What are Joy Division's biggest songs?

16 July 2024, 01:43

Ian Curtis was born on 15th July 1956, but died at the tragically young age of 23 in 1980. Radio X looks at the most-played and most-viewed Joy Division songs.

By Radio X

@RadioX

Joy Division: essential information

• Formed: Manchester, England, 1976
• Members: Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris
• First single: An Ideal For Living EP (June 1978)
• Album discography: Unknown Pleasures (June 1979); Closer (July 1980); Still (October 1981); Substance 1977-1980 (July 1988); Heart & Soul (box set, December 1997).

1. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart: release date 13th June 1980

   Released in the weeks following the suicide of Ian Curtis, Joy Division's biggest hit is unbearably poignant, with the lyrics concerning the disintegration of the singer's marriage. The band had made a promo video for the song in April of 1980, but a Musician's Union strike meant the BBC's chart programme Top Of The Pops was off the air when the single peaked at Number 13 in the UK.

   The song returned to the chart in 1983 following a cover version by star of the moment Paul Young and New Order's huge success with their track Blue Monday. Since then, Love Will Tear Us Apart has been certified double-Platinum by the BPI and notched up over 420 million streams on Spotify and over 85 million YouTube views of the official video.

   

   Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

2. Joy Division - Disorder: release date 15th June 1979

   The opening track from Joy Division's landmark debut album Unknown Pleasures is one of the band's most accessible tracks and has had over 196 million Spotify streams and over 18 million YouTube views.

   

   Disorder (2007 Remaster)

3. Joy Division - She's Lost Control: release date 15th June 1979

   Written about a woman he met while working at a local job centre, this harrowing song about epilepsy became even more personal for Ian Curtis when he was diagnosed with the condition at the beginning of 1979.

   This is the original recording of the song, which appeared as the first track on side two of the Unknown Pleasures album - the band re-recorded She's Lost Control in the Spring of 1980 for a 12" release. Since then, the track has had over 60 million Spotify streams and 1.1 million views on YouTube.

   

   Joy Division - She's Lost Control (Official Reimagined Video)

4. Joy Division - Shadowplay: release date 15th June 1979

   One of the standout tracks from the Unknown Pleasures album, this Joy division song was covered in 2007 by The Killers for the soundtrack of the Ian Curtis biopic Control. The track has since had over 58 million streams and over 1.8 million YouTube views.

   

   Joy Division - Shadowplay (Official Reimagined Video)

5. Joy Division - Atmosphere: release date 18th March 1980

   One of Joy Division's most beautiful songs, this track was paired with Dead Souls and issued as an extremely limited edition 7" by the French label Sordide Sentimental in March 1980. The song was reissued later that year following the death of Ian Curtis, and again in 1988 as a trail for the compilation Substance 1977-1980. The track has since had over 57 million Spotify streams and the incredible Anton Corbijn-directed video has been watched over 17 million times on YouTube.

   

   Joy Division - Atmosphere [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

6. Joy Division - Transmission: release date 7th October 1979

   Ignoring the Ideal For Living and Factory Sample EPs, this was the first official Joy Division single, which appeared shortly after the album Unknown Pleasures had started attracting notable reviews.

   Originally recorded for the band's unreleased album for the RCA label in 1978, the song had since enjoyed over 55 million streams and the BBC clip of Joy Division performing the song on TV has had over 31 million views.

   

   Joy Division - Transmission [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

7. Joy Division - New Dawn Fades: release date 15th June 1979

   An incredible track, which closes the first side of Joy Division's debut album Unknown Pleasures, this song has since notched up over 27 million Spotify streams and over 1.8 million video views.

   

   Joy Division - New Dawn Fades (Official Reimagined Video)

8. Joy Division - Isolation: release date 18th July 1980

   Isolation is the second track from Joy Division's second and final studio album Closer and its synthesiser-heavy sound points the way to the band's transformation into New Order following Ian Curtis's death. The song has had over 24 million streams and over 1.1 million video views.

   

   Isolation (2007 Remaster)

9. Joy Division - Day Of The Lords: release date 15th June 1979

   The second track from Joy Division's stunning debut LP Unknown Pleasures showcases the band's powerful sound, and has had over 21 million streams and over 677,000 views for its "re-imagined" video, released to mark the album's 40th anniversary.

   

   Joy Division - Day Of The Lords (Official Reimagined Video)

10. Joy Division - Digital: release date 2nd February 1979

    The very first track recorded and issued for Factory Records, Digital and its sibiling Glass was Joy Division's contribution to the double-EP A Factory Sample.

    Digital would also be the very last song performed live by Joy Division at Birmingham University on 2nd May 1980, two weeks before Ian Curtis took his own life. The song has since had over 17 million Spotify streams and over 932,000 video views on YouTube.

    

    Digital (2010 Remaster)

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• 10 things you didn't know about Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures
• What did Joy Division play at their last gig?
• What does the cover of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures mean?
• How Transmission became Joy Division's first classic song
• The sad story behind Joy Division's She's Lost Control