“Jaws dropped when they came on. It was so intense.” The Jesus And Mary Chain's Jim Reid on the life-changing impact of Joy Division

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Joy Division opened up for Buzzcocks in Glasgow in October 1979. Jim Reid from The Jesus And Mary Chain was there, and the gig changed his life

Jim Reid and Ian Curtis
(Image credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage | Rob Verhorst/Redferns)

Joy Division may not have enjoyed mainstream success during their lifetime - their classic, critically-revered albums Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980) reached the UK Top 10 only in the wake of the death of frontman Ian Curtis - but the Salford post-punk band have had a massive influence upon modern music, inspiring a diverse range of artists , from U2 and The Cure to Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode, Moby, Massive Attack and Interpol.

One musician who very clearly remembers the group's impact is The Jesus And Mary Chain's vocalist Jim Reid, who speaks about the quartet's influence upon him and his brother and bandmate William in a new interview with The Quietus.

“The first time we saw them was on this [BBC TV] program Something Else, a teenage youth program or something, which was generally pretty shite, but they had occasionally good bands on it,” the singer recalls, referencing Joy Division's September 1979 appearance on the BBC2 show. “We’d never heard Joy Division and we watched that performance on that TV show, and it was like, fuck. It was like what I imagine if you’re a kid and you see The Doors for the first time or something. We were just knocked out.”

“We went to see them shortly after that [October 5, 1979] at the Glasgow Apollo,” Reid continues. “It was them and the Buzzcocks but everybody, and I’m talking about everybody, was there to see Joy Division.”

Reid's memories of the gig are still vivid, 45 years on.

“Fucking jaws dropped when they came on,” he enthuses. “And the poor Buzzcocks were great but they couldn’t follow it. It was so intense.”

Reid goes on to nominate Unknown Pleasures as one of the records which “really did chisel out the Mary Chain” .

“If I’m being totally honest, when I first heard the record I felt as though they could have done with those live rough edges on it a bit more,” he says, “but I just love the record now for what it is. I’ve lived with this record for so long that I can’t imagine it any other way.”

Joy Division - She's Lost Control (Live At Something Else Show) [Remastered] [HD] - YouTube Joy Division - She's Lost Control (Live At Something Else Show) [Remastered] [HD] - YouTube
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Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.