On May 25th, 1984, Morrissey, George Michael, & Tony Blackburn (did Tony steal his hair from a box of legos? …wanker!) appeared on Eight Days a Week, a 1980s UK music discussion TV programme presented by Robin Denselow. Topics ranged from discussing Everything But the Girl (who had just released their first album “Eden”), mutual loathing for the original Breakin’ film ( here blandly called “Break Dancing”), Soul Music, and Joy Division.
The Joy Division bit was a review of An Ideal for Living: A History of Joy Division by Mark Johnson.
Morrissey made his typically oblique and perhaps envious jabs at the mythos of Joy Division, making a clever joke referencing New Order by stating that he endorsed Joy Division—albeit with “confusion”. Despite Morrissey’s comments, to the real surprise of everyone, especially Denselow, George Michael revealed that he was indeed a true Joy Division fan:
Denselow: George, I wouldn’t imagine you as a Joy Division fan, maybe I’m wrong?
George: Ah, you might be wrong! This book, just became incredibly suspect for me, the minute I saw…
Denselow: You do like them?
George: I do like them, yeah. It became very suspect when I saw that it was partially, a lot of the conributions were from a gentleman called Paul Morley.
Denselow: You don’t approve of Paul Morley?
George: You’d need a book a lot thicker than that to list that man’s ideas or hangups, whatever you’d like to call it.
It became very very pretentious, in so many areas, I actually didn’t finish it, I did not get anywhere near finishing it. And I actually really liked Joy Division, or particular their second album “Closer”. I thought “Closer”, the second side of “Closer”…it’s one of my favorite albums, It’s just beautiful.
As stated above, George Michael is indeed a Joy Division Fan, However he went on to say—seemingly in agreement with Morrissey, that the band’s status was posthumously elevated, in an almost engineered fashion, after the suicide of singer Ian Curtis.
h/t William Kilby
They way they tore me apart Like I’m a corpse they wanna ditch They way they sold me for parts…
It is a quiet devastation, a weight that presses without end. The realization unfolds not in a sharp moment but…
In the history of new beat, there are few more memorable samples than "Germany calling." Taken from a Lord Haw-Haw…
Today, New York City's rising singer-songwriter Stella Rose drops her latest single and lyric video for HOLLYBABY, the title track…
Perfect hosts and room ghosts shout I don't care what they say They can fight it out I mean to…
I need a change from here to there And you don't know what it's like to be me Feeling free…