New Order, one of the most influential U.K. bands of the 20th century, formed in the long shadow of Joy Division, which disbanded following the 1980 death of singer Ian Curtis. Joy Division's surviving members — Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris — formed New Order the same year and soon began carving out their own rich creative legacy, which spanned several decades and a string of massive singles.
The first of those singles, "Ceremony," was actually written with Joy Division prior to Curtis' suicide. It popped up as a single in advance of New Order's 1981 debut album, Movement, which is about to receive the deluxe-reissue treatment; to commemorate the occasion, the band is circulating a little-seen performance of "Ceremony," recorded live at Manchester's CoManCHE Student Union.
Recorded on Feb. 6, 1981, it's a marvelous document of New Order's early years — steeped in tragedy but alive with possibility.
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