Unknown Pleasures audiobook

“Demystify.” This word never appears in Peter Hook’s memoir of his former band, but it definitely describes the Joy Division bassist’s project. Hook’s raunchy and funny book demystifies Joy Division, presenting them as a postpunk Mötley Crüe, a band that partied hard and reveled in all the filth and the fury that the Sex Pistols left in the wake of their demise.After finding out what Hook has to say, you’ll never stereotype Joy Division again. They’ll never only be the gothic and artsy band that took lyrics from Dostoevsky, Kafka, and William S. Burroughs novels, made machine-age dance-punk about urban decay, and whose effete lead singer and resident “genius,” Ian Curtis, hanged himself to death on the eve of their first American tour, the victim of chronic epilepsy, bad prescription drugs, and a failed marriage.This last point about Curtis is crucial to the success of Hook’s book. Previous books such as Deborah Curtis’ Touching From a Distance and Mick Middles’ Torn Apart and films such as Anton Corbijn’s Control and Grant Gee’s Joy Division present the Joy Division story as a series of events leading up to Curtis’ suicide. These books and films depict Curtis as a tragic figure: a tremendously gifted young poet whose feelings of guilt over his epilepsy, marital problems, and extramarital affair lead to a suicide that’s somehow fated. And because Curtis’ suicide as tragedy makes for such overwhelming pathos, it overshadows Joy Division’s true identity as a band of four equal collaborators and songwriters that – surprise! – had a hell of a lot of fun being young guys in a rock and roll band.Let’s take fun first. Hook writes about how Joy Division participated in all the rock and roll debauchery that’s always been associated with bands like Led Zeppelin and the Crüe but never artsy goths like Joy Division. To mention just one of the many great stories that populate Hook’s profanity-ridden text is to do an injustice to all the rollicking and hilarious memories that the bassist shares. But here goes.Once, while on tour as an opening act for the at-the-time more popular Buzzcocks, Hook and his bandmates decided to jape their fellow Mancunians. What was involved in the jape? Maggots, the Buzzcocks’ drum kit, rats, and the Buzzcock’s tour bus. Who was involved in the jape? Hook, Joy Division’s manager and crew, and the rest of the band, including a certain Ian Curtis.So it turns out that Curtis was a lot more complex than his “tortured-poet-genius” image would have us believe. One of Hook’s fondest memories of Curtis is of the singer walking the Rue Saint-Denis in Paris in search of prostitutes. “Girls,” Hook recalls Curtis asking passersby as he held his arms to his chest in the form of breasts, “Where are all the girls?”Just as Curtis drank and partied with his bandmates, he collaborated with them on the creation of Joy Division’s songs. Transmission, She’s Lost Control, Disorder, Atmosphere, and even Love Will Tear Us Apart – these were not the work of an individual genius. Rather, as Hook shows in his insightful track-by-track breakdowns of the songs on Unknown Pleasures and Closer – Joy Division’s two albums – the band worked together on everything. When Hook started playing melodic bass lines up high on his fretboard, he came up with many of the band’s most famous tunes. The bass lines were so melodic that many times Curtis would just sing the vocal melody and lyrics over them. With Hook and Curtis handling melody, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner could add color and atmospheric effects, and drummer Stephen Morris, under the tutelage of producer Martin Hannett, could craft beats that were at once mechanically precise and danceable.All of this isn’t to suggest that Hook doesn’t write about Curtis’ suicide. But he doesn’t dwell on it throughout the book. This isn’t because he’s crassly cold and only interested in presenting the good times. Rather, Curtis’ suicide perplexed Hook at the time and continues to do so to this day.By his own admission, Hook was never close to Curtis and neither bothered to understand his interest in literature and art nor actually listen to his lyrics, which on Closer can be read as an extended suicide note. Hook just knew that Curtis’ voice and words sounded good. Besides, he and Sumner just wanted to be as loud as the Stooges, the Velvet Underground, and the Sex Pistols. They wanted to lop your head off when they played live and were, until recent years, disappointed that the albums emphasized art over punk.But in stressing artistic innovation over raw punk, Unknown Pleasures and Closer, Hook concludes, are timeless classics. And his memoir, while not scaling the heights of Joy Division’s masterpieces, is a tiny gem written by a monster musician. It’s the best document yet to be produced on Joy Division. There’s nothing like hearing the story straight from Hooky’s foul mouth.A version of this review will appear in Rock Cellar Magazine

I saw 'Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division' by Peter Hook in the library and got it out on a whim. Well, a whim informed by a teenage love of Joy Division, and having enjoyed another book by Peter Hook, the rip roaring 'The Haçienda: How Not to Run a Club' which I highly recommend - Click here to read my reviewIt’s another warts-and-all reminiscence of life, growing up in Salford, and being in Joy Division. Actually perhaps less warts and all, and more wart and warts, with just a bit of all. It's great. Hooky is completely unabashed about his less attractive personality traits.I saw Joy Division at the Nashville Rooms in London on 13 August 1979 and it was wonderful to read a few pages covering this event which, it transpires, was significant for the group for a number of reasons: Annik Honore saw the band for the first time, the crowd was really into it, mouthing many of the lyrics, and they had a memorable accident in their vans on the way back to Manchester.I recently read 'The Rhythm Method: Sex, Drums and Rock'n'Roll' by Nicky Forbes and, like that splendid music memoir, this is another reminder of why being in a group can be particularly grim and dispiriting in the early days. Although in Joy Division's case, even when they have a critically acclaimed album to their name things still remain grim due to their contractual arrangement with Factory Records.Of course the book all leads up to the suicide of Ian Curtis on 18th May 1980, and Hooky reflects on the extent to which those around him could and should have made different decisions. Given how young they all were this is often him looking back from a mature perspective and with a profound sense of loss.I never tire of these accounts if they are done with honesty and self deprecation, and this has both those qualities in bucketloads. Fortunately I have timed my reading of this book so that I can go follow this up with 'Substance: Inside New Order' Peter Hook's New Order book which came out a few weeks ago. I can't wait to read it soon. 4/5

Brilliant! I read Hookys previous book about his disastrous experiences managing the Hacienda and was shocked to see this in my local bookshop. Didn't even know it was coming out. Ended up tearing through it in a couple of days. The great thing about Hooky is he has a workmanlike no bullshit approach to writing, much like the man himself, which provides a great antidote to all the pretentious pontificating and flat out nonsense that's been written about Joy Division and Ian Curtis in the past. This book in addition to Deborah Curtis' fantastic book 'Touching From a Distance' provide a great insight into the character of the late songwriter for anyone whose a fan of Ian Curtis specifically and also paints a brilliant picture of what it was like to start a band in the in the rough unforgiving landscape of Manchester in the late 70s. There are also some great anecdotes of life on the road for those who are into that sort of thing and let's face it, if you make a habit of reading these kinds of books you almost definitely are. Hooky is a master storyteller when it comes right down to it and telling these stories is where he really shines. Also of great interest are some brief but in depth discussions of what went into the writing and recording of different songs and exactly what made the Joy Division sound so unique. I recommend as Hooky does, listening to the albums whilst reading his track by track breakdowns, really encourages you to look at them in a whole new light. Can't wait until the New Order book comes out.

An amazingly insightful book. Hook comes across as a bit a douche, but that's standard-issue for rock stars and he's at least honest about his obnoxiousness. Anyone interested in this era and its music MUST read this book.

Okay I'm a massive Joy Division fan and in the days before everyone around the band or in it rushed wrote a memoir, or made a film, I was scrabbling around for any little clue about the band from clippings in the music press or whatever. I bought all the bootleg tapes of live gigs and listened to them for hours on end drawing my own interpretation of what was going on psychologically between the band members. And now that I've only slightly less desperately devoured the films and the books that have come out in the last decade, I feel they have added very little new insight to those I'd culled for myself twenty years ago. Which is odd because one of the books was written by the singer's wife and this one by the bass guitarist.

Really makes you appreciate the artistry that went into Joy Division, the gut-wrenching pain the magnificent Ian Curtis had to endure to craft such elegant and compelling lyricism. If you haven't listened to Joy Division, hop on youtube and give it a listen. If you have, but it's been a while do the same. If you're listening to it as you read this, stop reading this and listen harder! Ian Curtis rocks. So hard.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 If you listen to Joy Division, you should read Peter Hook's book; he has a lot to share with us. I finished it this morning, cried for a while, reread the "Closer" chapter, and played all my albums and singles. After having read this book, their music sounds impossibly better, and fee

Great and fun read. Definitely focuses just on Peter Hook's experience, which is great considering the fighting between he and Bernard. Fun to read about one member's perspective without throwing knives.

When I found out that Peter Hook had written a book about Joy Division, I was as excited as any super fan ever is. An opportunity to learn more about my favorite band, hopefully see some new photos and reminisce about younger days spent beside the stereo making mix tapes and day dreaming. But, when the library called to tell me that my reserve on Unknown Pleasures had come in, I was not so sure that I was up for it. Joy Division is not exactly light and airy. And depressing material is not what I need right now.As every fan probably knows, Joy Division front man, Ian Curtis, hung himself on May 18, 1980 at the age of 23...days before a scheduled American tour and on the cusp of everything. That happened to be the weekend I turned 14. At the time, I had no idea who Joy Division and Ian Curtis were. I was still sitting miserably in my bedroom, French braiding my hair in an effort to fit into the preppie milieu and listening to ELO, Supertramp, Genesis and the Police. I wouldn't hear Ian's voice for a few more years. Typically, I discovered New Order first. I loved that band. And then some guy at a record store took pity on me and clued me in as I was purchasing an early New Order album and raving about it. He told me about an 'even better band' called Joy Division that had come first. I checked into that. And the rest is history for me. I fell in love with the dark and driving force immediately. The power of the music and the fascinating lyrics reached right out of the stereo and grabbed my by the throat. It was overwhelming. "I was waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand...Could these sensations make me feel the pleasures of a normal man..."Ian Curtis and Joy Division pumped me up psychologically in some weird way. As depressed and fragile as Curtis was...physically and emotionally ill and exhausted...his music made me feel fortunate to be a socially unsuccessful 80s nerd. Sure I spent a lot of time by myself moping. But, had I spent the early 80s partying and dating I may never have found the time or inclination to learn about this band. And that would have been a huge loss. Imagine. Mindlessly spending the 80s listening to Hall and Oates and Huey Lewis...when there was Joy Division. Ah. It is too terrible to contemplate!So I decided that I was going to read this book. If Joy Division could help me through my lesser problems as a teenager/early 20-something: (boys/lack of boys; zits; geometry; the social skills of a cadaver)...Perhaps they could help me through the current barrage of greater problems (both parents fighting serious cancer diagnoses; financial stress; zero spare time; and the fading of my face into a chronic mien of worried lines. Mid Life Crisis Anyone?)And they did! More specifically, Peter Hook did. He is hilarious! Unknown Pleasures is as funny as it is poignant. Hooky shares several raucous highlights (er, lowlights) of Joy Division behind-the-scenes. And he does so in the laid back and conversational manner of a very entertaining friend who is sitting across from you at the bar and cracking you up all evening. Hook seems to have respect and appreciation for his fan base and this does come through in his writing style.One such tale illustrates how narrowly we all missed out on hearing Joy Division. The band's first set of demo tapes were such crap that they were nearly dismissed out of hand. Here is how it went down: "Terry, still our manager, had the job of copying the demos and sending them out to venues. The idea was that he'd ring the venue a bit later, find out what they thought of the tape, and see if they'd give us a spot. 'All right, it's Terry Mason, manager of Warsaw {Joy Division's first name}--just wondered what you thought of the demo I sent you?' That sort of thing. But every time he rang someone he was geting the same reaction: 'Terrible'. 'Absolutely shit, mate.' 'Fuckin' awful' So Terry was saying to us, 'No one wants you, lads. They all say you're shit,' which we couldn't understand because other groups who were much shitter than us (like the Drones, for example) were getting gigs out of town. Us? Nothing. So I said to Terry, 'Terry give us one of them tapes and let me have a listen to it, and make sure it's all right.' He went, 'All right, Hooky, here y'go.' and fished one of them out his jacket, one of those tapes you get--or used to get--in a pack of three; TDK, something like that. I put it on in the car and it started out okay. Bit muffled, a little distant, but you could hear my bass, Barney sawing away, Steve Brotherdale {Joy Division's early drummer before Steve Morris} doing the business, Ian doing his punky singing--yet to fully develop his baritone, of course; still doing the punky shouting back then but sounding great. We're sounding like a band, a good band. The kind of band you'd want playing at your venue, surely... Then suddenly I heard the theme tune to Cornation Street drown it all out. And next I hear this voice, Terry's mum, Eileen, saying 'Come on now, Terry, your tea's ready...' Now back then the only way you could record tape-to-tape was by using two little flat cassette players, put speaker-to-speaker, which was what Terry had been doing. But the dozy bugger had been record- ing them while he was watching telly and waiting for his mum to do his tea. No wonder no one wanted to book us."Hook tells us plenty more like this. I had no idea, for instance, that the band was under suspicion by police as suspects in the Yorkshire Ripper murders. In Hook's words, it happened like this the night the police appeared on his doorstep:" 'Right,' he said, when we were all sat down. 'We've had reports that your van has been seen in the red-light districts of Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Moss Side...' He looked at me. 'Want to tell me why that is, son?' -- For a moment my mind went blank. All I could think was: Yorkshire Ripper. This was during the time they were searching for him. He preyed on prostitutes in Leeds, Bradford, Manchester... -- 'Oh, hang on a minute,' I said. 'I'm in a group. I play bass in a group. Where you're saying, they're gigs we've played. --They looked at each other, all doubtful-like. 'What's your group called?' --'Joy Division' -- 'Never heard of them.' --Probably Level 42 fans. 'Really,' I insisted. 'I play bass and all the gigs that we play are in the red-light districts.' -- 'Why's that then?' --'Well, we're sort of a punk group and they're the kind of places punk groups play.' --'Can you prove that, then?' he said. 'What, that we're a punk group?' --'No, that your group has played in those places.' 'Oh, yeah, of course.' I said. 'Our manager's got all the dates written down. And proving it's no problem. We've had punters--I mean, audience--watching, you know. And we've been reviewed and stuff.' -- They seemed satisfied. 'Well, in that case, we won't ask you to come to the station or anything, but you must bear in mind that you're appearing in all these areas where there have been Ripper killings, so you can consider yourself under investigation.' "So, Joy Division almost didn't make it because their manager was recording soap operas over their demo tapes...and then they almost got banged up for the Ripper jobs? (The band's drummer, Steve Morris, actually DID get hauled down to the station for the crimes.)So Unknown Pleasures was not the dark and dreary saga of a doomed man that I was expecting. Certainly, Curtis' suicide and the epileptic fits and romantic drama that lead up to the tragedy are covered within the pages -- but Hook takes pains to portray all the various personas that made up Ian Curtis. He was a tragic genius who made a lasting impression on more than one generation of music fans certainly. But he was also a Manc lad who played elaborate pranks on his mates, drank at the pub, loved his dog and liked Frank Sinatra's voice. Who knew?I played a lot of Joy Division while I read this book. Hook takes you through all their tracks, one at a time, and provides background to the construction of the songs and his impression of each one. It is recommended that the reader crank up Joy Division quite loudly while reading these sections.I would highly recommend Unknown Pleasures (both the book and the album, of course) to any Joy Division fan. Also to any reader who is specifically interested in the Manchester scene during the mid to late 70s and early 80s. Although Hook is most definite in his decision that he will NEVER again play as New Order with Barney, Steve and Gillian...he does indicate that he may well write another book about the New Order days. I hope he does.

I didn't know what to expect from this book. I have 'Touching From A Distance' by Deborah Curtis, so was interested to read a version of events from a different perspective. I am so glad that I did! If you are thinking of reading this book, ignore the reviews and make up your own minds, as my opinion is completely different to some others, who seem to have taken away a completely different perspective on what was written.I like how this is portrayed. Peter Hook is honest, funny and above all unapologetic about how he has put into words his memories of what happened. There is nothing pretentious about this book. There are sections that make you laugh out loud, there are sections that are pretty disgusting and there are sections that can be serious and quite sobering. Starting from the bass players childhood, we are led through the evolution of how the group met, the backgrounds and characters of the band, associates, and a warts and all history of antics in and out of the studio. You get to hear about rivalry with other bands, scuffles, lots of pranks and the evolution of a group of young men into the musicians of one of the most respected alternative bands that have existed. The sheer scope of work both in and out of the studio was incredible to read about. The relentless gigs, constantly fighting for a spot to get noticed and the toll taken on them all adds an insight (no pun intended) into just how hard things were. The affection that is felt for Ian Curtis is evident and his personality was quite surprising, but I was in no way disappointed to read about any of the band members being described as other than I had imagined them - they are human beings after all. Ians struggles to balance his band life, his married life, being a father and his ever worsening epilepsy show just how much a normal man had to deal with, and, although not in massive detail, there is enough to explain just how exhausting this must have been.The benefit of hindsight after Ians suicide is painfully felt multiple times throughout when it is mentioned how the author wishes he had stopped a show or intervened in some way, and I always used to wonder having read the lyrics how they didn't notice just how bad things were, but this book does go some way to explaining not only how it happened with Joy Division, but also how it may have happened with Alice In Chains too and their own upset. (My own thought, there is no relevance to this history). If you are a fan of Joy Division / New Order then this is recommended. You will see Ian in a different light from 'Touching From A Distance, Control, and 24 Hour Party People'.

Incredible and DevastatingA very thoughtful and well written book on what it was like to be Joy Division. My first college year was so influenced by this music. I still listen to it today. Ian Curtis would get more help now. It was simply different 40 years ago.

An honest and heartfelt account of the scrappy beginnings of Joy Division, the success, and the heartbreaking end. Peter Hook tells it like it was: they were kids, and had no idea how sick Ian was. Even if they’d been older, they probably wouldn’t have known. And the band was and is so much more than Ian’s tragedy. There are many fascinating anecdotes about goings on back and on stage, but I particularly loved the album track descriptions, where Hook explains the backstory behind the brilliant sons. For example how Day of the Lords was Joy Division trying to do what the Velvet Underground did on Ocean. Go listen. Of course! But Hook writes with humor, sensitivity, bold honesty about his intense experience. It’s a great book Hooky.

I love a good book where a band or music is the subject involved. This book did not disappoint. Already a fan of Joy Division and New Order, I was extremely excited to give this a go! Peter Hook(I'll refrain from calling him Hooky mainly because I am not his "mate") is a fun and honest story teller. Even when he thinks he is being honest in his accuracy, he is corrected in the truth. He obviously starts from the beginning. Upbringing, first musical influence, the band that set his sails of to sea, and even how he manages to acquire the length of his bass strap. Peter talks about his close relationship with Bernard and ultimately their unfortunate separation. Although I do get a feeling that there is remorse along with a possible hope of reconciliation. Of course there is a lot of talk about Ian. Plenty of regret and hindsight on Peters end. But isn't that to be expected? I won't spoil too much and let you, the reader, discover all of the juicy tales that are inside this wonderful read. Oh one last thing. I would highly suggest you follow Mr. Hooks advice, and listen to the accompanying album while reading the appropriate chapter. That was a nice surprise.

Just like sitting down in the pub with a pint and having Peter Hook tell you the story of Joy Division, with all the resulting side stories and anecdotes you would expect. Great story about normal guys that did something amazing.