This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else bookcover

This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else

Joy Division: The Oral History

Jon Savage 

(Author)
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
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Description

An exciting new book on Joy Division, featuring never before told stories.

NamedLA Times Buzz-worthy Books to Look Forward To.

Jon Savage's oral history of Joy Division is the last word on the band that ended with the suicide of Ian Curtis in Macclesfield on 18 May, 1980. It weaves together interviews conducted by the author, but never used in the making of the film Joy Division (2007) which told the story of the band in their own words, as well as those of their peers, collaborators, and contemporaries.

Here are 15 or so vivid witnesses to the band's genesis, meteoric rise, and tragic demise, including Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner, Annike Honore, Deborah Curtis, Paul Morley, Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Martin Hannet ... It is the story of young men driven to create and cause rock n' roll havoc inspired by literature, radical ideas, and the wasteland that was post-industrial Manchester in the late 70s. It is as intense and funny and alive on the page as only an oral history can be, recalling masterpieces like Edie by Jean Stein and Meet me in the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman. It is essential reading.

Product Details

PublisherFaber & Faber Social
Publish DateApril 23, 2019
Pages272
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconHardback
EAN/UPC9780571345373
Dimensions9.3 X 6.2 X 1.2 inches | 1.3 pounds

About the Author

Jon Savage is the author of England's Dreaming: Sex pistols and Punk Rock and Teenage: The Creation of Youth, 1875-1945. He has written sleeve notes for Wire, St. Etienne, and the Pet Shop Boys, among others, and his compilations include: Meridian 1970 (Heavenly/EMI 2005); Queer Noises: From the Closest to the Charts 1961-1976 (Trikont 2006); and Dreams Come True: Classic Electro 1982-87 (Domino 2008).

Reviews

"Excellent ... it's the ultimate oral history of one of rock's most haunting legends"--Rolling Stone
"Fans of the band will delight in the intimacy of the many stories and anecdotes, some of which are being shared publicly for the first time.... This Searing Light, The Sun And Everything Else represents the consolidated authoritative history of this important band, and as such it may in fact prove to be the last word on the topic. For fans of Joy Division, and of punk, post-punk, and British music generally, this is a must read."--Brooklyn Rail
"As much as the story of this band has been pillaged, This Searing Light proves that there were still more Joy Division stories to be told." -- Popmatters
"These are some of the nearly 40 people from Joy Division's inner circle whose accounts Savage, who was also there at the time, has deftly woven into an almost detective-style MRI of the band and the forces and factors that formed it. Almost particle by particle, from descriptions of Manchester's industrial beginnings to the area's cultural void, Savage makes you understand that the members of Joy Division were driven to create something of immense beauty, as if there were no other choice." -- Los Angeles Times
"English music writer Savage turns his eye to one of the most iconic bands of the post-punk era. More than a dozen observers, including Joy Division members Peter Hook and Bernard Summer, tell the story of Ian Curtis' short-lived but endlessly influential band."--LA Times (Buzz-worthy Books to Look Forward To)

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