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{{Unreferenced|date=March 2007}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|Name = Ian Curtis
|Img = Ian_Curtis.jpg
|Background = solo_singer
|Birth_name = Ian Kevin Curtis
|Born = [[July 15]], [[1956]]<br />{{flagicon|England}} [[Trafford|Old Trafford]], [[Manchester]], [[England]]
|Died = {{death date and age|1980|5|18|1956|7|15}}<br />{{flagicon|England}} [[Macclesfield]], [[England]]
|Instrument = [[Voice]], [[Guitar]]
|Occupation = Musician, Songwriter
|Associated_acts = [[Joy Division]]
|URL =
}}
'''Ian Kevin Curtis''' ([[July 15]], [[1956]] – [[May 18]], [[1980]]) was the vocalist, lyricist and occasional guitarist and keyboardist of the band [[Joy Division]], which he helped form in [[1977]] in [[Manchester]], [[England]].
==Early life==
Curtis was born in the Memorial Hospital, [[Trafford|Old Trafford]], [[Manchester]], in 1956. He grew up in the Hurdsfield area of [[Macclesfield]]. It was apparent from a young age that Curtis was a talented poet and songwriter. Although being awarded a scholarship to attend the [[The King's School, Macclesfield]] at the age of 11, Curtis was never interested in pursuing academic success as his ambitions and hopes lay in the music industry. His passion for music led him to work in a record shop for a short time. Curtis also worked as a [[civil servant]] <ref>[http://www.joydiv.org/iancurtis.htm]</ref> in [[Manchester]] and later, Macclesfield.
==
Curtis's fate was said to have been set after attending a [[Sex Pistols]] concert in 1976, where he convinced himself his destiny lay as a performer rather than just a fan. One thing led to another and Curtis got to know a young [[Bernard Sumner]] and [[Peter Hook]]. Sumner and Hook told Curtis that they were trying to form a band and he simultaneously put himself forward as a vocalist and lyricist, an offer they accepted. The three of them recruited (and [[sacked]]) a succession of drummers before settling on [[Stephen Morris]] as their final member. The band was called [[Warsaw (band)|Warsaw]] for a short while before changing their name to Joy Division in 1978 due to conflicts with the name of another band, [[Warsaw Pakt]]. Curtis's persistence is said to have eventually secured the band a record deal with [[Tony Wilson|Tony Wilson's]] now legendary [[Factory Records]]. He convinced Wilson to allow them to perform "Shadowplay" on Granada Reports (a regional television show on which Wilson presented). After setting up Factory Records with [[Alan Erasmus]], Tony Wilson "signed" the band to his label (although no contracts were ever signed, despite the now apocryphal tale of Wilson signing a contract in his own blood. This myth first emerged in 2002 from Wilson himself in the run up to the release of [[24 Hour Party People]], where the scene is also portrayed. It seems that the trailers to forthcoming Curtis biopic [[Control]] further perpetuates this utterly false myth, unfortunately.)
While performing for Joy Division, Curtis developed a unique dancing style reminiscent of the [[seizure|epileptic seizures]] he experienced, sometimes even on stage. The resemblance was such that audience members were occasionally uncertain whether he was dancing or having a seizure, or whether it was an amalgam of the two, and was somehow part of "the act". He sometimes collapsed and had to be helped off stage as his health suffered due to Joy Division's intense touring.
Many of the songs he wrote were filled with images of emotional pain, death, violence, alienation and urban degeneration. These recurring subjects led fans and Curtis's wife, [[Deborah Curtis|Deborah]], to believe he was singing about his own life. Curtis once commented in an interview that he wrote about "the different ways different people can cope with certain problems and how they can adapt." He sang in an eerie [[bass-baritone]] voice, which made him sound much older than he actually was. He also had a fascination with the Hohner [[Melodica]], an instrument which was allegedly introduced to him by Tony Wilson's wife Lindsay Reade towards the end of Curtis's life (although Curtis's love of dub reggae artist [[Augustus Pablo]] almost certainly plays a significant part in his flirtation with the instrument, which only appeared on two Joy Division songs, Closer's closer "Decades" and future [[New Order]] B-side "In A Lonely Place"). Curtis's fascination with the Melodica would later lead to [[Bernard Sumner]] to use the instrument in [[New Order]]. Joy Division and in particular Curtis had their recorded style developed by producer [[Martin Hannett]], some of their most innovative work being created in [[Strawberry Studios]] in [[Stockport]] (owned by [[Manchester]] act [[10cc]]) and [[Cargo Recording Studios]] Rochdale in 1979, a studio which was developed from [[John Peel]] putting money into the music business in Rochdale. [[John Peel]] was a great fan of Joy Division and Curtis.
Although predominantly a vocalist, Curtis also played guitar on a handful of tracks (usually when Bernard Sumner was playing synthesizer, or in the case of "Incubation", where both men played guitar). To begin with, he played Sumner's Shergold Masquerader, but in September 1979 he acquired his own guitar, a [[Vox]] Phantom Special VI (often incorrectly ascribed as being a Teardrop or ordinary Phantom model) which had many built-in effects which were exploited both live and in the studio by [[Martin Hannett]] ([[Bernard Sumner]] "inherited" this guitar, and it was used in several early [[New Order]] songs, such as [[Everything's Gone Green]])
Curtis was greatly influenced by the writers [[William Burroughs]], [[J G Ballard]], and [[Joseph Conrad]] (the song titles "[[Interzone]]", "Atrocity Exhibition", and "Colony" coming from the three authors, respectively), and by the singers [[Iggy Pop]], and [[David Bowie]].
==
Curtis's last live performance on [[May 2]], [[1980]] at [[Birmingham University]] was held in the same month as his death and included Joy Division's first and last performance of the song "Ceremony", which was later used by [[New Order]] and released as their first single. The last song Curtis ever performed in front of an audience was "Digital". The recording of this performance can be found on the compilation album ''[[Still (Joy Division album)|Still]]''.
The effects of his epilepsy and personal problems, such as an impending [[divorce]] from his wife, may have contributed to Curtis's [[suicide]] by hanging at the age of 23. According to the book ''Touching From A Distance'', Curtis had taken an overdose of his [[Carbamazepine|epilepsy medication]] and ended up in hospital just over a month before his death. The overdose was believed to be a 'cry for help' but Curtis himself was said to have told his bandmates that he had meant to overdose, but didn't complete it because he was afraid that the overdose would not kill him but instead leave him permanently brain-damaged. The book states that [[Bernard Sumner]] took him to a graveyard after he had left hospital to show him where he would have ended up had the overdose killed him. The night Curtis died, days before Joy Division was to begin its first American tour, he watched one of his favourite movies, ''[[Stroszek]]'' by [[Werner Herzog]]. He later hanged himself, in the early hours of Sunday May 18th, in his kitchen having earlier listened to [[Iggy Pop]]'s ''[[The Idiot (album)|The Idiot]]''. Curtis's viewing and listening choices continue to generate speculation as to the true reasons why he took his life.
Curtis was [[cremation|cremated]] and his ashes were buried in Macclesfield, with the [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1831 inscription on his memorial stone] "[[Love Will Tear Us Apart]]". The epitaph, chosen by [[Deborah Curtis]], is a reference to Joy Division's best-known song.
==Legacy==
The remaining members of Joy Division formed [[New Order]] following Curtis's death. The band had agreed to not go on as Joy Division if one of the members were to leave, for whatever reason. Their first album [[Movement (album)|Movement]] featured a song called ''I.C.B.'', which stands for Ian Curtis Buried.
[[Psychic TV]], a band led by performance artist and former [[Throbbing Gristle]] lead singer, [[Genesis P-Orridge ]] wrote a song about Curtis, ''[[I.C. Water]]''. It was released as a single in [[1990]] and was also featured on the group's album ''[[Towards Thee Infinite Beat]]''. The single featured Curtis on the cover and samples a recording of him discussing [[The Velvet Underground]] in a pub.
Deborah Curtis wrote ''Touching from a Distance'', published in 1995, a biographical account of their marriage, detailing in part his [[infidelity]], particularly with [[Belgian]] journalist Annik Honore. Authors Mick Middles and Linsay Reade released the book ''Torn Apart: The Life Of Ian Curtis'' in 2006. This biography takes a more intimate look at Ian Curtis and includes photographs from personal family albums and excerpts from Curtis's letters to Annik Honore during his affair with her.
In relation to this, the Belgian indie magazine [[Side-Line]] has now published an interview online with Annick Honoré originally made in 2005 in which she tells for the first time about her view on the upcoming film.<ref>[http://www.side-line.com/interviews_comments.php?id=23440_0_16_0_C Annick Honoré interview]</ref>
Curtis was portrayed by [[Sean Harris]] in the 2003 film ''[[24 Hour Party People]]'', which dramatized the rise and fall of [[Factory Records]] in the 1970s and 1980s.
In late 2004-early 2005, plans were made for an Ian Curtis [[biopic]] [http://www.nme.com/news/111004.htm]. The film, called ''[[Control (2007 film)|Control]]'', is based on material from ''Touching from a Distance''. Popular rock photographer [[Anton Corbijn]] (perhaps best known for the videos he directed for [[Depeche Mode]] and [[U2]]) directed while Deborah Curtis and former Factory Records head [[Tony Wilson|Anthony Wilson]] are executive producers. Relatively unknown actor [[Sam Riley]], the lead singer of band [http://www.10000things.tv 10000 Things] portrays Curtis, while [[Samantha Morton]] plays his wife, Deborah. The film debuted at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] on May 17, 2007 to great acclaim, taking three awards at the [[Director's Fortnight]].
Artist [[Glenn Brown]] has produced two paintings, ''Exercise One (for Ian Curtis)'' (1995) and ''Dark Angel (for Ian Curtis)'' (2002), inspired by the singer and appropriating the paintings of [[Chris Foss]].
A wall on Wallace Street in [[Wellington]], [[New Zealand]] had the words 'Ian Curtis Lives' written on it shortly after the singer's death. The message is repainted whenever it is painted over, and another wall on the same street now bears the legend 'Ian Curtis R.I.P. Walk In Silence'. The original wall has been defaced, and currently reads 'Ian Stuart R.I.P.' Both are referred to as 'The Ian Curtis Wall'.
[[U2]] released the song "[[A Day Without Me]]", about Curtis's suicide, as the lead single from their 1980 debut album ''[[Boy (album)|Boy]]''. An oft-repeated anecdote by Tony Wilson is that when U2 visited Factory Records, U2 frontman [[Bono]] said when Curtis was alive he was the best frontman in rock and he himself was only number two; Bono pledged to take Curtis's place.
The Durutti Column, friends of Joy Division and Curtis in particular released two songs in response to Curtis's suicide ("Sleep Will Come" with vocals from [[A Certain Ratio]]'s Jez Kerr, and "The Missing Boy", appearing on their second LP "LC")
Thursday released a song titled "Ian Curtis" on their debut album [[Waiting]].
==Film==
In May 2007 a British film about the life and death of [[Ian Curtis]], entitled [[Control (2007 film)|Control]] debuted at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] to wide acclaim. Ian Curtis is played by [[Sam Riley]] in his first time role as a lead actor. The film was directed by Dutch film maker [[Anton Corbijn]].
==Further reading==
*Middles, Mick/Reade, Lindsay (2006). ''Torn Apart: The Life Of Ian Curtis''. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-826-3.
*Curtis, Deborah (1995). ''Touching from a Distance - Ian Curtis and Joy Division''. Faber and Faber Limited. ISBN 0-571-17445-0.
*Heylin, Clinton & Wood, Craig (1988). ''Joy Division: Form (and Substance)''. Sound Pub. ISBN 1-871407-00-1.
*Middles, Mick (1996). ''From Joy Division to New Order'' Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0638-6.
*Edge, Brian (1984). ''Pleasues and Wayward Distractions'' Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-1439-7
*Johnson, Mark (1984). ''An Ideal For Living. An History of Joy Division'' Proteus Books. ISBN 0-7119-1065-0
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://www.IanCurtis.org Ian Curtis and Joy Division Fans Club - for those who love the man and his band]
* [http://www.
* [http://www.joydiv.org/these.htm Control - the Ian Curtis Movie unofficial web site]
* [http://www.joydiv.org/iancurtis.htm Ian Curtis biography at Joy Division Central]
* [http://www.lwtua.free-online.co.uk/jd/18may/0.htm Ian Curtis's Macclesfield - a site for anyone visiting his home town]
* [http://www.iancurtis.org/biography/IanCurtis.html Ian Curtis Biography]
* [http://www.genesisp-orridge.com/index.php?section=article&id=65 Genesis P-Orridge - Rememberances of Ian Curtis of "Joy Division"]
{{Joy Division}}
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