Favorite Manchester Bands #3 - Joy Division

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You only have to read this three more times: I have never heard a band from Manchester, England, that I haven't liked. Hence, I am counting down my favorite Manchester bands, and we are at #3: Joy Division. Guitarist Bernard Sumner and bassist Peter Hook formed Joy Division in 1980, after attending a Sex Pistols concert in Manchester (they hired vocalist Ian Curtis without an audition, and when they advertised for a new drummer, Stephen Morris was the only one to show up.) The name "Joy Division" was a Nazi term for the sex slave population in their concentration camps (the bandmembers have since spent their entire careers vehemently denying that they are Nazi's.) The band signed with Tony Wilson's Manchester-based indie record label, Factory (Greatest Label Ever!,) quickly becoming Factory's biggest priority. Everything came to a halt on May 18, 1980, when, the night before Joy Division was to embark upon an American tour, Curtis, who suffered from depression and epilepsy, often having full blown seizures on stage, hung himself (he had been, according to SPIN Magazine, drinking with Scritti Politti vocalist Green Gartside.) Joy Division lasted only four years, during which they released just two studio albums (the second of which was released after Curtis' death,) three EP's, and five singles (and check this out: there are also four live albums, and a whopping twelve compilations out there, too.) The band's legacy is large, however. Post punk and goth bands the world over trip all over each other citing the group as an influence (in fact, there is a school of thought that credits Joy Division as the inventors of goth, even though it was Bauhaus.) I've linked to a video of my favorite Joy Division song, "Twenty Four Hours." I have no idea if it's an official video but it's kind of cool. One listen to the lyrics and it should come as no surprise that Ian Curtis killed himself. (Info verified by Wikipedia)