For some reason, Joy Division seems to be everywhere lately. There's a biopic of the group coming out, which has led to deluxe rereleases of the two albums the groups put out, which in turn has led to all sorts of talk about them in the usual places one might expect to see discussion of a late-70s post-punk band.
I can't think about Joy Division without thinking about band names, band rosters, and how they relate.
I would guess that most bands keep the same roster throughout their history. The Beatles -- once they got established, anyway -- were Jon, Paul, George, and Ringo. When they broke up in 1970, Paul, George, and Ringo didn't get together and say "Hey, John's doing his own thing, but let's bring in a new rhythm guitarist and keep going as the Beatles." In superhero comics, that sort of thing is pretty rare. I can't think of a single long-standing team that has kept the same roster throughout.
If a band does change its roster, most bands -- like most superhero teams -- will keep the same band name. When the Stones drpped Brian Jones (and later when Mick Taylor left), they didn't change their name. They were always the Rolling Stones. Just as the X-Men were still the X-Men even when the all-new, all-different guys came in, and even as various of those guys have come and gone (and come back and left again) over the years.
Joy Division was a little different. There were four guys in the band -- Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris. When Curtis died in 1980, the band decided that Joy Division couldn't and wouldn't carry on without all four original members. That's not unusual; Led Zeppelin broke up when their drummer died, for example. If Joy Division followed the standard post-death arc, the members would go on to different projects, and they would reunite a decade or two later to rehash all their old stuff with someone else filling Curtis's role.
Instead, the three surviving members of Joy Division renamed the band "New Order," and carried on as a group, but an entirely different group. Comics-wise, the only analogy I can think of is Avengers West Coast, which became Force Works after a membership shake-up. Of course, unlike Force Works, New Order went on to have a pretty successful run.
Anyway, here is my favorite Joy Division song:
Transmission
Joy Division
Radio, live transmission.
Radio, live transmission.
Listen to the silence, let it ring on.
Eyes, dark grey lenses frightened of the sun.
We would have a fine time living in the night,
Left to blind destruction,
Waiting for our sight.
And we would go on as though nothing was wrong.
And hide from these days we remained all alone.
Staying in the same place, just staying out the time.
Touching from a distance,
Further all the time.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Well I could call out when the going gets tough.
The things that we've learnt are no longer enough.
No language, just sound, that's all we need know, to synchronise
love to the beat of the show.
And we could dance.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Posted by Jason Fliegel at November 4, 2007 12:07 PM
Good song, but my favourite is "Love Will Tear Us Apart". New Order of course was not just Joy Division under another name, but a completely different group music wise.
The early New Order material, "Ceremony," Movement, pretty clearly shows the transition from Joy Division to New Order, but they didn't take long to set up a new, more electronic identity.
I'd disagree, though, Jason, that most bands keep the same line up through their careers. Much like the Avengers or the Justice League, the name can remain almost no matter which of the founding members are present. It's far more unlikely for a band to do what Joy Division did and take a new name when the old order changeth. My favorite example is when the four-man Wire changed their name to Wir when they became a three piece upon Robert Gotobed's departure.
In my first draft of the post, I did say that most bands keep the same name through multiple line-up changes. But then I thought about it and I thought maybe I was being unfair, and that most bands go their separate ways when there's a line-up change. But as I think about it some more, I think that Doug is right, and that bands will simply keep the same name even as they rotate David Lee Roth out in favor of Sammy Hagar.
Martin, I am in agreement with Doug on your point. Certainly, New Order had its own identity -- try as I might, I can't see Ian Curtis singing "Bizarre Love Triangle." That said, there was a natural progression and a transition (albeit a relatively rapid one) from Joy Division to New Order. So I think you're right that New Order was not just Joy Division under another name, but wrong that they were completely different.
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a great song, but the way Curtis sings "Dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio" is one of those things that reminds me why I listen to music.
. . . the way Curtis sings "Dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio" is one of those things that reminds me why I listen to music.
He does deliver the line like his life depended on it. And, who knows, maybe it did.