TRANSMISSION
JOY DIVISION
SONGWRITERS: BERNARD SUMNER; PETER HOOK; IAN KEVIN CURTIS &
STEPHEN PAUL DAVID MORRIS
COUNTRY: U. K.
ALBUM: PRESTON 28 FEBRUARY 1980
LABEL: NMC MUSIC
GENRE: ROCK
YEAR: 1981
"Transmission"
is a song by English post-punk band Joy Division. It was released in 1979 by
record label Factory as the band's debut single.
"Transmission"
was released on 7" vinyl in October 1979 by record label Factory. It was re-released as a 12"
single with a different sleeve in December 1980. The
single charted twice in New Zealand, debuting at number 2 in September 1981 and
re-appearing again at number 24 in July 1984.
The song has been performed twice on television. One of
them was on Tony Wilson's show and the other was on BBC, one of the few
occasions in which singer Ian Curtis plays guitar. Twenty
seconds of the song is shown in the movie Control (2007), directed by Anton
Corbijn, a film based on the biography of Ian's wife, Deborah Curtis's Touching
from a Distance.
Joy Division were an
English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally
named Warsaw, the band consisted of singer-songwriter Ian Curtis, guitarist and
keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bass player Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris.
Formed by Sumner and Hook
after the two attended a Sex Pistols gig, Joy Division soon moved beyond their punk
roots to develop a sound and style that made them one of the pioneers of the
late-1970s post-punk movement. The band's self-released 1978 debut EP, An Ideal
for Living, drew the attention of the Manchester television personality Tony
Wilson, who signed the group to his independent label Factory Records. Joy
Division's debut álbum Unknown Pleasures, recorded with producer Martin Hannett,
was released in 1979 to critical acclaim.
Radio, live transmission.
Radio, live transmission.
Listen to the silence, let it ring on.
Eyes, dark grey lenses frightened of the sun.
We would have a fine time living in the night,
Left to blind destruction,
Waiting for our sight.
And we would go on as though nothing was wrong.
And hide from these days we remained all alone.
Staying in the same place, just staying out the time.
Touching from a distance,
Further all the time.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance,
to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance,
to the radio...
Well I could call out when the going gets tough.
The things that we've learnt are no longer enough.
No language, just sound, that's all we need know,
To synchronise love to the beat of the show.
And we could dance.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance,
to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance,
to the radio...