About this item

The highly acclaimed U.K. post-punk band Joy Division was originally called Warsaw. Formed in Manchester, England in the late 1970s, the group consisted of Ian Curtis on vocals, Bernard Albrecht (aka Sumner, aka Dicken) on guitar, Peter Hook on bass and Stephen Morris on drums. Hook, Albrecht and Curtis hooked up at a local concert and later formed the group Warsaw. The band’s name was taken from a David Bowie-Brian Eno composition, “Warszawa”. The 5 bonus tracks on this album are demos cut by the group at Pennine Studios in Manchester on July 18, 1977 with Steve Brotherdale on drums. The first eleven tracks presented here were the result of a recording session for that album that took place in early May of 1978. Rehearsals leading up to the session resulted in two new songs being added to the group’s existing repertoire: “Interzone” and “Transmission.” “Interzone” was based on the backing track of the song “Keep On Keepin’ On,” to which the band added their own lyrics.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: Joy Division were born The Stiff Kittens before changing their name to Warsaw, only finally becoming Joy Division to avoid a name clash with long forgotten London punk outfit Warsaw Pakt. Inspired by the legendary Sex Pistols gig that pretty much single handedly launched the Manchester music scene, they had always wanted a punkier sound and "Warsaw" was the 1978 debut intended to showcase that; a raw, aggressive salvo that really should have seen the light of day. It was Martin Hannett - somewhat against the band's wishes - who introduced the bleak beauty we associate with Joy Division, but there are still some pretty broad hints here of what was to come.