itself says "Fujifilm D321" and "Digital Betacam" and there is a sticker on the front of case which reads "Please return immediately after viewing to: Lucy Fleet, The Works Distribution, 4th Floor Portland House, 4 Great Portland Street, London W1 8QJ". What's on the tape:  Video excerpts from the Grant Gee documentary with various short interview snippets, bits of the Love Will Tear Us Apart  promo video and some of the 1978 Granada TV Shadowplay performance etc.
Flexidisc acetate auctioned at Bonhams 14th June 2022
Rob Gretton had two of these made, the other is on display at the Rylands Library, Manchester until January 2023. Sold for £4,462.50 inc. premium       Joy Division: An Acetate Recording Of The 7inch Flexidisc Komakino/Incubation/As You Said,1980 12 inch, Portland Recording Studios Ltd. labels with recording details in blue felt-tip pen, with cutting engineer George 'Porky' Peckham's etchings in the run-off grooves, Side 1 - Inacoma? Play Loud At 45rpm Please and Side 2 - To John With Luv From Porky - Up The Pool, in die-cut paper sleeve with John Peel's handwritten band name Footnotes This single was released in April 1980, as a flexidisc to be given away free in selected record shops, with some 75,000 copies pressed. The three tracks were outtakes from the Closer album recording sessions and was the band's final release prior to Ian Curtis' death in May that year.
New Dawn Fades acetate up for auction at Bonhams 14th June 2022
The 10" acetate was sent to John Peel and is personalised for him, suggesting it is a one off...      Joy Division: An Acetate Recording Of New Dawn Fades, 1979 a single-sided 10inch disc centre with square label inscribed in unknown hand in blue felt-tip pen, FACT 10+1 33 1/3 for John from Joy Division and Factory Records 'New Dawn Fades' from 'Unknown Pleasures', details also etched into run-off groove, personalised engraved message from George 'Porky' Peckham to centre, reading Porky to Peel, Hello/Keep it up John, you're doin a grand job, in plain white, die-cut paper sleeve with John Peel's annotations Footnotes Possibly unique, this acetate recording of the Side 1 track from the band's debut album, Unknown Pleasures, was probably sent to John Peel as a pre-release demo. John Peel played this track in his show on 19th May 1980, in tribute to Ian Curtis who had committed suicide the previous day and also on 19th May 1981, on the first anniversary of the singer's death.
Joy Division Betacam videos
Two Joy Division betacam videos: Transmission (Something Else performance), Atmosphere, She's Lost Control, and Love Will Tear Us Apart 1995. They appear genuine and from the London records era. Exactly what versions of the songs are on them is unclear. See our message board discussions here. Update in 2024: The actual contents of the tapes are as follows... The Vanderquest compilation features: Transmission        (Something Else performance) Atmosphere         (Anton Corbijn promo video) Leaders Of Men   (Altrincham 14/3/79) - the label incorrectly states She's Lost Control Leaders Of Men is incomplete, as on all versions of Malcolm's film, and quite blurry. The Telecine tape presumably features the Love Will Tear Us Apart promo
The last photo of Ian Curtis - taken 15 May 1980
The last photo of Ian Curtis auctioned in April 2022 as part of a collection owned by former band member, and Joy Division manager, Terry Mason. Auction date 26 April 2022, estimate £3,000 - £5000      Here's the full description of the lot taken from the Omega Auctions web site: "An original passport photo with image of Ian Curtis, taken just weeks before his untimely death in May 1980. With full signature (with middle initial) in blue ink to the reverse by Ian Curtis. Measures 4 x 5.5cm. Provenance: signed and given by Ian Curtis to then road manager Terry Mason for purposes of providing a copy to US immigration in order to obtain a visa for the planned US tour. Further information supplied by the vendor: The last known photo of Ian Curtis "Taken on the morning of Thursday 15th May 1980, at the Photo Me booth in Woolworths Macclesfield, in preparation for the US Tour. The band, Rob and the crew all needed to provide 2 x passport photos, signed on the reverse complete with any middle initials. I was due to travel to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square the next day and I already had everyone else, Ian’s were the last to be collected. I drove over with Barney and Rob Gretton. Ian was in fine form and overly generous, we really thought that he had got his head around his domestic situation, and was making plans for the future. He gave Barney some albums, his skinny Levis and his winkle picker boots, he gave me his Ideal for Living cover – for some reason I had missed out on a cover, despite having been there folding them, Ian was offering me his #2 Sordide Sentimental, but Rob stopped him. And then the major reason for the journey, Ian handed me the two duly signed passport photos for the US Embassy, and gave me the remaining copy, saying ‘you keep this you never know when you might need it’, with Rob joking, ‘it’s your tip for going to the embassy’. Three photos, shouldn’t there be a fourth? There was, but obviously it was the first flash that always caught you off guard and Ian didn’t want anyone see that one, and Ian had already binned it, I was given three. The next day I caught the early train down to London, queued at the Embassy and waited for the passports to be stamped, before the Embassy closed its gates. I collected the passports, rang Rob to tell him we had Visas (around that time there had been a spate of UK bands missing the start of their North American tours due to Visa delays) and then got the train back to Manchester. Bizarrely just across aisle on the train there was a group of ‘booties’ Royal Marine Commandos with a table full of cans talking about a fellow marine who was being held in Belgium on a charge of murder - Stevie Murphy, the same Stevie Murphy who I had been in Junior school with. Small world! I didn’t join in with the booties, I just sat back in my seat, I just sat believing there was nothing to go wrong now we had the visas and on Monday morning we were to fly out to America… In the 41 years since the photo, no one has made any claim to a later photo of Ian and so with a 99.999% probability this is the last photo of Ian."
Strawberry Studios diary for April 1981
What were Martin Hannett and Rob Gretton mixing and editing at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, between 3rd-6th April 1981? This was around the time Still was being mixed in London, was it part of that process or something else? Thanks to Mark Gale and Strawberry Studios for the images 3rd April: Looks like martin Hannett was in the studio all day with segments booked for Pauline Murray transfers and "Factory Joy Division Mixes & ???". See bottom image below for a close up. 6th April 14:00 - 20:00: "Rob Gretton Joy Division Editing" 6th April 14:00 - 20:00: "Rob Gretton Joy Division Editing" Here's a close up of the 3rd April entry in the top image above.
Ian Curtis O Level results and Upper Fifth Divinity Prize 1972
Rico was at the same school as Ian Curtis and shares the following information from his blog "...just 8 years before the end, about to turn 16, Ian Curtis was preparing to leave the King’s School, Macclesfield, armed with 7 “O” Levels and a religious education award. I know this because he was in Upper 5 Modern and I was in Lower 5 Modern, and I happened to find this rather historically interesting 1972 school report in a box of old stuff": Ian achieved O Levels in: English, English Language, Religious Knowledge, History, Latin, French and Maths. He was also awarded a Divinity Prize: Rico tells us: "I didn’t know Ian well, although we were both in the Dramatic Society and I think we were both in a play called The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew. The last time I saw him was in 1976. He handed me a dole cheque through a pane of glass and we exchanged nods". Many thanks to Rico for sharing this information from his blog: Rico's reel
Ian Curtis school poem
A piece of Ian Curtis's personal history achieved £1,100 (£1,375 including commission) at auction (TracksAuction.com) 23rd November 2014, a poem penned while he was still at school around 1966/67. Click photos for larger images Thanks to Jason Cornthwaite at Tracks for permission to use the photos The auction catalogue read: An original handwritten poem by the lead singer of Joy Division, Ian Curtis. Ian wrote the poem at school circa 1966/1967. The poem is written on a piece of lined paper and is glued into a school book called Our Book Of Epitaphs along with poems from the other pupils in the class. It reads, “An Epitaph for an Electrian (sic), Here lies Fred the electrian (sic), who went on a very fateful mission, he got a shock when tampering with a fuse, which went from his head right down to his shoes, by I. Curtis”. Ian has also drawn a small picture of a man and a tombstone. The poem comes with a letter from the owner who was a fellow pupil. It reads, “I grew up on Hurdsfield Estate, Macclesfield where I attended Hurdsfield Junior School. I started Hurdsfield Junior School in 1963 where I met Ian Curtis, he was a fellow pupil in my class and we went through school together. Mr Young was our teacher when this piece of work was carried out, he himself has got a poem in the book along with myself and all the other pupils in the class. This poem was written in 1966 or 1967. I was presented with the book at the end of the school year for being head boy. At the time the head teacher was called Mr Tattasall. Ian Curtis lived on Grey Stoke Road, Hurdsfield Estate, I lived on Delemere Road, Hurdsfield Estate, Cheshire”. The poem measures 16.5cm x 9.5cm (6.5 inches x 3.75 inches), the book measures 28.5cm x 22cm (11.25 inches x 8.75 inches). The condition of the poem is excellent. There is some wear and aging to the book and a vertical crease down the last 5 pages and back cover. A few of the poems have also become detached from the book. The condition of the book is very good minus.
Our Jon Savage Interview 2014
Lee McFadden poses some questions to Jon Savage regarding the recently published "So this is Permanence" - a collection of Ian Curtis's lyrics and writing. Click image to go to interview page
Ian Curtis 1977 Office Party photos surface in September 2014
Photographs of Ian Curtis showing his lighter side at an office party circa 1977 surfaced on the Invincible Error Tumblr account. The photos had previously been posted on Instagram by someone who obtained them from a work colleague. We're not sure when these photos were taken but you can read our article about Ian's working life here
Annik Honoré 12 October 1957 - 3 July 2014
We are very sorry to hear of the death of Annik Honoré earlier today following a serious illness. Annik was the co-founder of independent record label Les Disques Du Crépuscule and promoted a number of legendary concerts at Plan K in Brussels. She was also Ian Curtis's girfriend and confidante. Image thanks to Le Soir She had the most dignity of anyone I ever met, protective of intrusion into her life, yes, but always balanced with dignity - Lindsay Reade
Our Paul Slattery Interview 2014
I regularly attend the monthly residency gigs of The Fallen Leaves at London’s 12 Bar Club. Another regular at these gatherings is photographer Paul Slattery – renowned for his absorbing pictorial work on the likes of The Ramones, The Smiths, and Oasis amongst many others. Paul graciously agreed to be interviewed about a certain photoshoot he undertook on July 28th, 1979….. Lee McFadden Click image to go to the interview page Photoshoot 28 July 1979 (C) Copyright Paul Slattery and reproduced with permission
Record Collector June 2014 - issue 428
Joy Division feature on the cover and there's a 6 page article on the making of Unknown Pleasures by Jake Kennedy.
Ticket for A Video Circus 25th July 1981 JohnC tells us: "... digging through my bat cave - found this. Given to me by Larry Cassidy. SXXV were staying with me in Santa Barbara at the time they played here as I booked them into Casa de la Raza supported by The Rotters - first Factory band to play in SB!
Martin Hannett's Memorial Stone Erected December 2008 In January 2008 Tony Wilson's first wife, Lindsay Reade, was visiting his grave in Southern Cemetery and decided to call in on Martin Hannett and Rob Gretton as they were part of the reason Tony chose to be buried there. She had to get help from the office for location but found them both and was horrified to discover that Martin Hannett was lying in a totally unmarked grave. Her visit set off a chain of events which led to Martin getting a fitting memorial in December 2008. You can read the full story on our messageboard Joy Division Zune Player (2008) Microsoft mp3 player Issued 2008 Retail price $399.99 Limited edition of 500 Preloaded with Grant Gee's Joy Division documentary Black background with Peter Saville design 80GB capacity 3.2 inch colour screen FM radio + wireless capability built in Available from zuneoriginals.net Follow up press release: In follow up to the release of a custom Zune digital media player commemorating the 'Joy Division' documentary DVD, Zune Marketplace is now featuring exclusive Joy Division content including a 3-part video podcast that is available for free download. In an exclusive interview, the band's former bassist Peter Hook talks about Joy Division's tremendous influence on modern music and youth movements in addition to offering some very personal reflections about moving on without Ian Curtis. As companion elements to the video podcasts, Zune Marketplace is also featuring the full Joy Division catalogue, as well as two unique Peter Hook curated Guestlist features. The Guestlists contain music handpicked by Peter himself, and reveal songs that inspired the original Joy Division recordings as well as modern music that inspires him today from bands like LCD Soundsystem, Perry Farrell's Satellite Party, and Peter Bjorn and John.
Rhino Records promo items 2007
US promo items for Joy Division re-issues and Control movie 2007. Badges, ear plugs and 7" She's Lost Control / Dead Souls
Joy Division Bar, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2007 - 2008)
Inspired by The Haçienda style and by Peter Saville´s magnificent artwork, Joy Division was the new and exciting place to enjoy the post-punk atmosphere of Manchester, in Brazil, as well as the new tendencies influenced by that musical scene. The Joy Division bar closed in July 2008 - to be replaced by the New Order pub:
14th May 2007: Joy Division tape sells for £1550 GBP on Ebay - but postage is free The tape was described as follows on Ebay: "A studio reference mix tape featuring unreleased versions of She's Lost Control and Atmosphere sold for a record amount on Ebay. The tape, which also features some Cabaret Voltaire tracks, includes a recording of Martin Hannet chatting to studio staff as he tunes Stephen Morris's drum kit". Update: this tape actually contained high quality recordings of the New Order Western Works Demos
Ian Curtis's kitchen table: At the end of 2005 we had an email from Paul and Vicky in Macclesfield. They were redecorating their house, which meant there would be no place for the kitchen table ... Ian and Deborah Curtis's old kitchen table. Vicky's mum used to run a bed and breakfast across the road from 77 Barton Street and bought the house, with some contents, from Deborah Curtis. Years later Vicky had inherited the table when setting up her own home. We put them in touch with Deborah Curtis and the original plan was for Natalie to have the table. However, that didn't come to fruition and the table sold on Ebay for £100. Deborah recalls her parents buying it in the 1950s, although it has a British Standard sticker on the underside with the date 1960. The table is 95cm long by 75cm wide normally, with two flaps which allow it to extend to approx 150cm in length. Table image reproduced here with permission Fast forward to November 2013, the table resurfaced onEbay and the price rocketed with a winning bid of £8,400 - enough to buy three or four houses when Deborah's parents originally bought it. However, that wasn't the end of the story. Following negative press coverage wrongly claiming the table was involved in Ian's tragic death the top bidder pulled out. The table has was relisted and sold again for £1,120.00
Sex Pistols - Free Trade Hall ticket: It was revealed at a Buzzcocks talk (at Urbis, Manchester 2005) that the tickets were made by Howard Devoto on a Bandermaster. Here's how someone who was at the talk describes it: "Do you remember that system they used to use in schools whereby you typed onto waxed paper, stuck it in a bizarre hand-wound contraption and made multiple copies of your typing? He did the tickets on that. I think he said there were four tickets per A4 sheet - and he cut them all out" Bedge was at the original concert and sent us the ticket scan: "Here's a scan of my Pistols gig ticket from 4th June 1976. It was stamped and organised by BITSU (Bolton Institute of Technology Students Union) apparently. It says Pistols plus Buzzcocks, but a hippy band called Solstice played instead. I went to this gig with Barney, Hooky, Terry, and another school mate called Crazy Mike. Remember seeing Mc Claren at the exit, and also recall (probably) John the Postman "dancing", how loud the Pistols were, and how friendly Rotten was at the end. Ian et al also were in attendance apparently, but didn't know this at the time"
Mystery Setlist: (Solved) Bryan Kee has sent us this scan of a set list he obtained from a journalist some time ago. It's the original, and is in Ian's handwriting, apart from the encores. Update December 2017: Another near identical set list from the same concert has turned up - and confirms this as the Check Inn, Altrincham 20 Nov 1978 concert. See gig listing for more info.		Here's what we know: The set list was obtained from a journalist It's written on thin paper torn from a book. The journalist probably wrote the encores (blue ink) on the set list himself
Another Setlist: Bedge sent us this one saying "The set list probably came from when they came to London and we all stayed in the Priority Hotel in Queensgate (at the time of the Hope and Anchor and Marquees gigs)".
Promo sheet: Another submission from Bedge who tells us - "Looks like some kind of promo that they intended doing, but as Leebo and Platty were mentioned, it must have been really early. Upper Camp Street is in Broughton where they used to rehearse".
Scala advert: Another submission from Bedge - " The Scala poster was a bit later. Ian had met/was with Annik, and JD were due to play as "friends" but didn't (probably coz Ian wasn't up to it). It was a great night however. I remember having a long a fun packed chat with Ian and Annik in the bar and with various Factory/Final Solution lot. Good times"!	Press advert - thanks to Bedge	A4 flyer - thanks Pat Teasdale
	See our listing for this event
Joy Division Tattoos now have their own page: Click image to go there Copyright BMEZINE.COM - used here with their permission
Cartoon: Thanks to Felipe
Interview: One of the earliest Joy Division interviews.
Rob Gretton: Memorial Event 23 May 2004
Joy Division flight case: Photo taken 2004
Grant Sullivan's Vespa
Staglieno Cemetery, Italy
Where the cover photos for the Love Will Tear Us Apart 12" and Closer album came from.