Tag Archives: Peter Hook

MP3s

Freebass – Not Too Late

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MP3: Freebass – “Not Too Late” from It’s A Beautiful Life, due December 7 on 24 Hour Service Station.

What happens when three bass players bonded in a mutual love of cocaine get together and form a band? What if the bass players in question are Peter Hook, Mani, and Andy Rourke, the guys responsible for the bottom end on some of the greatest British recordings of the 80s and 90s (Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths, the Stone Roses, Primal Scream)? You might expect it to be badass and maybe even heavy, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, they found a wimpy singer and made wimpy pop tunes. Lame. And then they broke up before their album was released.

At least they were able to get some bitchy tweets in on each other as they went down in flames. After Hooky decided to do a tour of Joy Division covers instead of promoting the Freebass album, Mani blasted him for his “wallet stuffed with Ian Curtis’ blood money” and accused his bandmates of being “talentless nostalgia fuckwit whores.”

Mani’s review of the album is probably all you need to hear: “It’s where it belongs mate… in the fucking bargain bin before it’s even released. You live and learn.” He later apologized. But if you’re still interested, you’ll be pleased to know that the US release collects the band’s three digital EPs on a bonus disc.

Freebass: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, eMusic, wiki

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Peter Hook: Libel Report

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Former New Order/Joy Division bassist Peter Hook is writing a tell-all book about his days in the Manchester club scene. It’s called Hacienda: How Not To Run A Club. He posted the libel report from his lawyer, which contains all kinds of juicy yet potentially defamatory details. Hook himself admits that he “thought it read Almost as well as the book.”

This is the account by Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order of his involvement in and subsidising of the Hacienda Club in Manchester. As there is a considerable amount of drug-taking and involvement of gangs with resulting violence and a fair degree of professional incompetence in the running of the club, there are obviously potential defamation issues.

My favorite bit:

75 We also have a problem potentially with XXXX being called a smack head. Might not she and XXXX also complain about the sexual reference. Again at the risk of sounding pompous, that is a private matter which XXXX could object to and might also claim it was defamatory. XXXX might also say that although she mentioned this to the author in conversation, she would not expect to see it in a book.

Old Hooky’s since removed the posts, but thanks to Google’s cache, they’re still available: Part 1, Part 2. If Google clears its cache before you get to it, you can read the full, unedited text of both posts after the jump…

Via Pitchfork.

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Articles

Control and Joy Division (DVD)

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Control DVDControl (Weinstein Company)

Joy Division (Weinstein Company)

It’s easy to forget sometimes how effortlessly someone can fade from a person to a legend. It can be as simple as a good story, an early death, and a little time. Twenty-eight years after his death at age 23, we have more of his story.

A dual release of rockudrama Control and traditional documentary Joy Division attempts to fill in the colors of an unfinished sketch and ends up as grey and haunting as the Manchester location that dominates Ian Curtis‘ story.

Wracked by the onset of grand mal seizures, rocketing fame (in a decidedly anti-fame scene), increasingly demanding touring schedules, a faltering marriage, fatherhood, and the general depression that often surrounds guys in their twenties who are struggling to figure out who they are while putting on a good face, is it any wonder Ian Curtis danced like a spastic?

Both films focus on Curtis as the center of the story, and it’s hard not to when your hero’s end is tragic, but you’re left wondering about the other three dudes—who went on after Curtis’ death to form New Order, one of the most influential bands of the 80s and 90s. Still, there’s only so much time and Curtis is a fascinating figure.

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To Do Anything New Ordery…

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Uh oh, things are getting nasty over in New Orderville. A brief recap. First, bassist Peter Hook said the group had broken up. Bernard Sumner and Stephan Morris immediately said, “Oh really?”

Well now, old Hooky has responded to Sumner and Morris regarding the idea of them carrying on without him on his myspace blog:

never assume anything! This group has SPLIT UP! you are no more new order than i am! you may have two thirds but dont assume you have the rights to do anything NEW ordery cos you dont ive still got a third! But am open to negotiation.

Just in case you hadnt noticed weve not had a “PERSONAL” relationship for a long time now…years in fact! whenever you contact me its through the management(like hale and pace eh?) i did exactly the same you all knew what was happening re the split! in FEBRUARY! using cannes and mojo as some excuse to at last get your own back is wrong.

Not entirely sure what he’s talking about re: “cannes and mojo” but I’m pretty sure it’s mean.