Bernard Sumner’s 10 favourite songs
In 1976, Bernard Sumner, an animator, attended a Sex Pistols gig in Manchester’s Free Trade Hall with his friend Peter Hook. Inspired by the punk band’s raucous energy, Sumner and Hook formed their own group, as did other attendees, like Mark E. Smith, Morrissey and Johnny Marr. Thus, the hugely influential gig shaped the subsequent post-punk scene, with Sumner and Hook recruiting a few mates to form Warsaw.
According to Sumner, witnessing the Sex Pistols was revolutionary because they “destroyed the myth of being a pop star, of a musician being some kind of god that you had to worship”. By 1978, the band had renamed themselves Joy Division, which led to accusations of Nazi sympathies. Despite this initial controversy, the band’s phenomenal output solidified them as one of the era’s most impressive acts.
By harnessing a dark sound paired with Ian Curtis’ moody lyricism, Joy Division inspired the development of the post-punk movement and even the goth subgenre that emerged in the following decade. Although Joy Division ended in 1980 when Curtis committed suicide, they’ve remained a perennial influence over alternative rock ever since.
Sumner continued to prove his musical prowess in New Order, where he assumed the role of lead vocalist. The band’s blend of post-punk and dance music was hugely significant, earning success with songs such as ‘Blue Monday’, the best-selling 12-inch single of all time. By the late 1980s, Sumner had also expanded his oeuvre, experimenting with the side project Electronic in collaboration with Johnny Marr.
Evidently, Sumner has had a tremendous impact on popular music, which, of course, stems from a deep love for the medium. So, what are some of Sumner’s favourite songs? Although he was deeply involved in the electronic music scene, most of his favourite songs are guitar-oriented picks.
He cites his The Smiths’ ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ as one of his favourites, which features his former Electronic bandmate Marr’s impeccable guitar. Marr first discovered Sumner’s talents in 1977 when he heard Joy Division’s flawless debut, Unknown Pleasures. He recalled, via The Independent: “I’d not heard anything like it before. I didn’t know where it was coming from, but I knew I liked it. It kind of knocked me for six, really”. Since meeting for the first time in 1983, the pair have remained good friends, and Sumner is clearly a big fan of Marr’s work with The Smiths.
Another favourite of Sumner’s is David Bowie’s ‘Sound and Vision’, taken from his 1978 album Low. The album was a significant inspiration for Unknown Pleasures, with the track ‘Warszawa’ giving them their first band name, Warsaw.
Although Sumner’s list of favourites is mainly guitar bands, he cites Kraftwerk’s ‘Telephone Call’ as one of his go-to songs of choice. The pioneering band emerged from Germany’s krautrock scene before incorporating electronic instruments such as synthesisers into their work. Sumner once called their earlier album Trans-Europe Express one of his all-time favourites. “Ian Curtis also turned me on to this — it was revolutionary. We had a record player in the rehearsal room, and people would bring stuff in. We used to play Trans-Europe Express before we went onstage,” he once told SPIN.
Discover Sumner’s complete list of favourite songs below.
Bernard Sumner’s favourite songs:
- ‘Rock the Casbah’ – The Clash
- ‘Eleanor Rigby’ – The Beatles
- ‘Sound and Vision’ – David Bowie
- ‘Kingdom of Rust’ – Doves
- ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ – The Smiths
- ‘Sense’ – The Lightning Seeds
- ‘Human’ – The Killers
- ‘Forest Fire’ – Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
- ‘Telephone Call’ – Kraftwerk
- ‘Sunday Morning’ – The Velvet Underground
