Know Pleasures

December 3, 2010 9:10 PM

Joy Division bassist Peter Hook talks about performing tracks from Unknown Pleasures.
posted by Artw (17 comments total)

This would be the place to repost Peter Hook True Manchester Stories then, wouldn't it? The link also has a comment answering the question on literally tens of peoples tongues, what of Freebase?
posted by Keith Talent at 9:36 PM on December 3, 2010

An looking around a bit more I see that Mani apologized and has made up with Peter hook, and the Freebase record has been released in the UK. Samples via their Myspace page are as cringeworthy as you'd expect.
posted by Keith Talent at 9:51 PM on December 3, 2010

Just wanna say it's so cool seeing in-depth musician interviews and responses as FPPs. I used to think that popular music was one of those things that MetaFilter Did Not Do Well, but there's been so much great even-handed back-and-forth discussion-sparking shit here lately that I really want to take it all back.
posted by chaff at 11:00 PM on December 3, 2010

I'd just like to say that I saw Joy Division supporting the Buzzcocks back in the late seventies (78...79... can't recall) and they both sucked. And I was (and am) a huge fan of both bands. Very disappointing, it was.
posted by Decani at 11:30 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/25731/Peter-Hook-Astor-Theatre-Perth-300910

The performance was a exercise in utter sacrilege. Peter Hook is infamous for his unique and fantastic bass playing skill but on this occasion he decided to let his back-up bassist do all the work, leaving Hooky to stand there with a bass round his neck in his classic legs-apart stance and attempt some interpretations of the sonorous baritone of Ian Curtis’ voice. Even with a mass of vocal effects and the keyboardist sharing vox duties, Hook barely cut the mustard.
...
To say it was like watching a Joy Division cover band is being generous, particularly when the original member requires lyric prompting for every song; whose small amount of audience interaction was indecipherable; and who only played his trademark instrument for 25% of the show. (Yes, it became so arduous that by mid-set this reviewer began timing how long Hook decided he wanted to play bass for.)

That’s how much Hook gave to this ‘celebration’.

posted by anazgnos at 11:38 PM on December 3, 2010

Laughing at the Paul Morley story.
posted by Abiezer at 12:04 AM on December 4, 2010

[From the email thread among friends after the concert here in Adelaide in September... it was hellishly loud, and the Hook's singing was truly hideous. Lots of the audience gave up during the interval -- definitely a night to forget.]

...my ears are still ringing. Relentlessly.

Hookey should stick with being a fat-bellied pirate and stop abusing that poor microphone. (Not to mention the poor audience.) The 6 string axe-wielder on the right of the stage -- I think Nat Wason is his name-- was really impressive, but the tosser in the middle kept making me want to close my eyes as yet-another-embarrassing-old-tool-rock-move was forced through his body.

Oh yeah: wearing a low-hanging bass as a fashion accessory doesn't work. Play it, or take it off. Just ripping out a couple of your signature high-bass riffs doesn't count.
posted by pjm at 12:24 AM on December 4, 2010

The link also has a comment answering the question on literally tens of peoples tongues, what of Freebase?

Holy wow. I knew Hook wasn't thought of very highly, but Mani's tweets are something to behold.
posted by item at 1:26 AM on December 4, 2010

Anyone know the specifics of why Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner/Steve Morris have fallen out? Even asking that question makes me feel like I'm buying the NME at Rebel Rebel in 1989, i.e. OLD AS THE HILLS.
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 2:51 AM on December 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

I remember picking up Unknown Pleasures in the Import bin of a local record shop. That cover just drew me in. And the music really delivered far more than that great cover promised. I played that vinyl to death.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:45 AM on December 4, 2010

Hokey geezer reunion schlock. Buy an Artery record and move on with your life I say.
posted by electricsandwich138 at 7:01 AM on December 4, 2010

Anyone know the specifics of why Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner/Steve Morris have fallen out? Even asking that question makes me feel like I'm buying the NME at Rebel Rebel in 1989, i.e. OLD AS THE HILLS.

From the look of Wikipedia it's a bit of a protracted and painful affair, and possibly a bit more permenant than your average New Order break up.
posted by Artw at 8:19 AM on December 4, 2010

NO is one of those bands that is the perfect example of a group that has continued way past the expiration date. Touring must be such a cash cow for bands like this, but it is also what completely kills them.

I have downloaded a couple of bootlegs from this stupid tour and Hook cannot sing worth shit. He never could sing, but his Ian Curtis impersonation is terrible. I also have a boot from a couple of years back for Joy 25, where Hook played with Section 25. It worked because Cassidy did the singing and Hook's schlocky bass worked with the Section 25 songs. For my money, Stephen did the best approximation of singing the Joy Division songs without sounding macabre.
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 9:09 AM on December 4, 2010

NO played Coachella in 05 and Hook was so obnoxious that I was embarassed for the band.
I love rock star bravado and energy as much as anyone, but when you're playing mild, pleasant 'lectropop only to have it punctuated by a drunken uncle wookie doing misplaced "WOOOHOOO"s at random throughout...well it gets tedious to say the least.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:19 AM on December 4, 2010

Interesting, and reminds me I never did get the box set. Must remedy.
posted by everichon at 10:24 AM on December 4, 2010

For JD and NO fans, checkout the blog Recycle. These guys have been doing their own remasters of all the Factory releases to remedy the crap job that Rhino did. They have just started on the Smiths Rough Trade years now as well.
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 10:33 AM on December 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

I went to the gig reviewed in anazgnos' link above and it was fucking shocking.

The quality of the music and the performance was amateurish at best, but that wasn't the worst of it. I, and everyone else I talked to that night, was left with the impression that he really was just banging out someone else's songs without making any serious attempt to engage with either the material or the audience.

It did not feel like a sincere tribute to a lost friend. It felt like the cheap shallow cashing in that he denies and jokes about in the main article here. Which, to put it bluntly, left us feeling both scammed and that we'd been treated with the utmost contempt.

If you're holding tickets to one of the remaining shows, I'd recommend giving them away. To someone who might throw stuff at the guy.
posted by Ahab at 9:20 PM on December 4, 2010 [1 favorite]