Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1980

Happy Valentine’s Day – BTG Week Of LOVE!

“Love Will Tear Us Apart” is a song by English post-punk band Joy Division. It was written in August 1979, and debuted when the band supported Buzzcocks on their UK tour from September to November of that same year. It is one of the few songs in which singer Ian Curtis played guitar (albeit somewhat minimally) on live versions. The lyrics ostensibly reflect the problems in his marriage to Deborah Curtis, as well as his general frame of mind in the time leading up to his suicide in May 1980. The title is an ironic reference to “Love Will Keep Us Together”. Deborah had the phrase “Love Will Tear Us Apart” inscribed on Ian’s memorial stone.

The song was first released as a single in June 1980 and became the band’s first chart hit, reaching number 13 in the UK Singles Chart. That October, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” peaked at number 42 on the American disco/dance chart. It also reached number 1 in New Zealand in June 1981. The band postponed their US tour after Curtis’s death, performed a few short sets as The No-Names, then finally renamed the group as New Order.

The song was originally recorded at Pennine Studios, Oldham on 8 January 1980 along with the B-side, “These Days”. This version was similar to the version the band played live. Ian Curtis and Martin Hannett, however, disliked this version, which has since become known as the “Pennine version”, and, as a consequence, the band reconvened at Strawberry Studios, Stockport in March to re-record it. Whilst Curtis, who generally did not play guitar at all, played guitar on the song live – the band taught him D major specifically – the guitar on the recording was a 12-string Eko guitar played by Sumner.

The 12″ cover photo is a detail of the Ribaudo family tomb in the Staglieno Cemetery in Genova, Italy. The sculpture was made by Onaroto Toso.

SIDE A:
Love Will Tear Us Apart 3:26

SIDE B:
These Days 3:26
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Pennine Version) 3:12

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1980 Love Will Tear Us Apart U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play #42

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Factory ‎– FAC 23-12, Factory ‎– FAC•XXIII•XII
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: Aug 1980
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave

CREDITS:
Producer – Martin Hannett

NOTES:
A Fractured Music
A Factory Record

Find the 12″ on DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck 
Phono Pre-amp:
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube:
Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard:
ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning:
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans:
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

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David
David
March 8, 2017 5:09 pm

Thanks for this, and the info on the b-side version. This was the first Joy Division record I bought, and I always preferred the version on the b-side, which sounded less “produced”.

Happy to report that my teenage son also loves this – and has done for many years.

Grant
Grant
February 20, 2017 12:44 pm

Ahhhh… wonderful! Thank you DJPaulT!

memoryboy
memoryboy
February 15, 2017 9:12 pm

Another Classic. Thanks Paul. Love the edgier stuff when I’m in the mood.

Martin
Martin
February 15, 2017 3:20 pm

Best song ever recorded!

Joey
Joey
February 14, 2017 7:07 pm

Happy v-tines day. Nice pick, and great record, one of my favorites. Thank You.

Jon Lorenz
Jon Lorenz
February 14, 2017 4:12 pm

Wow! Great rip, Paul! This song was a big part of the Metal Gear Solid V and it’s great to hear it in this format.

Thank you.

Song_and_Dance
Song_and_Dance
February 14, 2017 3:48 pm

Marvellous song. I love it. It´s so dark and yet so good. Used often to movie soundtracks, too. “Donnie Darko” as one example. I even love Paul Young´s remake version from the No Parlez album and from the 12inch. Much poppier, needless to say, but still good.

Thank you, Paul.

Roy Mahoney
Roy Mahoney
February 14, 2017 2:37 pm

Ooh This is well spooky Paul… Been watching old episodes of BBC’s sci-fi “Doctor Who” this afternoon in particular an episode featuring weeping angels, aliens that are stone statues noted for having hands covering their faces. afterwards clicked on here and lo and behold I see the cover photo. A great shiver went down my spine I must say. Anyway another fantastic classic and one again many thanks for this Paul, my talented psychic friend lol

OMAR
OMAR
February 14, 2017 2:35 pm

Perfect. Thanks Paul. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Rafael Cova
Rafael Cova
February 14, 2017 2:35 pm

Thanks Paul, deeply grateful, I love this song!

Jeff
Jeff
February 14, 2017 2:30 pm

Happy Valentine’s Day Paul!! Such a classic, in every way. I love the artwork on the 12-inch cover exceptionally. And this is another reason I love dance music so much as the dance chart always reflects innovation, creativity and more diversity than any other genre, it seems, to me anyway. Many, many thanks for this one Paul.

Hugs,

Jeff