“He really missed out”: when Ian Curtis criticised Tony Wilson for walking out of a Bauhaus gig
The mid-1970s was a revolutionary time for alternative music, especially in England, where the early rumblings of punk were beginning to spread. It didn’t take long, however, for the initial spark to die out, making way for a more experimental amalgamation between the genre and other influences, like electronic music, dub and jazz. Post-punk arrived in 1977, with Joy Division becoming one of the leading bands of the movement.
While their earliest recordings were much more influenced by classic punk, by the time the band had released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, their sound had become much darker and melancholic. Joy Division’s bleak and brooding sound became an important precursor to the gothic rock genre, which spawned from post-punk. Bauhaus were also considered the pioneers of gothic rock, bursting on the scene in 1979 with the single ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, a haunting track about the legendary actor known for playing Dracula and other horror figures.
Bauhaus released their first album, In The Flat Field, a few months after Joy Division’s Ian Curtis died via suicide in 1980. Yet, while he was alive, he was a fan of the band – despite the fact they only had a few songs to their name. Not long before he died, while wrapping up the recording of Closer, Curtis headed down to see Bauhaus play in London with Tony Wilson in tow.
Curtis and Wilson had a complex relationship, although it was Wilson who exposed Joy Division to a wider audience by having them on his show, So It Goes. The Factory Records co-founder gave into the pressure that Joy Division, particularly Curtis, placed on him and allowed the band to play a song on his show, which marked their television debut. Curtis practically demanded the slot, with the singer penning a letter which suggested he have them on So It Goes, calling him a “bastard” in the process.
It seems as though Curtis was often exasperated by Wilson, who was less than impressed with Bauhaus’ performance. The band’s approach to music evidently wasn’t up to Wilson’s standards, with bassist David J revealing in his book, Who Killed Mr. Moonlight? Bauhaus, Black Magick and Benediction, that Wilson disapproved of Bauhaus’ use of makeup. He set the scene of the gig: “On one of those rainy Soho nights, we were visited by an icon of this as-yet-unnamed melancholic subculture when Ian Curtis appeared at the end of a set during which a wild and abandoned Murphy had laid waste to a wall of mirrors.”
“We had always felt that there was a sympathetic resonance between Joy Division and us,” he added. “The tall, gangly singer told us that he had come with Factory Records boss Tony Wilson.” Immediately, it was made apparent that Bauhaus were not going to be associated with Factory Records any time soon. Wilson had “apparently left after the first number as he strongly objected to bands that wore makeup.”
Curtis’ response to Wilson’s lack of tolerance summed up his relationship with the enigmatic television host/label owner/Haçienda manager. According to J, Curtis told him, “It were ’is fooking loss, man,” continuing, “He really missed out tonight. Fook him. He’s a cunt, anyway!”
Still, Wilson’s own Factory Records would release both Unknown Pleasures and Closer, with Joy Division remaining one of the bands most synonymous with the label.