(MSO set up the interview, but this photo is from Pitchfork Media)  

If you passed him on the street you probably would have no idea who he is, yet his likeness has been portrayed in at least two motion pictures and his style has been emulated by countless bass players of modern rock. Peter Hook, founding member of Joy Division and New Order, is the second player I interviewed for Music Connection’s annual GUTIAR ROUNDTABLE or JAM which comes out next month. He got his first bass the day after watching the Sex Pistols play, but let’s not even compare the ability of Mr. Hook with the fast and loose, and now dead, Pistol Boy, Sid Vicious. Aside from keeping a solid groove, Hook is known for playing almost lead bass guitar, as the synth heavy New Order had a lot of low end and he decided it would be more interesting to come up with memorable lines up and down the fretboard. When listening to New Order’s classic, “Blue Monday” I noticed that it had a Spaghetti Western sound to it, like The Good The Bad and The Ugly or something. Funny, but in all my years of listening to the band, I’ve never noticed that before. It made sense to me, because so many of the punkers (and post-punkers) were into the rebelliousness of dub reggae…a genre whose pirate spirit regularly utilized the mysterious and outlaw vibe of those old Ennio Morricone soundtracks. But the whole dub reggae and punk exchange was mostly happening in and around London where disgruntled West Indians rioted during Carnival at Notting Hill in 1976, the garbage men went on strike, and the the Sex Pistols were singing “Anarchy In The UK.” But again, that was London. Manchester, or Madchester as some call it, wasn’t as integrated or sophisticated. It was an industrial city (like Chicago or Detroit, which has exchanged so much music with Manchester over the years); Factory was the vibe and Factory was Joy Division/New Order’s label. So what do you do in a cold, damp and dark place? You listen to the Sex Pistols and you watch Spaghetti Westerns!  

Here’s a couple of minutes of our interview: Peter Hook on Reggae and the Spaghetti Western 

If you aren’t familiar with the Joy Division, the film Control tells the story of the band and their charismatic yet troubled lead singer, Ian Curtis. Suffering from bouts of depression and debilitating seizures, Curtis committed suicide just before his group were to leave for their first American tour. In the wake of his death, Bernard Sumner (guitar and vocals), Stephen Morris (drums and synths) and Peter Hook decided to continue on but with a different name…thus New Order was born.  Here’s A clip of Control - the biopic on Ian Curtis and Joy Division. And then there’s this deleted scene from 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE  (a film all about the origin and evolution of the “Madchester” scene) where the group is playing “Blue Monday.” 

                                                          (Peter’s the bloke playing with his scruff)

Tags: Guitar Confab, Guitar Jam, Guitar Roundtable, Joy Division, New Order, Peter Hook, Post Punk, Synth Pop.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Daniel Siwek's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.