If Ian didn't commit suicide, they were going to have their first tour of the US. How popular do you think they would have been?

I think alot of 80s groups like the Cure were already so influenced by Joy Division that things were have been much different.

They probally would be pretty popular, as a group.

i love Joy Division, but i doubt they would get anywhere in the U.S.

i love Joy Division, but i doubt they would get anywhere in the U.S.


I feel the same way.... i love them, but I don't think they'd have gone very far.

i love Joy Division, but i doubt they would get anywhere in the U.S.

Huh?
New Order rose from the ashes of Joy Division and made a pretty good mark in both the US and the music charts. So...

IMO, The Cure while influenced by many sounds of the late '70's, punk and otherwise, Joy Division was not the only one band that they gained their sound from.
The Cure's early sound (Pornography, Three Imaginary Boys) although dark, was more aggressive and faster paced than JD.

Joy Division would of, with proper management, gotten at least some airplay in the US, there was a audiance for them here, too bad we'll never know...

Huh?
New Order rose from the ashes of Joy Division and made a pretty good mark in both the US and the music charts. So...


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the music of new order and jd was very different.  imho.

perhaps. id' like to think there would be more interest.

I don't really like New Order. "True Faith" is their only song I really think is that good.


I liked "regret"
i haven't listenied to it in a while...time to break out the old CD player!

Old CD Player?  :\'( ;D


I meant..."the ol' CD player"

i am typically in the car with MPs. 

I think as far as the mainstream goes, they would have been about as popular as The Cure's late 80s Top 40 success.

Joy Division are very well-known and loved by post-punk fans and even put in higher regard than The Cure, so I honestly think JD had a lot of potential to become widely popular.

Plus, if you take into account the whole mid/late-80s college rock/alternative scene, JD would've been just fine.  I also feel that even if Curtis hadn't commited suicide, (and thus no New Order), they would have still dabbled in club oriented dance-rock later on in their career.  I think that as time went on they would slightly abandon their dark, post-punk doom and gloom sound.  Perhaps they wouldn't be as pop radio friendly as New Order, but I think you get my point. 

I'm certain they would be just as popular as The Cure, if not moreso.

Besides, if the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" single has proven, they can definitely make a bright, sparkling, memorable 80s tune. 

What made Joy Division so intense and so stark is that "Unknown Pleasures" and "Closer" are the diary of a young man about to commit suicide.  He did.  It was the real thing.  "Closer," in effect, is a suicide note.  Have you ever really listened to that record?  It's bone-chilling.  It's not some groovy Jim Morrison angst; this kid is about to kill himself.

If Ian Curtis pulled through, he would have developed and matured as a songwriter, but it's hard to say exactly how.  Early New Order is a good indication.  My guess is the band would have developed an electronic/synthesizer-oriented sound, as New Order did, but it would have been darker and grittier.  More Iggy Pop, less Neil Tennant.  No tracks like "State of the Nation" and "Shell-Shock, and certainly no soddingly awful "Regret"!

Perhaps Ian could have been sold on lighter fare, it's just hard to see how.  The man died at 23; his personality was not yet fully developed, IMO. 

It is likely that if Ian lived, he would have spent many years drinking hard and being insufferable.  The others might have expelled him from the band.  "New Order" might have gone on to be the pop stars,while Ian might have been a solo act less popular but achieving critical acclaim.

Who can really say?

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/12/dontknow.gif

I'm certain they would be just as popular as The Cure, if not moreso.


I'll go a bit farther.

If Ian had survived, I think Joy Division would have gotten a lot of airplay on stations like KROQ, 91X, and WLIB, and might well have prevented The Cure from achieving the level of success they had in the mid- to late-80s.