Bernard Sumner pioneered the post-punk movement when he broke onto the scene as a founding member of Joy Division, and later as the front man of New Order. Heavily influencing U2 and The Cure while paving the way for post-punk revivalists like Interpol, Sumner's has left an indelible mark on punk and rock music that endures to this day.
Famously reluctant to speak out, for the first time Sumner tell his story, a vivid and illuminating account of his childhood in Manchester, the early days of Joy Division, and the bands subsequent critical and popular successes. Sumner recounts Ian Curtis' tragic death on the eve of the band's first American tour, the formation of breakout band New Order, and his own first-hand account of the ecstasy and the agony of the 1970s Manchester music scene.
Witty, fascinating and surprisingly moving, Chapter and Verse is an account of insights and spectacular personal revelations, including an appendix containing a complete transcript of a recording made of Ian Curtis experiencing hypnotic regression under the Sumner's amateur guidance and tensions between himself and former band member Peter Hook.
timjones_1
5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 starThis seems to be the year of reading musicians' memoirs for me: this is the third I've read in the last few months by an English musician of around my age, following Viv Albertine's superb memoir (still the best book I've read this year), and Tracey Thorn's which is almost as good in its quietly reflective way. Bernard Sumner's is not quite as well written as either of those two, but I still found it fascinating - both because I love the music of Joy Division and New Order, the bands for which he is most famous, and because his origins in Salford in the 1950s have many parallels with my own in Grimsby a couple of years later.New Order were famous for their hedonism, but I was relieved that he dialled down the drugs, drink 'n debauchery to focus more on the music and the personalities - not neglecting some of the epic legal struggles in which the band has been involved. If you are interested in the music of the post-punk and acid house eras, or if you are keen to read an English perspective that is distinctly Northern, I think you'll enjoy this book.
