Arts Extra

Pop Chums: Joy Division and The Undertones

This week sees the release of Anton Corbijn's 'Control'. Making the leap from photographer to film director, Corbijn's debut is the biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis - from his battle with epilepsy and depression through his rise to fame and the disintegration of his marriage. The Undertone's bass player Mickey Bradley recalls the day he shared a stage with rock icon Ian Curtis.

When I mention that the Undertones once shared a stage with Joy Division it usually comes as a complete surprise to people who actually know more than a little about both bands. Cheeky proprietors of punk-pop, on the same bill as the most influential band in post punk England ?

How did that happen ? We were supporting The Rezillos for our very first tour of the UK. It was supposed to last for the two months up to Christmas 1978 but when The Rezillos fell apart after two weeks, so did the tour. For the last three shows Joy Division were added to the bill. We had only heard them as Warsaw on the ‘Live at The Electric Circus' LP released that summer. The bass player was rumoured to have a moustache. We first met them at the Odeon in Canterbury , November 14th.

The Undertones were never the life and soul of any party, and Joy Division were even quieter. They were obviously as new to this touring carry on as we were - and probably didn't understand Derry accents so there wasn't a lot of crack with them backstage.

On stage it was a different matter. The focus was , of course, on Ian Curtis's dancing. It's been described so often that I won't add another account, apart from admitting that it was quite easy to imitate, which I often did for the amusement of my fellow Undertones. OK, I didn't know at the time that he had epilepsy.

The last time I saw Joy Division was at the Locarno in Bristol. They'd travelled down from Manchester to be told that The Rezillos had split up and instead John Otway and Chelsea were to headline that night, with us on stage first. No room on the bill for Joy Division. That's showbusiness, that is.