The Records That Changed My Life: Bernard Sumner — Forum Archive

11 Oct 2005, 10:47

sorry if this is a repost. thanks Emilio for the link!

http://www.spin.com/features/magazine/2005/07/0507_bernard/

The Records That Changed My Life: Bernard Sumner of New Order By: Adrienne Day July 4, 2005

Bernard Sumner, founding member of Joy Division and New Order, might have blazed a path for generations of angsty dance-punk bands, but he still finds inspiration in rock's glory days.

"I picked the records I got before I became a musician, because I listened to music in a completely different way then," he says. "We just spent seven months making a new record [Waiting for the Sirens' Call], and the last thing you want to do is hear music when you come out of the studio after a 14-hour day."

Ennio Morricone, A Fistful of Dollars: Original Soundtrack (RCA, 1967) "I grew up in a house without a record player. I wasn't that interested in music. Then I got to the age of 15, 16, and I became completely obsessed with it. My mother finally bought me a player, and the first single I ever bought was 'Ride a White Swan' by T. Rex. But I got fed up with having to get up and put it back on. I thought, 'This is shit, I need to buy an album,' but I didn't know where to start. Then I saw The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and I was blown away by Morricone's music."

Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland (MCA, 1968) "I remember there was this kid at school who was a bit of a hippie, and he loved Jimi Hendrix. I said to him, 'It just sounds like a lot of guitar noise,' and he stared at me and said, 'I like it.' So I went out and bought it, played it, just a lot of noise, played it, just a lot of noise -- and then all of the sudden my musical horizon went up a notch, and I really got into Hendrix. It was really weird, like a 'Road to Damascus' moment."

The Rolling Stones, Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits, Vol. 2) (ABKCO, 1969) "I love the Stones; they've got this kind of raw, nasty, unpolished edge. For a while they got sort of countrified and a bit American sounding, and I didn't like that period, but the early, English-sounding stuff, 'Sympathy for the Devil' and '2,000 Light Years From Home,' I really like."

Roxy Music, Stranded (Virgin, 1973) "I got a bit older and started going to nightclubs. One club in Manchester was called Pips, and they used to play stuff like Roxy Music. At the time it sounded like nothing you had ever heard before. It had a really fresh sound."

Lou Reed, Transformer (RCA, 1972) "Another album they played at Pips was Lou Reed's Transformer, which has got a great track on it called 'Vicious.' It was considered a dance track in those days. I loved the riff in it -- dead simple. They're the hardest songs to write, simple songs. You've got to get yourself in the right frame of mind in order to write them."

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV (Atlantic, 1971) "At school we had a hip geography teacher. He'd tell us that if we paid attention in class, during break time he'd let us use the record player. He used to bring in his records, and one was Led Zeppelin IV. All the kids liked it immediately. It's a corny thing to say, but 'Stairway to Heaven' is a beautiful piece of music."

Iggy Pop, The Idiot (Virgin, 1977) "I knew Ian Curtis from going to punk gigs. So when we were forming Joy Division, I just gave him the job on the phone. I didn't even listen to him [sing]. When we went around to his house to pick up his PA system, he had 'China Girl' playing. I said, 'Who's this track by?' He said, 'Oh, it's Iggy.' I was like, 'This is fantastic. Bring it to rehearsal tonight, we'll try and rip it up.' So that's how I got to know Ian."

Kraftwerk, Trans-Europe Express (Capitol, 1977) "Ian Curtis also turned me on to this -- it was revolutionary. We had a record player in the rehearsal room, and people would bring stuff in. We used to play Trans-Europe Express before we went onstage."

Hans Zimmer, The Thin Red Line: Original Soundtrack (RCA, 1998) "When we owned a nightclub, the Hacienda, we'd just be out all night and then be a mess on Sunday. And after a few years of it and a lot of drug taking, I just got sick of it. So I bought a boat, and now I go sailing every weekend. The biggest place to listen to music is on the boat. And my favorite things to listen to are film soundtracks. They're the opposite of what I make -- they're chilled out."

11 Oct 2005, 10:52

:clap:

11 Oct 2005, 11:15

A very good read. Cheers for posting! :)

11 Oct 2005, 11:22

cheers

11 Oct 2005, 11:34

Mine would have to be "Cor Baby that's Really Free" by John Otway

11 Oct 2005, 12:28

I remember that sometime in 1992 or 1993, Bernard did a similar interview for NME or Melody Maker and listed a set of songs that changed his life. This list included Bob Marley's Redemption Song and something by Lou Reed, but I cannot remember what other tracks he named. In the same interview, Barney also said that he once had a dream that Bob Marley was perscribing wisdom to him.

Anybody remember this???

11 Oct 2005, 12:34

I remember reading a comment he made in 1979 about Led Zeppelin: 'Isn't that terrible?'

11 Oct 2005, 12:44

Lou Reed, Transformer (RCA, 1972) "Another album they played at Pips was Lou Reed's Transformer, which has got a great track on it called 'Vicious.' It was considered a dance track in those days. I loved the riff in it -- dead simple. They're the hardest songs to write, simple songs. You've got to get yourself in the right frame of mind in order to write them."

temptation would be an example of this.

11 Oct 2005, 12:50

There's an interview in one of the issues of the fanzine Paradise where Barney also talks about this kind of thing.

Nearly word for word on Hendrix - except Barney told his mate that the Hendrix song sounded like a washing machine droning on and on :lol:

11 Oct 2005, 12:52

Shug,isnt that way he talks about JD these days?

11 Oct 2005, 13:09

Jonathan wrote: Shug,isnt that way he talks about JD these days?

Certainly not ;)

Barney, Hooky and Steve all know how good Joy Division are/were. You must be getting confused with Movement :D

11 Oct 2005, 17:16

One of the songs from the fall 1992 NME interview was Pet Shop Boys "Paninaro." He said something to the effect that he was out on the dancefloor at a club and made the DJ play it over and over again all night.

11 Oct 2005, 18:17

Quite interesting, but on the other hand, wasn't it typical for the 70s youth tastes (thank God there's no Queen, Bay City Rollers, Pink Floyd, Kiss, Styx etc. :lol: )?

12 Oct 2005, 01:39

bernard sumner's music really had great impacts on our lives...good post almanso :clap:

12 Oct 2005, 01:55

Excellent, thanks!

I love all the little details that he remembers, his interviews are always interesting.

12 Oct 2005, 02:16

They're all good records, but it's a pretty boring selection really. It would have been nice to have been surprised.

12 Oct 2005, 02:17

Barney's are shite (fuckin Led Zep for example. that's a shocker). So apart from JD/NO here's mine:

Message in a bottle - Police
tra la la - banana splits song - dickies
eton rifles - Jam
too much too young - specials
love like blood - kj

12 Oct 2005, 02:32

Why do you think they're shite, John?

12 Oct 2005, 02:46

DC wrote: Why do you think they're shite, John?

his songs are a different time & different place to when i grew up i suppose. i'm late seventies punk/postpunk. he was a kid before all that, but did help to create all that (with JD).

never liked any led zep or iggy pop. the stones are the worst band of all time in my opinion. and Kraftwerk are one dimensional and way overrated.

12 Oct 2005, 03:34

Superb. It's very interesting to read this. Him citing Morricone's Leone soundtracks as an influence on him is not surprising. I am a huge fan of them myself, and have often thought that Elegia was directly inspired by the track "The Ecstasy of Gold" off of the THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY OST (from the scene where Tuco discovers the graveyard and, subsequently, the grave), specifically its guitar work. A lot of the grating, cacophonous sounds that Morricone uses seem to have been a huge influence on Barney's grating, thrashing guitar work as well (a la Love Vigilantes, Colony, etc).