In the meantime, with the harsh reality of making ends meet, Ian continues to work at the Unemployment Benefit Office. An intrigued Wilson soon becomes a fan of Joy Division, and signs them up to his record label-losing several pints of blood in the process. Ian typifies the band's new sense of purpose, when he gets Joy Division a slot on the influential GRANADA REPORTS TV show, after confronting (and verbally insulting) the show's host Tony Wilson. The group gains extra momentum when the straight-talking Rob Gretton becomes their manager.
Ian becomes the band's singer and song writer.Īfter playing a series of gigs, mainly in Manchester, Warsaw change their name to Joy Division due to a name clash with another band.
It's a meeting that sows the seed to the forming of a band called Warsaw. At a Sex Pistols concert, Ian meets Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook. They set up home, and despite working at the local Unemployment Office, Ian's music aspirations still burn. Three-years later, Ian, aged 19, marries Debbie. Ian takes local girl Deborah Woodruff on a date to see David Bowie at a "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" concert. Despite not playing an instrument, he has an inner determination to make music his life. When not daydreaming at school, he wiles away the hours laying on his bed, chain-smoking, while listening to the likes of: MC5, The Doors, Velvet Underground, Roxy Music and David Bowie. Broke, he fuels his main passion in life, music. For cheap thrills, with a friend, he helps look after old-aged pensioners and at the same time takes samples of all their prescription drugs. Like most teenagers, Ian Curtis looks to find distraction from small-town urban life.