The Stiff Chiswick Challenge that April night in Manchester had left everyone wanting….Tony Wilson and Alan Erasus a label, more immediately a venue to put bands on…. Rob Gretton managing a band, Ian Curtis a chance to be on TV, and me to go home because it was ludicrously late and I needed my bed! Call me a wimp but when you’ve been in the office from 7-30am and the last band, who you’ve never even heard of is scheduled to go on around 2am, maybe 3 you tend to lose interest. The night had been less than sensational and the bands nothing more than mediocre so bed seemed quite an attractive option. And give me some credit for not pretending that I stayed around to see them!!
I think I remember the pool area (not the swimming type but the grubby green, beer sodden baize and splintered cue variety) as being more interesting than what was happening on the stage. It was the furthest point from the stage and where everyone I knew had congregated. Enough said! Ian Curtis was fairly ‘well oiled’ on cheap alcohol and seemed to be ranting about anything and everything. I think he was particularly miffed that Kevin Cummins’ made up combo ‘ The Negatives’ had been generating a lot of interest in the place, as well as in the press and they hadn’t even existed. Kevin, knowing how gullible the music press were invented all these stories about where they were playing, how they were creating a buzz and the music press lapped it up. Because of Manchester’s significance in the birth of punk from the famous Sex Pistols Lesser Free Trade Hall gig, to The Electric Circus, So it Goes, The Buzzcocks and beyond, anything muted from this nation’s hallowed turf would be worth writing about. Kevin along with his writing colleague Paul Morley thought it was hilarious, who wouldn’t have? A clear case of the music press being so far up it’s own ass.
Ian’s slagging off of Tony Wilson was more the drink talking, although to anyone passing it might have appeared that it could ‘go off’ at any time. Wilson handled it very well though .. when people behave like this we all know the slightest comment can set them off. Tony smiled like only he could, a smirk, a grin, cordial, professional all the time, all combined as an excellent way of defusing the abuse (sounds like a Pixies anthem ) Ian stomped around a little more and then became more frustrated that everyone was going on before them, something he could hardly hold Tony accountable for. A set close to 3am could hardly be considered a headliner, more ‘Er turn the lights off on your way out will you.’
Neither Stiff nor Chiswick signed anyone that night and I couldn’t even remember the name of anyone who played, with the obvious exception of Joy Division that is. The performance was less than memorable and whenever anyone recalls the evening all you hear mentioned is Ian’s ranting. The band were no strangers to the place either, the year before they had played there a couple of times under their previous name Warsaw, and just a few weeks earlier as Joy Division. Ian probably thought this was going to be ‘the one.’
A while ago I reminded Dave Robinson, the co founder of Stiff Records about Joy Division playing that night and he couldn’t even remember!
