Substance: Inside New Order

Maybe I'm a sucker for the “inside story.” It takes me back to when I used to devour music magazines, trying to learn all of the details of the bands I love. Peter Hook tells the New Order story in a lively, subjective fashion, and a language thick with dialect. Hook may be full of himself, but he's easily likable and can tell a good story. Halfway through reading this, I went ahead and bought Unknown Pleasures, Hook's telling of the Joy Division story. Still, this is a big book and probably only worth reading if you were a New Order fan.

“Never trust a musician, even me.”

Peter Hook is an English singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is best known as the bassist and co-founder of English rock bands Joy Division and New Order. Hook formed the band which was to become Joy Division with Bernard Sumner in 1976. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis in 1980, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them until 2007, not long after his 50th birthday.

Hook has recorded one album with Revenge (One True Passion), two albums with Monaco (Music for Pleasure and Monaco) and one album with Freebass (It's a Beautiful Life), serving as bassist, keyboardist and lead vocalist. He is currently the lead singer and bassist for Peter Hook and the Light. He formed this group in May 2010 and it also features Hook's son Jack Bates (bass), as well as Andy Poole (keyboards) and Paul Kehoe (drums), who both played with Hook as part of Monaco, one of Hook's previous groups. From the first gigs in May 2010, Nat Wason (formerly of Haven) was the group's guitarist, however in July 2013 he was replaced by David Potts, another former member of Monaco.

The band is noted for performing the Joy Division and New Order albums live. Their setlists primarily feature the two Joy Division albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer or the first two New Order albums, Movement and Power, Corruption & Lies, depending on the respective tour. And after reading the 752 page behemoth that is “Substance” [1] maybe this was the best possible outcome for New Order? But it's also a great shame that the original New Order are unlikely to ever reunite. There was unquestionably magic whenever they got together, whatever their shortcomings.

Hooky has also published relatively slim volume on Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures, which I really enjoyed. He suggested that following the suicide of Joy Division's singer, Ian Curtis, the group just unthinkingly carried on playing together. Where Joy Division songs had been grand but sparse, New Order's were more expansive, shaped by uplifting dance records they heard in New York nightclubs during their American tours. It took a few albums for New Order to slowly morph from the Joy Division sound, each album moved them closer to the frantic surging tracks which would propel them into the mainstream.

In “Substance” Hook describes on-the-road anecdotes of groupies, drink and drugs with huge delight. As you might expect in a book of this size, the level of detail is exhaustive. In some ways “Substance” is a cross between an auto-biography and the sociology of the music business. Hooky branches out into the larger ecosystem of the writing, recoding and promotion processes. He digresses into discussing the changes in technical recording and performing over the years; the promoters (Ruth Polsky); the clubs (Danceteria, etc) and the rival bands, fans and audiences along the way. Hooky mixes in these details with fun facts /vignettes that keep you turning the page. In parts, he covers a familiar story:

= The record label Factory (closed in 1992) and the Hacienda nightclub (closed in 1997),
= The dictatorial Gretton (died in 1999),
= Martin Hannett, the equally obsessive and brilliant producer of New Order's first releases and of Joy Division (died in 1991),
= His abusive marriage to comedian Caroline Aherne (1994 to 1997); this section was a marked contrast to the bombast found elsewhere,
= The horrid financial practices of Factory Records, and
= The wives, girlfriends, business partners, who become collateral damage.

And some not so familiar aspects too:

= Top-ten lists,
= A running list of New Order gigs, with any memories of particular gigs,
= Explanations of equipment used and how it was set-up, and
= Geek alerts: explanations of what terms such as “fold backs” and “producers' points” mea, as an example.

Hooky acknowledges that as soon as they were able to New Order behaved like “pigs at a trough”. This note of reflective self-disgust runs through the whole book. He acknowledges that he often behaved abysmally, and treated people poorly.

He portrays his bandmates as inspired, if sometimes careless musicians. They come across as either passive or domineering. And he often writes as if it is “Peter Hook v. The Other Three.” Barely a page goes by without a dig at Bernard Sumner. Their relationship is the main theme of the book, and Hooky's feelings are complex and contradictory. But he does try to provide some sense of balance. For example, Bernard Sumner is “a twat” on one page, but keenly appreciated on the next. He both admires Sumner but also feels a huge sense of betrayal. The creative tension came from Sumner who wanted to make them more polished and electronic; open enough to absorb modern sounds and production techniques. Hooky wanted more of a rock and analogue stance; a throwback to Joy Division's intensity. He does credit other members for having some original ideas and propelling the band forward. However, Gilbert is a peripheral figure at best and he is typically dismissive of her contributions.

Hooky also manages to capture what it's like to be in a band treading water and in ambivalent, slow decline. By the mid-80s, New Order and their ever growing entourage had split into barely communicating factions. He drolly demystifies the job of being a rock star along with the physical toll of decades of bass-playing. This is made worse by his idiosyncratic, low-slung: “trapped nerves in neck ... bent lower spine ... one arm longer than the other”.



So, in summary, Hooky takes his gloves off for in an engaging and intelligently written tell-all book. It blends facts (as Hooky recalls them) with amusing and poignant recollections and anecdotes. And like a lot of rock autobiographies there are the endless drug taking sessions, groupies, alcohol, sex and general unpleasantness. God knows what it was like to be part of it, day in and day out. But because Hook adds much more than the usual autobiography on both a personal, social and technical level then there is much for both the fan and the casual reader to like. “Substance” is unabashed and unapologetic, a very detailed and truthful rock memoir.

Hooky mixes, “I can't believe I get to live the rock star life,” and, “This is not the person I want to be.” For sure, this all makes for an enthralling tale. But it's clear that success brought devastation to people and relationships. Bands live and then die by the struggle for creative control. Ego's, pride and resentment/bitterness ruin this delicate relationship.

I never 752 pages as quickly.

[1] I'm guessing the title a homage to drugs and how definitive the book is?

Abridged version: I did all the drugs, shagged all the birds, and Barney's a twat. A really entertaining rock n roll memoir from one of our most influential musicians. Top fun.