Question for older fans

All the talk about George got me wondering about the time Ian Curtis died. What was the press coverage like in England? America? I was less than a year old when Ian died, so I don't have any way of knowing from my own memories. I think Mt. Saint Helens also burst on May 18, 1980, so that would've overshadowed Ian's death quite a bit in the US at least. just wondering what the mainstream media, as well as rock periodicals, had to say. More a matter of pure curiousity on my part...

I'm Iain Curtis!!!

You know, the guy who used to play David Hasselhoff's mentor on Knight Rider....

I didn't hear about Ian's death until about a month after it had happened. There was a strike that affected the NME and Melody Maker at that time, so there was absolutely no way I could get any info on the British music scene out here.

Oddly enough I was thumbing through 'Pleasures & Wayward Distractions' last night..

Apparently John Peel announced the news to the UK simply thus:

"Bad news lads. Ian Curtis of Joy Division has died."

He then went on to play Atmosphere.

Although I was a little too young to remember it, the news articles and obituaries of the time suggest that the loss was an incredibly profound one.

Yep, St. Helens did blow that day. We got lucky down here with only a slight dusting of ash. Can't imagine what it would have been like in Eastern Washington that day where the ash came down dark and thick, and it piled up in drifts.

As for the type of writing at the news of Ian's death, I've always thought the NME, with stories by Paul Morley and Adrian Thrills, were the best of the lot, for example,I didn't know before that Ian had left a baby daughter, but their stories were sensitive without being morbid. The story that was in Sounds was a bit more over the top, with the writer claiming that Ian died for us. I suppose the writer was trying distill the angst of Ian's lyrics for his own interpretation of why he killed himself, but it seemed to me at the time to be just a poorly written article.

The press coverage in America was pathetic.... There was a small article in a column of small articles that mentioned it...not in great detail....The article was in Rolling Stone.... and to be honest I don;t think JD ever got off the ground much here esp because they never came here.

I find it VERY hard to come across JD fans (REAL JD fans who know the songs, own the reccords and listen to them)

Not some stupid goth girl who owns "Permanent" and when I ask her her favorite song she says: "I don't know" then pauses for a minute and says "not LWTUA" Me: "That doesn't answer my question"

Seriusly I think it went nearly unoticed... I mean Ian's death was similar to Kurt Cobain's yet when he died I never read any comparisons between the two. I thought that odd..

Speaking of "fairweather fans" like the Permenant : I knew a in my first try at college, down at good ole USC (South Carolina, not Southern Cal) who had two or three Smiths albums, but the only song she liked, the only one she ever listened to with any regularity, was How Soon Is Now. She didn't even bother to listen to anything else off the cds, just How Soon...That still makes me wonder to this day.

I had all JD's albums, but I gave my copies of UP, Closer and Subs to my coz after getting Heart and Soul. Shame they didn't try and reproduce the artwork from the two LPs for the respective discs, it's a little disappointing to see that wierd wave of blue on each disc.

Originally posted by depthcharge Oddly enough I was thumbing through 'Pleasures & Wayward Distractions' last night..Apparently John Peel announced the news to the UK simply thus:"Bad news lads. Ian Curtis of Joy Division has died."He then went on to play Atmosphere.Although I was a little too young to remember it, the news articles and obituaries of the time suggest that the loss was an incredibly profound one.

I have that book too, but I think it's a misquote - I later read something about there being no way Peel would have announced it in such a cold way.

I personally remember reading about it in Smash Hits !

I can remember Mt. St. Helen's going up pretty well. I was in college taking a basic geology class and we were talking about it on and off the whole semester. Then the Sunday before the final it happens. Our test was the tuesday after and the professor was very disappointed that we would not have the opportunity for further discussion.

As far as Ian goes...maybe there was something in the local NYC papers cause they were going to tour in the states (I think NYC first???) pretty soon. I'll have toput my librarian skills to work and see if anything was written in the NY Times...but cha' not.