Joy Division charted with “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

Love Will Tear Us Apart Joy Divison

Writer(s): Ian Curtis (see lyrics here) First Charted: June 28, 1980 Peak: 8 CL, 1 CO, 13 UK, 26 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.6 UK, 0.6 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 46.5 video, 319.94 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Joy Division was a band built on irony and contradiction. Despite the happy sound of their moniker, they specialized in music that was “gothic, dark and brooding.” LW In addition, their name, taken from the novel House of Dolls, referenced Nazi concentration-camp prostitutes. Despite the built-in controversy of such a name, the group failed to gain widespread publicity. Then again, as darlings of the British indie scene, commercial success would threaten their cred. Nonetheless, lead singer Ian Curtis was reportedly devastated when “Love Will Tear Us Apart” failed to nick the UK pop charts, although it did top the independent charts. HL True to the band’s disparate nature, it was “most definitely a pop single, albeit a rather dark, forlorn” TB one which was “clearly the work of a troubled soul.” BBC In Telegraph, Neil McCormick described it as “romantic fear and self-loathing wrapped up in a post-punk torch song.” MC Released in April 1980, it emerged during a rocky time for the band. Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy, was experiencing deteriorating health which forced numerous cancellations of European tour dates HL and threatened to destroy the band. RS500 Right before the group was headed to America for a tour, Curtis hung himself. Amidst stories of the singer’s failed relationships with his wife and a lover, the song’s already fragile and desperate tone took on even greater poignancy. LW A re-release of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” in a “tombstone-style sleeve” LW shamelessly capitalized on the press devoted to the dead rock star. Now the song reached #13 on the UK charts. The remaining members retired the name Joy Division and continued as New Order. However, “Love” would not go away. It recharted twice in the UK – in 1983 and in 1995 – both times reaching #19. Resources: BBC BBC Music (2005). Sold on Song HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh. (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. London, England: Blandford Books. Page 33. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 150. MC Neil McCormack (3/13/09). Telegraph.co.uk “100 Greatest Songs of All Time” RS500 Rolling Stone (12/04). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” TB Thunder Bay Press. (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 180. Related Links: First posted 6/28/2011; last updated 2/3/2023.

Xanadu soundtrack released

Xanadu Olivia Newton-John/ Electric Light Orchestra

Released: June 27, 1980 Peak: 4 US, 2 UK, 4 CN, 16 AU Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 3.07 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop

Tracks: Song Title (Performer) (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Magic (Olivia Newton-John) (5/23/80, 1 US, 1 AC, 32 UK, 1 CN, 4 AU, gold single) Suddenly (Olivia Newton-John with Cliff Richard) (10/24/80, 20 US, 4 AC, 15 UK, 6 CN, 37 AU) Dancin’ (Olivia Newton-John with the Tubes) Suspended in Time (Olivia Newton-John) Whenever You’re Away from Me(Olivia Newton-John with Gene Kelly) I’m Alive (Electric Light Orchestra) (5/24/80, 16 US, 20 UK, 10 CN, 27 AU, gold single) The Fall (Electric Light Orchestra) Don’t Walk Away (Electric Light Orchestra) (11/22/80, 21 UK) All Over the World (Electric Light Orchestra) (8/2/80, 13 US, 11 UK, 16 CN, 78 AU) Xanadu (Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra) (6/6/80, 8 US, 2 AC, 1 UK, 6 CN, 2 AU) Total Running Time: 41:34

Rating: 3.529 out of 5.00 (average of 10 ratings) Quotable: -- Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: I turned 13 in 1980. That meant, among other things, that my musical tastes were just beginning to form and that my hormones were just beginning to stir. Even in my early adolescence, I was able to see that a roller-skating fantasy movie starring Olivia Newton-John was a laughable idea. After the monstrous success of Grease, it was a no-brainer to put ONJ in another music-fuelled movie, but this was not the right choice. Regardless of how bad the movie was, I was head-over-heels infatuated with ONJ. I also was just becoming enamored with pop radio and becoming one of the record-buying public. As a child of the ‘80s, I started out with eight-tracks before moving to cassettes and eventually CDs, but the soundtrack to Xanadu held a special place in my personal music history as my first cassette purchase. Musically, the soundtrack sounded like an idea as bad as the movie. Half were songs by Olivia Newton-John and half by Electric Light Orchestra. What act of lunacy drove anyone to think it was a good idea to pair an Australian country-turned-pop singer with a prog-rock-oriented British rock band? Critical reviews aside, the record-buying public anointed the project with its approval. Five singles from the album reached the top 20 in the U.S., including the #1 song Magic. Six songs hit the top 40 in the UK, including the #1 title song, which paired ONJ and ELO. In addition to that collaboration, Olivia duets with “British luminary Cliff Richard” AMG on Suddenly, a song which “seems better than most love themes.” AMG Whenever You’re Away from Me puts her together with Gene Kelly, who gave his final film performance in this movie, capping an outstanding career with a career lowlight. The oddest mix, however, is “the doomed swing/rock hybrid Dancin’,” AMG which the “appearance of the Tubes almost saves…but the two styles should never meet.” AMG In addition to the title cut, ELO served up three more charting singles with I’m Alive, All Over the World, and Don’t Walk Away. The latter song and “The Fall stand as two of Jeff Lynne’s finest.” AMG This was definitely a work tied to a specific era and it doesn’t hold any long-term value beyond nostalgia. However, if you were 13-years-old and in love with pop radio and Olivia Newton-John, this is a work which, however laughable, will always hold a special place.

Resources and Related Links: Olivia Newton-John’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry Electric Light Orchestra’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Doug Stone WK Wikipedia First posted 10/14/2020; last updated 6/7/2021.

Pink Floyd released “Comfortably Numb”

Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd

Writer(s): David Gilmour, Roger Waters (see lyrics here) Released: June 23, 1980 First Charted: December 9, 1988 Peak: 1 CL, 24 AR, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.6 UK, 0.73 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 645.05 video, 584.99 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In 1977, while Pink Floyd was on tour, Roger Waters, the band’s bassist and chief songwriter, was dealing with “stomach cramps so bad that I thought I wasn’t able to go on” XFM before a show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. SF A “sleazy Philadelphia doctor” RS500 gave him a sedative for the pain. “That was the longest two hours of my life,” Waters said. “Trying to do a show when you can hardly lift your arm.” RS500 Even though he couldn’t focus, fans were so busy screaming that they didn’t care. Pink Floyd’s subsequent album, The Wall, explored the theme of alienation between the band and its audience. SF The experience shaped the song “Comfortably Numb,” which became “the album’s centerpiece.” TC The song also incorporated an experience he had as a child when he was sick with a fever. As an adult, Waters would get that feeling again on occasion and enter a state of delirium when he would feel detatched from reality. SF He said the lines, “When I was a child, I had a fever/ My hands felt just like two balloons,” were autobiographical. In the movie The Wall, “Comfortably Numb” accompanies a scene in which the rock star Pink goes into a catatonic state before a show and is drugged up to get through. It recalled the experience the band had when original member Syd Barrett was kicked out of the band in 1968 after becoming mentally ill. SF Guitarist David Gilmour wrote an instrumental demo while he was working on a solo album in 1978. It became the basis for the song, he and Waters argued over two versions of the song; Gilmour “wanted the verses to have a harder sound.” UCR They finally compromising by editing two takes together. SF Gilmour said the song was made up of the dark (represented by lines like “Hello, is there anybody in there” sung by Waters) and light (lines like “When I was a child…” sung by Gilmour). SF It was their “last real collaboration” TC and Gilmour’s contribution – specifically his second guitar solo in the song – has often appeared in polls of all-time best guitar solos, even topping the list of a 2006 list by TV music channel Planet Rock. SF In 2005, Waters and Gilmour reunited with keyboardist Richard Wright and drummer Nick Mason at Live 8. The last song they played was “Comfortably Numb.” Mason died three years later, making it the last song the foursome ever played together. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Pink Floyd TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 294. RS500 Rolling Stone (12/04). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SF Songfacts UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (9/30/2022). “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs” WK Wikipedia XFM Mike Walsh (editor) (2010). The XFM Top 1000 Songs of All Time. Elliott & Thompson Limited: London, England. Page 315. Related Links: Last updated 4/30/2024.