Joy Division interview recordings

Joy Division interviews:

These are the Joy Division interview recordings we know about. Most are in circulation either officially or unofficially.

25th July 1978 Radio Manchester band interview

All four songs from the An Ideal For Living EP were aired, according to the Heart And Soul box-set booklet. No tape recording of this broadcast has ever surfaced. Some seem to believe this was a recording session and the four songs were specially re-recorded versions for this programme, and not the regular An Ideal For Living EP versions. This seems unlikely, and there is little evidence to suggest this was the case.

February 1979 Bob Dickinson New Manchester Review interview

Bob Dickinson interviewed Joy Division for his article in New Manchester Review (March 23 - April 5 1979 edition) and recorded it on cassette. The police stopped him on the way home, accusing him of stealing the recording machine and calling New Manchester Review "That commie rag" before letting him go.

The recording has never been released and in August 2020 Bob provided us with a transcript of the full interview which we publish here.

The full interview

23 March 1979 Rob Gretton interview

This interview was part of Malcolm Whitehead's Joy Division film and features a Joy Division soundcheck / rehearsal in the background. An audio tape of this has been circulated, but due to the poor quality it's hard to make out exactly what Rob is saying. He seems to be detailing his early experiences with the band.

August 1979 Mary Harron Melody Maker interview

This was released in 2019 on 'Use Hearing Protection' the Factory Records 40th anniversary box set.

Recorded somewhere in Manchester and 91 minutes long, Mary interviews the band inside a restaurant, with short segments recorded in Wilson's car and walking outside. Present are Wilson, Gretton, Curtis, Sumner & Hook. Steve Morris isn't there. As expected Wilson does a lot of the talking.

24 August 1979 En Attendant magazine (Belgium) band interview

The band were interviewed by Annik Honoré who still has the two-hour tape. No other copies are known to exist.

15 September 1979 "Something Else" BBC2 TV

This broadcast included an interview with Steve Morris from Joy Division, Factory Records boss Tony Wilson, and others. Joy Division also performed two songs live in the studio.

September 1979 "Rock On", BBC Radio 1

Ian Curtis & Steve Morris interviewed by Richard Skinner, also features Interzone from Unknown Pleasures. This interview, minus Interzone, has been released officially on the Complete BBC Recordings and Best Of albums. The second, unreleased, part of this interview featured Martin Hannett, and Shadowplay from Unknown Pleasures. Unofficial tape recordings of this exist.

11th October 1979 Northern Lights interview with Ian Curtis - Castle Pub, Manchester

Northern Lights was an early cassette magazine click here for info

28th February 1980 Ian Curtis interview for BBC Radio Blackburn’s ‘Spin Off’ programme (this is also known as the ‘Radio Lancashire interview’)

Originally broadcast on Radio Blackburn in March 1980 and parts, including some previously unheard snippets, were also aired on BBC Manchester in 1988. Unofficial recordings of both broadcasts exist.

Spider from Burnley Musician's Collective interviewed a cooperative and friendly Ian Curtis for ‘Spin Off’, a BBC Radio Blackburn programme on 28th February 1980. It was recorded before the gig at the Preston Warehouse and you can hear the rest of the band doing a soundcheck in the background.

Steve Barker form BBC Radio Blackburn recorded the interview on a UHER reel-to-reel portable tape machine and the interview was edited by his producer Ian Cook for later broadcast, probably in March 1980. As far as we know, this is the last interview Ian Curtis gave.

The Spin Off show was broadcast Tuesday and Thursday evening on Radio Blackburn (now Radio Lancashire) in March of that year and it was a precursor to ‘On the Wire’ http://otwradio.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ian-curtis-interview-with-radio.html

Click here to read a transcript of the interview along with Spider and Steve Barker's recollections of doing it

See also: On The Wire - Radio Lancashire blog




Joy Division interviews:

These are the Joy Division interview recordings we know about. Most are in circulation either officially or unofficially.

25th July 1978 Radio Manchester band interview All four songs from the An Ideal For Living EP were aired, according to the Heart And Soul box-set booklet. No tape recording of this broadcast has ever surfaced. Some seem to believe this was a recording session and the four songs were specially re-recorded versions for this programme, and not the regular An Ideal For Living EP versions. This seems unlikely, and there is little evidence to suggest this was the case.

February 1979 Bob Dickinson New Manchester Review interview
Bob Dickinson interviewed Joy Division for his article in New Manchester Review (March 23 - April 5 1979 edition) and recorded it on cassette. The police stopped him on the way home, accusing him of stealing the recording machine and calling New Manchester Review "That commie rag" before letting him go. The recording has never been released and in August 2020 Bob provided us with a transcript of the full interview which we publish here.			The full interview

23 March 1979 Rob Gretton interview This interview was part of Malcolm Whitehead's Joy Division film and features a Joy Division soundcheck / rehearsal in the background. An audio tape of this has been circulated, but due to the poor quality it's hard to make out exactly what Rob is saying. He seems to be detailing his early experiences with the band.

August 1979 Mary Harron Melody Maker interview This was released in 2019 on 'Use Hearing Protection' the Factory Records 40th anniversary box set. Recorded somewhere in Manchester and 91 minutes long, Mary interviews the band inside a restaurant, with short segments recorded in Wilson's car and walking outside. Present are Wilson, Gretton, Curtis, Sumner & Hook. Steve Morris isn't there. As expected Wilson does a lot of the talking.

24 August 1979 En Attendant magazine (Belgium) band interview The band were interviewed by Annik Honoré who still has the two-hour tape. No other copies are known to exist.

15 September 1979 "Something Else" BBC2 TV This broadcast included an interview with Steve Morris from Joy Division, Factory Records boss Tony Wilson, and others. Joy Division also performed two songs live in the studio.

September 1979 "Rock On", BBC Radio 1 Ian Curtis & Steve Morris interviewed by Richard Skinner, also features Interzone from Unknown Pleasures. This interview, minus Interzone, has been released officially on the Complete BBC Recordings and Best Of albums. The second, unreleased, part of this interview featured Martin Hannett, and Shadowplay from Unknown Pleasures. Unofficial tape recordings of this exist.

11th October 1979 Northern Lights interview with Ian Curtis - Castle Pub, Manchester Northern Lights was an early cassette magazine click here for info

28th February 1980 Ian Curtis interview for BBC Radio Blackburn’s ‘Spin Off’ programme (this is also known as the ‘Radio Lancashire interview’) Originally broadcast on Radio Blackburn in March 1980 and parts, including some previously unheard snippets, were also aired on BBC Manchester in 1988. Unofficial recordings of both broadcasts exist. Spider from Burnley Musician's Collective interviewed a cooperative and friendly Ian Curtis for ‘Spin Off’, a BBC Radio Blackburn programme on 28th February 1980. It was recorded before the gig at the Preston Warehouse and you can hear the rest of the band doing a soundcheck in the background. Steve Barker form BBC Radio Blackburn recorded the interview on a UHER reel-to-reel portable tape machine and the interview was edited by his producer Ian Cook for later broadcast, probably in March 1980. As far as we know, this is the last interview Ian Curtis gave. The Spin Off show was broadcast Tuesday and Thursday evening on Radio Blackburn (now Radio Lancashire) in March of that year and it was a precursor to ‘On the Wire’ http://otwradio.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ian-curtis-interview-with-radio.html *Click here to read a transcript of the interview along with Spider and* *Steve Barker's recollections of doing it* See also: On The Wire - Radio Lancashire blog