Summary
Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris.
Poet Simon Armitage nominates Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who took his own life in 1980 at the age of 23. Curtis's fellow band member Peter Hook remembers his friend.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Once you've wrapped up this podcast, how about trying a very British cult? |
| 0:06.0 | What happens if the person you trust with your future isn't what you think they are? |
| 0:10.0 | I did feel the whole time he was watching me Yeti. I saw a footprint and that really gave me gusmas. |
| 0:16.4 | Or people who knew me. Emme, I remember every secret, every lie. I'm the only one who knows the truth. |
| 0:23.0 | Discover more of our biggest podcast from 2023. |
| 0:27.0 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.0 | Radio 4. |
| 0:31.0 | On Music, Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-releasing the best of the BBC Radio 4 music archive. |
| 0:38.0 | The BBC Radio 4 edition of Great Lives You're about to hear, celebrate singer and lyricist Ian Curtis |
| 0:45.6 | who fronted the influential post-punk band Joy Division at the end of the 1970s. |
| 0:50.4 | Curtis is the choice of poet Simon Armitage, a fan of Joy Division since his teenage years. |
| 0:56.8 | He says they captured the soul of Northern Britain. Joy Division bassist Peter Hook recalls |
| 1:02.0 | his time with Curtis in the band |
| 1:04.4 | and discusses the singer's often bleak poetry with armatage and host Matthew Paris. |
| 1:09.6 | You'll hear an excerpt from an unreleased Malcolm McLaren mix of Joy Division's |
| 1:14.0 | seminal Love Will Tear Us apart, as well as archive contributions from Tony |
| 1:18.7 | Wilson, Paul Morley and Curtis himself taken from a Radio 1 interview in 1979. |
| 1:25.0 | Peter Hook also talks frankly about his friend's suicide in 1980, |
| 1:30.0 | which he describes as a long-term solution to a short-term problem. |
| 1:34.2 | I'm John Wilson with Radio 4 on music |
| 1:36.8 | and this is great lives, Ian Curtis. |
| 1:39.2 | 350, 1-2 5, though. I was there on the backstage. When there's like me around. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.