The Dark Legacy of Joy Division and the Rise of New Order

British rock group Joy Division, and later, New Order, left an indelible mark on the music world, refining the external chaos of 1970s punk into a disquieting inner turmoil, ushering in the postpunk era.

The band’s principal members were Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Gillian Gilbert.

• Ian Curtis, born on July 15, 1956, in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, was the band’s vocalist and a key figure in their music.
• Bernard Sumner, born on January 4, 1956, in Salford, Manchester, was the band’s guitarist and later became the vocalist for New Order.
• Peter Hook, born on February 13, 1956, in Manchester, was the band’s bassist.
• Stephen Morris, born on October 28, 1957, in Macclesfield, was the band’s drummer.
• Gillian Gilbert, born on January 27, 1961, in Manchester, was the band’s guitarist and keyboardist.

Inspired by the Sex Pistols’ performance in Manchester, guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, and vocalist Ian Curtis formed Warsaw in the spring of 1977 to play thrashing punk music.

By early 1978, they had replaced their original drummer with Stephen Morris and changed the band’s name to Joy Division, a slang term for female concentration camp prisoners forced into prostitution by the Nazis.

Their trademarks were already in place: prominent, melodic bass; guitar and drums as rhythm and texture; complex, literary lyrics; and mediumistic live performances.

Working at a dizzying pace, the group incorporated drum machines and synthesizers in their move from rock to a measured European electronic sound influenced by Kraftwerk and producer Giorgio Moroder.

In concert, Curtis held nothing back, giving nightmare visions such as “Dead Souls” and “Atrocity Exhibition” an existential authority.

Along with a troubled private life and worsening epilepsy, this intensity drove Curtis to the brink.

On the eve of Joy Division’s first U.S. tour in 1980, he committed suicide at the home of his estranged wife.

Success followed tragedy; the single “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and the band’s second album, Closer, made the top 10 and top 20, respectively, in the United Kingdom.

Following Curtis’s death, the three remaining band members—joined by keyboardist Gillian Gilbert—continued as New Order, with Sumner becoming the vocalist.

With singles such as “Everything’s Gone Green” (1981) and the best-selling “Blue Monday” (1983), New Order moved toward a more thorough exploration of dance music.

Their 1989 single “Fine Time” incorporated elements of the then-current U.K. club sound called acid house, and “World in Motion,” the official national theme for the 1990 World Cup, gave them their first U.K.