Joy Division: Recording Sessions

This page lists Joy Division's recording sessions and is organised into three sections:

studio sessions, whether intended for record, radio broadcast or demos
the main concert sources for live recordings which were officially released
miscellaneous, such as TV appearances, rehearsals and interviews.

When you have finished, click on the picture of Ian Curtis to return to the index.

This is the hour when the mysteries emerge

Studio Sessions

July 18th 1977: Pennine Sound Studios, Oldham

The Warsaw Demo session:

Inside The Line / Gutz / At A Later Date / The Kill / You're No Good For Me

These tracks appeared on bootlegs, eventually being released on the Warsaw album.
This was the only recording which included Steve Brotherdale on drums.

December 1977: Pennine Sound Studios, Oldham

Tracks recorded for the EP An Ideal For Living:

Warsaw / No Love Lost / Leaders of Men / Failures (of the modern man)

May 3rd/4th 1978: Arrow Studios, Manchester

Sessions for the unreleased album, produced by John Anderson and Bob Auger:

The Drawback (all of this for you) / Leaders of Men / They Walked In Line /
Failures / Novelty / No Love Lost / Transmission / Ice Age / Interzone /
Warsaw / Shadowplay

These tracks appeared on bootlegs, eventually being released on the Warsaw album.
The song Keep On Keepin' On was also recorded here, but was never released.

October 11th 1978: Cargo Studios, Rochdale

Tracks for the Factory Sample, produced by Martin Hannett:

Digital / Glass

January 31st 1979: BBC Studios, Maida Vale, London

First John Peel session, produced by Bob Sargeant for the BBC:

Exercise One / Insight / Transmission / She's Lost Control

Broadcast February 14th 1979; later released as a 12" EP and on two BBC albums.

March 4th 1979: Eden Studios, London

Genetic Records demo session, produced by Martin Rushent:

Glass / Transmission / Ice Age / Insight / Digital

The first four tracks were eventually released on the Heart and Soul boxed set.

April 1979: Strawberry Studios, Stockport

Unknown Pleasures sessions, produced by Martin Hannett.

The following tracks appear on the Unknown Pleasures album:
Disorder / Day of the Lords / Candidate / Insight / New Dawn Fades /
She's Lost Control / Shadowplay / Wilderness / Interzone / I Remember Nothing

Four additional tracks were used on the Still double album:
Exercise One / The Only Mistake / They Walked In Line / The Kill

Two additional tracks were used on the Earcom 2 compilation EP:
Autosuggestion / From Safety to Where...?

June 4th 1979: Pennine Sound Studios, Oldham

Piccadilly Radio session, produced by Stuart James:

These Days / Candidate / The Only Mistake / Chance / Atrocity Exhibition

The first four tracks were eventually released on Heart and Soul.
Chance was the original title of the song later known as Atmosphere.

July 1979: Central Sound Studios, Manchester

Transmission session I, produced by Martin Hannett:

Transmission / Novelty / Dead Souls / Something Must Break

The last two tracks were eventually released on Heart and Soul.
A demo version of She's Lost Control was also recorded here.

July 28th to August 4th 1979: Strawberry Studios, Stockport

Transmission session II, produced by Martin Hannett:

Transmission / Novelty / Something Must Break

The first two tracks were released on the Transmission single; the third on Still.

November 26th 1979: BBC Studios, Maida Vale, London

Second John Peel session, produced by the BBC's Tony Wilson (not Factory's Tony Wilson):

Sound of Music / Twenty Four Hours / Colony / Love Will Tear Us Apart

Broadcast December 10th 1979; later released as a 12" EP and on two BBC albums.

October / November 1979: Cargo Studios, Rochdale

Sordide Sentimental session, produced by Martin Hannett:

Atmosphere / Dead Souls / Ice Age

Atmosphere and Dead Souls were released on Licht und Blindheit.
Dead Souls and Ice Age were released on the Still album.

January 1980: Pennine Sound Studios, Oldham

Love Will Tear Us Apart session I, produced by Martin Hannett:

These Days / Sound of Music / Love Will Tear Us Apart

Some accounts wrongly place this session in March 1980; the band were certainly in the studio on January 8th.

These Days and LWTUA became B-sides on the Love Will Tear Us Apart single.
Sound of Music was released on the Still album.

March 1980: Strawberry Studios, Stockport

Love Will Tear Us Apart session II, produced by Martin Hannett:

Love Will Tear Us Apart / She's Lost Control (extended version)

These were the versions chosen for release as singles.

March 18th to 30th 1980: Britannia Row Studios, Islington, London

Closer sessions, produced by Martin Hannett.

The following tracks appear on the Closer album:
Atrocity Exhibition / Isolation / Passover / Colony / A Means to an End /
Heart and Soul / Twenty Four Hours / The Eternal / Decades

Three additional tracks were used on the Komakino flexi single:
Komakino / Incubation / As You Said

The session also included vocals and mixing for Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Live performances

This section lists those live performances which have featured on official record releases.

October 2nd 1977: The Electric Circus, Manchester

At a Later Date was released on the Short Circuit compilation album.

July 13th 1979: The Factory (Russell Club), Manchester

The following tracks appear on the Heart and Soul boxed set:

Dead Souls / The Only Mistake / Insight / Candidate / Wilderness /
She's Lost Control / Disorder / Interzone / Atrocity Exhibition / Novelty

Transmission has also been released on 12" and CD singles.

August 2nd 1979: YMCA, Tottenham Court Road, London

Autosuggestion appears on the Heart and Soul boxed set.

October 27th/28th 1979: Apollo Theatre, Manchester

Both of these performances during the Buzzcocks tour were videotaped.
The following tracks were featured on Here Are The Young Men:

Dead Souls / Love Will Tear Us Apart / Shadowplay / Day of the Lords /
Transmission / Sound of Music / She's Lost Control / They Walked in Line /
I Remember Nothing

November 2nd 1979: Winter Gardens, Bournemouth

The following tracks appear on the Heart and Soul boxed set:

I Remember Nothing / Colony / These Days

December 18th 1979: Les Bains Douches, Paris

The following tracks were released on the Bains Douches live album:

Disorder / Love Will Tear Us Apart / Insight / Shadowplay / Transmission
Day of the Lords / Twenty Four Hours / These Days / A Means to an End

January 11th 1980, Paradiso, Amsterdam, Holland

The following tracks were included on the Bains Douches live album:

Passover / New Dawn Fades / Atrocity Exhibition

The full concert was released on a bonus CD packaged with the Preston and Bains Douches live albums.

January 18th 1980, De Effenaar, Eindhoven, Holland

The following tracks were released on the Bains Douches live album:

Digital / Dead Souls / Autosuggestion / Atmosphere

The following tracks appear on the Here Are The Young Men video:

Digital / Colony / New Dawn Fades / Autosuggestion

February 28th 1980: The Warehouse, Preston

The following tracks were released on the Preston live album:

Incubation / Wilderness / Twenty Four Hours / The Eternal /
Heart and Soul / Shadowplay / Transmission / Disorder / Warsaw /
Colony / Interzone / She's Lost Control

February 29th 1980: The Lyceum, London

The following tracks appear on the Heart and Soul boxed set:

Incubation / The Eternal / Heart and Soul / Isolation / She's Lost Control

April 3rd 1980: The Moonlight Club, West Hampstead, London

Sister Ray was recorded here for the Still double album.

May 2nd 1980: High Hall, Birmingham University

The following tracks appear on the Still double album:

Ceremony (the start of the song is missing from the recording) /
Shadowplay / Means to an End / Passover / New Dawn Fades /
Transmission / Disorder / Isolation / Decades / Digital

Some versions of the album also contain the track Twenty Four Hours.

Miscellaneous recording sessions

This section lists visits to recording studios for TV appearances, rehearsals, interviews and promo sessions.

July 25th 1978: Radio Manchester

Tracks from An Ideal For Living were broadcast, together with an interview.

September 20th 1978: Granada TV Studios

Shadowplay was performed for the Granada TV programme Granada Reports.

July 20th 1979: Granada TV Studios

She's Lost Control was performed for the Granada TV programme What's On.

August 31st 1979: BBC Studios

Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris were interviewed by Richard Skinner for BBC Radio's Rock On programme.

September 15th 1979: BBC TV Studios

She's Lost Control and Transmission were recorded live for the BBC 2 programme Something Else. These tracks were eventually released on the Complete BBC Recordings album (the album notes give the date of the recording as 1st September 1979).

November 1979: Castle Pub, Manchester

Ian Curtis was interviewed and the result was released on a 7" picture disc. The Heart and Soul booklet refers to a "Northern Lights" interview in November 1979, which may be the same thing.

April 1980: Radio Blackburn

Ian Curtis was interviewed for BBC Radio Blackburn (the date is uncertain).

April 28th 1980: T J Davidson Rehearsal Studio, Manchester

The band recorded the promotional video for Love Will Tear Us Apart. The song was performed live rather than mimed, and the video footage was later matched to the record.

April 1980: T J Davidson Rehearsal Studio, Manchester

Rehearsals of Ceremony and In a Lonely Place were captured on tape and appear on Heart and Soul. The Heart and Soul booklet attributes these to the Graveyard Studios, Prestwich, but this is probably where the tapes were worked on later.

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