7/15/2005

Happy Birthday Ian Curtis.


Born in 1956, Ian Curtis formed Stiff Kittens in 1976 with Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner. Stiff Kittens became Warsaw became Joy Division.

Two top ten albums, Closer and Still soon followed, but "Love Will Tear Us Apart," first performed on a 1979 Peel session, was to be the band's first and only appearance in the singles chart during their lifetime. On May 18, 1980, Ian Curtis, recently diagnosed with epilepsy, was found hanged in his kitchen. Though the remaining members of Joy Division were to re-emerge as New Order, the haunting "Love Will Tear Us Apart" will forever remain a monument to Ian Curtis' tragic talent.

The film Control, based on the book Touching From A Distance, written by Curtis' widow Deborah,
goes into production in July and will be directed by Anton Corbijn. Rights for the book had been among the most sought after in the world.