Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart” 1980. Factory Records. Today, July 15th, would have been Ian Curtis’ 65th birthday (b. 1956, d. 1980). This single is darkly post punk in an enigmatic format: Side A’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is at 45 rpm. Side B is the even darker “These Days” but also has an unlisted second rendition of “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” both at 33-1/3 rpm which is startling if you forgot to switch the speed (which, of course, I did). Tucked inside the sleeve is a bonus flexi-disc 7″ soundsheet of “Komakino” (catalog FAC 28) and the excellent, highly danceable instrumental “Incubation” (catalog FAC Reject). Plus, just like the “Love Will Tear Us Apart” single, the flexi has an unlisted track, the vaguely industrial instrumental “As You Said.” The note on the record states that “This soundsheet should not have cost you anything, wherever or however it was obtained.” According to Discogs, the flexi-discs were record store giveaways and the tracks are from the Britannia Row Studios session for Closer, March 18-30,1980 that didn’t end up on the album.

“Love Will Tear Us Apart” was Joy Division’s first hit, reaching #13 in the UK and #42 on the US dance chart. The title also appears on Ian Curtis’ grave marker; he committed suicide one month after the single’s release.

***reblogging myself from 2017