Factory Records

JOY DIVISION – British Post-Punk Icons Released Their Buzzing Debut Single ‘TRANSMISSION’ 45 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Top singles from the past

19 November 2024

Iconic Manchester post-punk band JOY DIVISION released their
fabulous, buzzing single TRANSMISION on 16 November 1979,
45 years ago.

It was originally recorded in 1978 for the aborted self-titled album, re-recorded
the following year at a faster tempo and released by label Factory as the band’s
debut single.

Famous British music journalist Greil Marcus said about the song: “It’s a dramatization
of the realization that the act of listening to the radio is a suicidal gesture. It will kill your
mind. It will rob your soul.”

Peter Hook (bassist): “We were doing a soundcheck at the Mayflower (club in Manchester)
and we played ‘Transmission’. People had been moving around, and they all stopped to listen. I realized that was our first great song.”

“Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio“

Here’s JD’s live performance on BBC’s
youth television program Something Else.

JD: Story

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK Released Their Milestone Debut Single ‘ELECTRICITY’ 40 Years Ago Today…

Posted on by JL

Knockouts from the past…

21 May 2019

Today 40 years ago, on 21 May 1979, duo ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK (later better known as OMD) released their swirling debut single ELECTRICITY. One of
the very first milestones of synth pop. It would appear, a year later, on their first album. Inspired by Kraftwerk‘s music-changer ‘Radioactivity‘ the song also criticised humankind’s wasteful usage of energy sources. The pair of ANDY McCLUSKEY and PAUL HUMPHREYS sang the lead vocals in unison. B-side: ‘Almost’

The single was released by Manchester‘s legendary record label Factory Records that pressed only 5000, sold-out, copies. But its success earned the electro tandem a recording contract with DinDisc, a then Virgin Records imprint and the 7″ was re-issued several times afterward.

Electricity had a major impact on other (famous) people too. Vince Clarke, former songwriter of big bands such as Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure cited ‘Electricity‘
as his primary inspiration to pursue a musical career while ex-NME writer and BBC Radio’s presenter Steve Lamacq has named it as the track that made him want to become a DJ.

Now, let’s get electrical…

OMD: Facebook