Books

oh he was fine.. gosh he loves parties..


anyways..so I'm reading the Peter Hook Joy Division book and Hook writes that Barney came up with the picture for Unknown Pleasures… I was surprised by that… but according to Hook he came up with the picture from some astronomy book and gave it to Peter Saville who turned it into the cover.. also, I did not realize Barney had worked as a graphic artist (although he kind of makes fun of him) and according to Hooky had a big part in their designs etc….

I'm on about page 200…very easy quick read..

I ordered the Hooky bio of New Order and the Sumner bio… I hear the Sumner bio is rather a downer… I also read that Stephen Morris is coming up with his own bio…which is hard to imagine as he seem the most reticent.. but if Sumner could do it


as others have commented it is rather strange to read anything coming from the band themselves as they were always so quiet.. that was part of the allure.. all you had was those images… a band that never gave one interview…

but I guess, lets face it, they're pretty much done…

it is interesting to read how Hooky and Barney both agreed that they hated the way Uknown Pleasures came out due to Hannett's work (they wanted it to be punkier and sound more like the Sex Pistols) even if Hooky now agrees with everything Hannett did.. that is not the case with Closer which I guess they both hated then and Hooky still hates… then Hooky said they got Hannett to produce the first New Order album and fired him because he was making Barney sing the same song 50 times.. apparently Hannett just couldn't handle Ian dying while at the same time turning into a huge coke fiend….also interesting to read that Chris Nagle was Hannett's assistant…I did not know that…Nagle is a name most Manchester scene acolytes will recognize…from his work with the Inspirals and Charlatans..

lastly I had no idea Factory had been set up as a vehicle to get Durutti Column's music released and that the original album The Return of the Durutti Column came in a sandpaper sleeve and that the guys from Joy Diviison assembled them and Ian Curtis stamped them (they were broke I guess and would take these kind of jobs at Factory) which is why they now go for huge dollars.. i guess people feel like when they get this album they're getting something Ian personally handled…I have the second issue of this album .. I really can't see forking over $500 for one…

ok i finished it..


fascinating stuff … I didn't really have a clue beforehand…I now have a little tiny clue.. the book definitely does not answer many of the questions any fan would have… but I doubt - these many years later and with so many interests having developed not to mention people's issue with their own actions- we will ever have a real clue..  Joy Division is a pretty amazing story… it all happened within about 3 years!


Substance (the one about New Order) is arriving tomorrow….

Peter Hook Substance has arrived….I bought an ARC copy…I noticed a typo already….. sad to say it looks like Mr. Hook spends his time equally on each period.. so if you are like me and you think New Order kind of lost it after 1989 and that later music doesn't do as much for you well he's going to devote equal time to it….I could read an entire book on Technique or Power COrruption and Lies…Republic or Waiting for the siren? umm not so much…


The Bernard Sumner book also arrived……a  little bit thin a tome but you take what the guy gives you…

I'm torn on which one to read first… if I read Peter Hook its like continuing but I'm kind of interested more in Bernard not only because he is the true genius of the two but also to balance Peter Hook's account on Inside Joy Division…

Peter Hook really can be a right twat.. he even penned a scathing review of the Sumner autobiography in Billboard.. who the fuck does that? Peter Hook….I mean dude, its Sumner's right to write his own book…. he didn't take issue with all the "lies" he may feel he found in your book! Come to think of it I really doubt he read your book.

I will report back on my choice, the consequences that led to making that choice and the highlights of the actual reading…stay tuned.. of course if you have any input that you think could sway my decision let me know..

I thought Bernard's book was good but the overall style of it is a true reflection of him, so instead of Hook's bouncy, emotionally colloquial prose, Bernard's is much more subdued and diplomatic. It is a little frustrating how he seems to experience no highs or lows – even when TWO of his groups take off into the stratosphere – but I still liked it a lot.

well… I've read Bernard's book until about page 180 of 300..to sum it up I would say I'm gobsmaked… so far I would divide his book in three.. first part was all about a horrible or let us say challenging childhood (who knew?) he takes great pains to say is not horrible….then a lot about Joy Division with great insight/stuff about Ian…. then in depth about his emerging love of NYC dance/club music and discovery of synthesizers…

For me just fascinating… first of all until only recently I had no idea the synths were Bernard.. I thought that was what they hired Gillian for!…to now read that Bernard spent night after night back in 1979 or 1980 putting together a synthesizer by hand or reading about how he got into samplers back in 1981-1982 is pretty fascinating…

I also had no idea how Sumner came to be the lead singer of New Order.. apparently after Ian died their manager Rob Gretton- for all practical purposes a fifth member of JD/ND-  books a low key short tour of the US where he has all three- Bernard, S. Morris and Hooky sing each night on the tour… then after the last show he tells Bernard "You got the job"…and that was it..then they hire Gillian because Sumner can't sing and play instruments at the same time live…

I agree with Relaxer about the matter of fact nature of the book…..being a bit strange.. there is a transition around when New Order takes off where it just seems like Bernard loses interest and he's just all over the place going from JD to Pretty in Pink movie and BLT within the space of 1 page and you're like eh what? Then he rewinds back into an in depth discussion of sequencers and Blue Monday… its like after JD he was like "OK geez I just spent over 100 pages on JD and now I got to tell the New Order story of the past 30+ years? There is no way!"

Finished Brief History of Seven Killings which was a long read but one I enjoyed more and more each hundred pages. Great book.

After a couple arduous reads in a row, I feel I need something I can chew through a little quicker so I'm revisiting Roth's American trilogy (American Pastoral, I Married A Communist, Human Stain).

Man Peter Hook in his book Substance.. some glaring bullshit

He says Bauhaus ripped off his bass line on ICB for Bela Lugosi's Dead… he says it in a humblebrag style like much of his book.. he is the king of humblebragging.. anyways, only problem is ICB came out in 1981 and Bela came out in 1979!

He talks about how some bands play the same songs every night.. says he saw Bruce twice in a row and both nights Bruce played the same set list and even said the same things between the songs… Now I have to doubt Bruce playing the same gig on back to back nights although its possible.. but he is not a good example of that point! I mean Bruce is really well known for switching it up night to night..

I gotta be honest.. the book reads like a lot of bullshit…. I am enjoying it but so much name calling of Bernard Sumner..its a little ridiculous calling your bandmate a "twat" page after page… I mean really? If he was that bad I think you owed it to yourself to leave way sooner..

The other thing is Peter Hook claims to basically have been recording all the songs.. maybe with the engineer Mike Johnson…. like he had this huge role… but as far as making the music he has very little to say… Sumner's description I think fits much more which is that Hook simply overlaid his bass at times on parts of the songs….Hook also makes fun of Bernard for the lyrics repeatedly but in the same book says that they ALL wrote them

And the biggest bullshit may be that he says he doesn't remember why Bernard got the job of lead singer… for someone who was obviously so competitive with Bernard it rings really hollow… he repeatedly accuses Sumner of basically trying to copy him (ie, he bought the car I bought, he wanted the girl I banged, etc.)…

Also, Peter Hook does a nice job explaining all the pranks and harassment he played on Ian Curtis but Bernard describes it differently saying it did take a toll on Ian…. Peter kind of admits to being embarassed by it but he did it and that is the fact.. when Ian was with Annika Peter really made fun of him.. Bernard says he didn't think it was any of his (Bernard's) business… There is also very little from Peter as far as Ian goes in explaining his own friendship with him… at least Bernard describes walking Ian through a cemetery and telling him "Hey look, you don't want to be there!" trying to knock some sense into him… its pretty clear Ian and Bernard were much closer…that does not make Peter a bad person but coupled with Peter basically hazing Ian- who was pretty vulnerable already with his epilepsy, troubled marriage with young baby, confusion about Annika)- its not a very pretty picture…

Its fascinating reading the two books because Bernard's book (at least until page 180) hardly mentions Peter whereas Peter just seems to go off on him constantly.. Peter's book - the way it describes the songwriting- its weird to understand exactly what he did a lot of the time.. a lot of the time his role seems to be to be "recording them" being whatever bernard and morris came up with with all their synths, guitars and drum machines… sometimes he provides a bass that he says Bernard used for the vocal lines but I don't know…

this looks like it might be an interesting read

TOTAL CHAOS: The Story of The Stooges/As Told By Iggy Pop (Third Man Books) The first time the story of this seminal band has been told entirely in Pop?s own words

sidehatch wrote:
this looks like it might be an interesting read

TOTAL CHAOS: The Story of The Stooges/As Told By Iggy Pop (Third Man Books) The first time the story of this seminal band has been told entirely in Pop?s own words

well.. I agree it will be interesting as is anything related to Iggy but it is important to remember that Iggy has told the story before.. I have the book somewhere around here…..its kinda short… it covers his career until about 1980.. if you read any book - like Please Kill Me- they will use Iggy's book as source material when writing about the Stooges…Now of course we are many decades removed from most of the "action"….you have to wonder how much better his recollections will be than they were when he wrote his book



here is the book i'm talking about

https://www.amazon.com/need-more-Stooges-other-stories/dp/0943828503/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484106631&sr=1-10&keywords=iggy+pop


but yeah I'll definitely read the new one.. they had a very limited autographed edition they sold last week to Third man vault subscribers ..it was like $250!!!

maybe he'll do a book tour but all rockers skip DC on the book tour circuit…

Decided to take a walk to the Free Book Shelf in our office and lo and behold, there's 'Substance' by Peter Hook. Man, I grabbed that shit so fast. Looking forward to it.

Relaxer wrote:
Decided to take a walk to the Free Book Shelf in our office and lo and behold, there's 'Substance' by Peter Hook. Man, I grabbed that shit so fast. Looking forward to it.

wow nice score

It's one of the great perks of working here. I have to be really on the ball though, because the good titles always go fast and there's no rhyme nor reason as to when new books get put out on the shelves. I've tried to make friends with that group but they've resisted my charms.

I'm about halfway through the Peter Hook/New Order book and I have to agree in total with Hutch. This book is entertaining because it's dealing with a band, a genre, and a time in history that I'm very interested in. But holy shit does he spend too much time whining and blaming and talking about how unfair Barney treats him. He wasn't nearly this boring in the Hacienda book, I have to say.

I'll finish this, but it's kind of a slog. And that's saying something because I read a LOT of music bios, of varying levels of quality. This one is in the lower tiers.

I think the worst autobio I've read is Scott Weiland's. Holy shit was that bad. You could tell he spent about 45 minutes with his ghostwriter talking about what an amazing person he is, and then peaced out to go drug out.

Brian Wilson's auto was a lot of fun to read. Sebastian Bach's was also pretty good. Tony Iommi's was funny because he just skates over all of his bad qualities. It was fun to read Lita Ford's auto right after, because she totally calls him out on all the things he doesn't mention. Also enjoyed Joe Perry's and Dave Stewart's books.

Anybody read the Keith Morris book "My Damage"? I just finished it the other day and thought it was fantastic. Very candid. Makes me very glad that he is doing OFF because it sounds like he's never really gotten his dues. Definitely not one who has made the smartest financial choices or had the big sellout reunion tour to enjoy the benefits of his legacy as a legendary punk rocker.

Yeah, I really liked it My Damage too. I had no idea he'd been sober for that long!

I also like how, unlike so many other autobios, Morris is all "Man, I can't do shit except sing, and even that I don't do particularly well." But dude is always hustling.

Just pulled these too off of the free book shelf. I'll definitely get into the Steve Jones one soon.

Regarding the Spiders book, I like the rando autobios from guys who weren't the bandleader or front man. The bass player from Alice Cooper wrote his book last year and it was great! I liked seeing more of an insider's account (albeit biased) of how Alice broke up the band and went solo.

On the other hand, did I really need to spend a week reading the book by the drummer of Five Finger Death Punch? Probably?

One of my resolutions that I'm currently failing at was trying to read more books in 2017… When do you all find the majority of your time to read?

Do you have children?

What time do you go to bed?

If I'm lucky I have one, maybe two free hours a day and unfortunately reading typically falls down the priority list during that free time.

i am really unhappy about steve jones not stopping by DC .. he went up to 3-4 bookstores in NYC area… did signings…

i even ordered some signed books from the strand  (they said they would get them signed but they cancelled order on me the next day.. i guess jonesy did not feel like sticking around to sign copies for the store in addition to the people there at the reading)… i was going to give one to sidehatch… back to the drawing board

too many musicians are totally skipping dc these days be it concerts or book signings…i got to write politics and prose a letter…

Y'all are aware there are books written about things other than music, right?

*sigh*