Not too many things get my undies in a wad, but this sure the hell does. Just saw on Pitchfork that Disney is selling a Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures album) inspired t-shirt featuring Mickey Freakin Mouse!
I guess I should explain some things, I’m assuming that everyone in the world has been touched by Joy Division. Joy Division was a fantastic band that formed in the early punk days in Manchester, and later defined itself in the post-punk movement as band that had things to say on a level rarely seen prior. Ian Curtis, the front man of Joy Division was battling epilepsy and depression, which inevitably led to his tragic suicide in 1980 prior to their first North American tour.
That band defined my late teens and twenties and I was quite moved by the emotion in the lyrics and how they composed their music. Their skills as musicians were still rough but that never got in the way of expressing their emotions and creativity. As a guitarist just learning my instrument, I was always inspired by that band. Unknown Pleasures and Closer were two of my favorite albums that got tons of play.
A Mickey Mouse ™ shirt does not honor the memory of that band or the album. Boooo. I’ll get back to talking about effects again. If you’re a fan of Joy Division, let me know what you think of this by commenting below!
Unknown Pleasures.. as it should be
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13 years ago
I to was a big Joy Division and New Order fan in my younger years. It always astonishes me when these big corporations try to bring out some sort of lasting memory image and try to ease it into the market hoping know one will make any negative mention of it. It’s funny how all the toys I played with as a kid are now once again big business. I guess it’s true what is old is new again. DAMN Disney….
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13 years ago
Brian – I have a friend on Facebook that was confused why I cared. Stated that image has been ripped of many times before. I have to agree, the image has been ripped many times, but it’s the fact that it’s Mickey Freakin’ Mouse. I think that is what upsets me. So yeah… if it was satirizing Disney, it definitely would be less WTF for me.
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13 years ago
Huge Joy Division fan here. On the bottom-end, Peter Hook used a fantastic 6-string short-scale bass (like the classic Fender Bass VI) called the Shergold Marathon 6 to get his sound. Only 100 or so were ever made. For those of you trying to get his sound from this type of six string bass (30″ scale – tuned E>e one octave below standard guitar) he uses 100, 080, 060, 050, 050, 045 guages (he reckoned that the original guages were 100, 080, 060, 054, 045, 040) to get a heavier top end. That plus an old Electro-Harmonix Clone Theory did it as did playing primarily in the upper registers – above the 12th fret.
Nice to see them finally get some mainstream acceptance….but at Disneyland?
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13 years ago
They should sell a Closer-inspired shirt to be fair. You know the same album that can push a suicidal person over the edge at 2 o’clock in the morning due to the amount of bleak and hopelessness found almost every track, especially Twenty-Four Hours (damn that could do the trick).
But I’m wondering how did they get the rights to use the Unknown Pleasures cover art?
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