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Happy 30th Anniversary <i>Unknown Pleasures</i>

1:03 p.m. · June 19, 2009 · by Andrew Winistorfer

I kind of missed this earlier this week, but this week marks the 30th Anniversary of the release of Joy Division's landmark post-punk debut, Unknown Pleasures, which was released on June 15, 1979. There won't be a big 30th anniversary edition of the album coming out this year however, because the album got the big reissue treatment in 2007 (double disc CD and vinyl) to coincide with the excellent Ian Curtis biopic, Control, and the equally great documentary, Joy Division. 

Joy Division only cut one album post Unknown Pleasures, 1980's Closer, due to the untimely suicide of frontman Curtis who, amidst marital and health problems (he suffered from epilepsy), hung himself on the eve of the band's first U.S. tour. (There was however, the 1981 rarities set, Still).

There's not a whole lot of available video of the band performing, but above I've posted the band's breakout performance of Unknown Pleasures standout "She's Lost Control" on BBC 1 in 1979 in promotion of the album.