I was at a music festival in 1989 where New Order were the headliners. They were touring for their album Technique. Through a wild series of mishaps, the kind that can only happen at a rock n’ roll concert or in a John Hughes movie, my little brother and I ended up with backstage passes. Legends like John Lydon and BJork were there but the person I most wanted to see and shake hands with was Peter Hook. Joy Division and New Order were central figures in my life at my young age and the one person that loomed largest besides Ian Curtis was Peter Hook. He provided the youthful, melancholy bass notes that made all of my adolescent angst “meaningful”. I had to meet him.
The first member of the band I saw was Bernard Sumner, Barney, raving by himself in the middle of the dance floor. I recognized him right away but he seemed to be in his own tripped out world at the moment. Even my nineteen year old bravado wasn’t enough to brave me disturbing Barney in the private moment he was having in front of a crowded backstage area. After reading Hooky’s book, I can now see I chose wisely because Barney was definitely off his face.
I looked high and low for that long-haired, bearded Manc I so idolized but he was nowhere. After reading his book, I now know exactly where he must have been; he was with the crew with whom he felt most comfortable. He was one of them.
I had just about given up when in a dark corner I recognized a skinny, large-chinned man who looked like the troll meme. He was standing against the wall and seemed half-bored, half-transfixed by Barney’s awful dance steps. He was dressed plainly, more like he was part of the road crew. It was Stephen Morris. He was a lot less intimidating looking than Barney who was twirling like a Dervish. I asked if it was him and he aloofly said that he was. I was gobsmacked of course but I managed to ask where Peter Hook was. As is by all accounts the Morris way, he just shrugged. I shook his hand and I complimented his godlevel drumming which in retrospect I’m a bit embarrassed by. Like the man who gave Unknown Pleasures its sound needed validation from me.
I spent the rest of the night talking with Bjork’s sister, Inga. She had a shaved, Snead O’Connor hair cut and still she was devastatingly beautiful. I’m afraid I must have made a fool of myself but at nineteen, nights like these are the stuff of legend. She couldn’t have been more generous and charming.
Needless to say Peter Hook’s book is everything: hilarious, heartbreaking, hilarious, insightful, hilarious and incredibly engaging. I love that he is self-aware enough to admit his part in the splitting up of New Order. Every chapter is a page turner, replete with the kind of rock n roll minutae that a normie as well as a super fan will find irresistible. Put it in my vein.
I can’t wait to see Peter Hook and The Light when they come to town this year. Maybe this time I can finally shake his hand and say “nice job on Unknown Pleasures”. Been waiting thirty five years to embarrass myself with that nugget.
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他の国からのトップレビュー
Doroteo Villa
No Words
2024年3月1日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Chris U.
Amazing book, Amazing story, Amazing Hooky!
2022年9月15日にカナダでレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Diego López Luna
Para fans y no fans
2021年1月13日にメキシコでレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Maria Shtal
A lot of stories from behind the scenes, well told
2017年7月3日にドイツでレビュー済みAmazonで購入
AJH
Excellent livre, édition de qualité médiocre
2016年11月30日にフランスでレビュー済みAmazonで購入
AJH
2016年11月30日にフランスでレビュー済み
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