Tuesday 24 June 2014

Crispy Ambulance

It's one thing to celebrate the anniversaries of LP's from my long gone school days; 'The Slider', 'Ziggy Stardust', 'Exile on Main St' etc, but quite another to be informed that Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' turned 35 last week. THIRTY FIVE! This was only seven years after those classics from T.Rex, Bowie and the Stones, but, viewed from this end of the telescope, the gap seems far wider. I demand a recount.

Meanwhile, from a mere 33 years ago, here are fellow Mancunians and Factory artists, Crispy Ambulance. The connections don't end there of course. One night in 1980, singer Alan Hempsall was temporarily called into service by Joy Division after Ian Curtis suffered an epileptic fit, just before a show in Derby. The tune is the frankly magnificent 'The Presence' and, in one final link, it was produced by the legendary Martin Hannett.

An edited 'performance' video of the song is available here and it's well worth 6½ minutes of your time, but I make no apologies for choosing to concentrate on the full 13 minute version of this masterpiece. Enjoy.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never been sure if they had the worst or the best name for a band in the history of popular music. Never really got into them in their day, though a mate was a fan; listening to this, I'd say that was my loss. Nice to hear them again.

The Swede said...

I never cared for the name either to be honest, but I could forgive them almost anything, just for this one tune.

Erik Bartlam said...

It is a horrible name but, it's a fantastic song....that will do great service out in my room/studio.

C said...

I loved the name at the time just because it was so ridiculous. Not so sure about it now - if a band came up with an equivalent today I'd probably ridicule it myself...but back then it just worked!
The Unsightly and Serene 10" was my introduction to them - even just having a 10" was such a novelty! A bit too dark sounding for me at this particular moment if I'm honest, but still so very of their time!

Old Pa's Corner said...

I'm a bit with SB here, I think I have missed out a bit here this trac k is fabulous. In the film Control there is a scene when Cutis colapses and is quickly replaced. Is that what you refer to?

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