For the first time in their dozen year history Transmission: The Sound Of Joy Division will be performing live in Brighton. In fact it will be only their second performance in Sussex, having played Hastings in 2010, so this could be a must on the gigs list.
It has amazingly been 40 years since the release of Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ album, which hit an unsuspecting world on 15th June 1979. The cover artwork was certainly iconic and can still be seen on the high street to this very day. It was the inspiration of artist Peter Saville, who ‘borrowed’ the image of a data plot of signals from a radio pulsar. It was sadly the only Joy Division album released during lead singer Ian Curtis’s lifetime. It’s a classic album! As was the follow up ‘Closer’ which was released on 18th July 1980. This album too was adorned with a truly memorable cover, designed by Peter Saville with Martyn Atkins, especially as Joy Division’s lead singer/songwriter Ian Curtis had passed away two months to the day earlier and the image had already been selected prior to his departure. A strange coincidence!
‘Closer’ is adorned with a photo taken of the Appiani family tomb, as seen in the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno in Italy. The subject matter was sculpted by Demetrio Paernio in 1910. It is a very moving piece indeed and one that has stayed with us via the album cover for nearly 40 years now.
In celebration of ‘FACT 25’, that’s the official Factory Records catalogue number for ‘Closer’ (with ‘Unknown Pleasures’ being ‘FACT 10’), the Joy Division tribute band Transmission: The Sound Of Joy Division will be performing the ‘Closer’ album on an eight date tour, along with other relevant selections from the JD back catalogue.
The tracklisting on the ‘Closer’ album is:
‘Atrocity Exhibition’ (6:06)
‘Isolation’ (2:53)
‘Passover’ (4:46)
‘Colony’ (3:55)
‘A Means To An End’ (4:07)
‘Heart And Soul’ (5:51)
‘24 Hours’ (4:26)
‘The Eternal’ (6:07)
‘Decades’ (6:10)
Named ‘Album of the Year’ by the NME in 1980, ‘Closer’ is widely regarded as one of the finest releases from the Post-Punk period.
The tour drops in at Patterns in Brighton Saturday 25th April 2020 – snap up your tickets HERE.
Further details on Transmission: The Sound Of Joy Division can be found HERE. 
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