Revisit Hot Chip’s charming cover of Joy Division song ‘Transmission’
Joy Division began to receive attention on a national scale in September 1978, making their television debut performing ‘Shadowplay’ on What’s On, a feature of the regional Manchester television programme Granada Reports. This was quickly followed in June 1979 with the release of their seminal debut album, Unknown Pleasures, which now stands as one of the most crucial post-punk era releases.
Prior to Joy Division’s debut release with the now-famous Factory Records, the band had brought their earlier sound to vinyl in their 1978 An Ideal for Living EP and a live recording of ‘At a Later Date’, which was included on the compilation record. This earlier sound was raw, punchy and volatile, with choppy punk chords and shouted lyrics akin to the band’s muse, the Sex Pistols.
Joy Division’s Factory Records move marked a transition from punk to post-punk, whether they were aware or not. This is primarily thanks to Factory’s producer Martin Hannett, who developed a distinctive and more refined sound in Joy Division’s later releases with the help of synthesised textures. Initially, the band weren’t pleased with Hannett’s air-brushing, but in retrospect, the surviving members have praised the late producer.
In an interview with Far Out earlier this year, bassist Peter Hook mentioned that his recent live tour with The Light looked to honour Ian Curtis and how “Martin Hannett as the producer, whose input shaped the sound and made it last forever”.
In November 1979, following the pivotal release of Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division released their first non-album Factory single, ‘Transmission’. The track, alongside subsequent singles and B-sides like ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘These Days’, perfectly bridged the gap between the debut record and Closer.
Released on July 18th, 1980, exactly two months after Curtis’ suicide, Closer reached the pinnacle of Joy Division’s maturation before the surviving members embarked on the New Order journey. For me and many other fans, ‘Transmission’ marks one of Joy Division’s defining moments. The palpable angst throughout the track as Curtis orders his fans to “dance to the radio” sends shivers down my spine and seems to embody all that the Manchester band resemble on the musical landscape.
“We were doing a soundcheck at the Mayflower in May, and we played ‘Transmission’: people had been moving around, and they all stopped to listen,” Hook once said of the song, per Marcus Greil’s The History of Rock’ n’ Roll in Ten Songs. “I realised that was our first great song.”
‘Transmission’ has since been covered by numerous artists, including Bauhaus, Low and The Weather Station. One of the greatest reimaginations of the classic was recorded by Hot Chip in 2009 as a submission for the War Child charity album Heroes. Listen below.
