The 35th anniversary of Ian Curtis’ suicide arrives on May 18, but less than three weeks before the sudden death of the iconic Joy Division frontman, the Manchester post-punk band recorded their one and only music video, “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”
The video was filmed 35 years ago today, on April 28, 1980. According to post-punk.com, the clip was recorded by the band themselves during a rehearsal at T.J. Davidson’s studio on Little Peter Street in Manchester. Here is a short visual of the outside as it stands today.
“In the intro to the video the door that opens and shuts has ‘Ian C’ carved into it; reportedly this was the beginning of an abusive message (the rest later erased) carved into the door by a spurned ex-girlfriend of Curtis’ during the band’s earlier work at the studio,” post-punk.com writes. “The video is browned out at points, unintentionally, but nevertheless a fitting aesthetic — along with the omission of Curtis’ trademark dancing, which instead is replaced with the frontman strumming on a [Vox Phantom VI six string british guitar].”
It stands as the only promotion video Joy Division ever recorded. It was released in various forms after Curtis’ death.