Stephen Morris or Steven Morris may refer to:

• Stephen Morris (politician), member of the Kansas Senate
• Stephen Morris (musician) (born 1957), rock musician in the bands Joy Division, New Order, The Other Two and Bad Lieutenant
• Stephen Morris (game theorist), game theorist of Princeton University and editor of Econometrica
• Steven Morris (born 1986), U.S.-born Honduran soccer player
• Stephen Morris (novel), a 1961 novel by Nevile Shute

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner of New Order, live at the Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, 2005.
Background information
Birth name	Bernard Sumner
Born	(1956-01-04) 4 January 1956 (age 56) Manchester, England
Genres	Post-punk, alternative dance, synthpop, house, electronic, alternative rock
Occupations	Musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, melodica, percussion
Years active	1975–present
Labels	Factory, London, Warner Bros., Parlophone, Triple Echo
Associated acts	New Order Joy Division Electronic Bad Lieutenant

Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956), also known as Bernard Dickin, Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrecht^[1] is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and producer.

He is best known as a founding member of the bands Joy Division and New Order. He also recorded with Johnny Marr as Electronic and is the lead vocalist of the band Bad Lieutenant.

Life and career[link]

Joy Division[link]

Sumner was a founding member of Joy Division, a post-punk band formed in 1976. The band are widely considered one of the most influential bands of the era. Primarily known as the band's lead guitarist (his main guitars were a Gibson SG and a Shergold Custom Masquerader), Sumner also played keyboards for synth parts and made his first vocal appearance on record singing the chorus of "They Walked In Line" on the Warsaw album. In May 1980, the band's vocalist Ian Curtis committed suicide.

New Order[link]

Sumner and remaining bandmates Peter Hook and Stephen Morris started a new band named New Order, taking in Gillian Gilbert. Though Hook, Morris and Gilbert also contributed vocals on some early tracks, Sumner emerged as the band's permanent lead vocalist and lyricist.

Electronic[link]

In 1989, Sumner joined up with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr to form Electronic. The Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant collaborated on a number of tracks on their debut eponymous album, providing vocals. Sumner was again lead vocalist and lyricist.

Bad Lieutenant[link]

Bad Lieutenant included fellow New Order member Phil Cunningham and Jake Evans of Rambo & Leroy. Stephen Morris of New Order and Blur bassist Alex James also performed on the band's debut album but were not members of the band. Sumner provided vocals and lyrics.

On 2 July 2009, Bernard Sumner confirmed that single "Sink or Swim" would be released on 28 September 2009 and would be the first off their album Never Cry Another Tear. The single was hosted for free on the band's website prior to its physical release, it was followed by a digital bundle release with remixes of the song by Mark Reeder, James Bright and Teenagers.^[2][3]

Their debut LP, Never Cry Another Tear, was released in October 2009.

Other music[link]

In 1981, Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls released their last single Searching For Heaven, whose main song featured Sumner on guitar, although he was not credited in the sleeves of its 7" and 10" edition at the time.^[4]

In 1983 Sumner co-produced, with Donald Johnson, the band Foreign Press and 'The Great Divide'/'Love in a Strange Place'. Foreign Press (aka Emergency) had had a long history with Sumner through both Joy Division and New Order.

In 1990 he worked with former Factory Records labelmates A Certain Ratio remixing their song "Won't Stop Loving You". He has also recorded tracks with fellow Mancunians 808 State and Sub Sub. Sumner appeared as a guest vocalist (alongside Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie) on The Chemical Brothers' 1999 album Surrender, on the track "Out of Control", and in the 2005 Chemical Brothers show at the Brixton Academy, Sumner appeared live on stage as a special guest on this track. He recently lent vocals to a track ("Miracle Cure") on German trance outfit Blank & Jones 2008 release, "The Logic of Pleasure."

He has also done several remixes, such as Technotronic's "Rockin' Over the Beat" (which was featured in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III soundtrack) and served as a record producer for other Factory Records acts such as Happy Mondays (whose second single Freaky Dancin' he produced in 1986). Shark Vegas, Abecedarians, 52nd Street and Section 25. It is said that he will be contributing a remix to Depeche Mode's upcoming remix album.

Personal life[link]

He is commonly known by the nickname "Barney," but he has said he is not fond of being called that. An early New Order bootleg credited him as "Barney Rubble".

His first marriage was to Sue Barlow (born 1956) on 28 October 1978.^[5] They have a son James Christopher (born 1983). They divorced in 1989, just before the release of Technique, an experience reflected in the song Round & Round. Sue (and consequently James Christopher) is a relative of Gary Barlow.

Sumner lives in Alderley Edge, Cheshire with his second wife, Sarah Dalton, who was reportedly in the "Round & Round" music video, however, as she is rarely seen in public, it is difficult to confirm which one she is. They have 3 children: Dylan Christian (born 1992), Tess Iona (born 1994) and Finley Emil (born 2003). He is a fan of Manchester United.^[6]

Surname[link]

Sumner has used the surnames Dicken and Albrecht in the past and had always refused to explain why he has used different names. He has also been reluctant to discuss his family background. In 2007, it was revealed his mother had cerebral palsy, and that he had been adopted by his stepfather John Dickin. Sumner was his mother's maiden name, and is the name that appears on his birth certificate. The revelations about his past were made in a book about his life, Bernard Sumner: Confusion: Joy Division, Electronic and New Order Versus the World by David Nolan, published in 2008 – on which Sumner co-operated.

Film portrayals[link]

Sumner has been portrayed on film twice. John Simm played him in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which focused on Factory Records. In the Ian Curtis biopic, Control, he is played by James Anthony Pearson.

Discography[link]

For his Discographies with Joy Division discography, New Order discography, Electronic (band) and Bad Lieutenant (band).

(Singles featuring Bernard Sumner on guest vocals and/or guitar)

• 808 State – "Spanish Heart" (vocals, 1991)
• Sub Sub feat: Bernard Sumner – "This Time I'm Not Wrong" (vocals/guitar, 1997)
• Chemical Brothers – "Out Of Control" (vocals/guitar, 1999)
• Primal Scream – "Shoot Speed Kill Light" (guitar, 2000)
• Blank & Jones feat. Bernard Sumner – "Miracle Cure" (vocals, 2008)
• Hot Chip, Bernard Sumner & Hot City – "Didn't Know What Love Was" (vocals/production, 2010)

Bibliography[link]

• Bernard Sumner: Confusion – Joy Division, Electronic and New Order Versus the World, David Nolan, 30 August 2007

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bernard Sumner at the Internet Movie Database
• New Order & Joy Division site
• Full list of recordings featuring or remixed by Bernard Sumner.

Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 - 18 May 1980) was an English musician, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980. Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy and depression, committed suicide on 18 May 1980, on the eve of Joy Division's first North American tour, resulting in the band's dissolution and the subsequent formation of New Order.

Curtis was known for his bass-baritone voice, dance style and songwriting filled with imagery of desolation, emptiness and alienation.

In 1995, Curtis's widow Deborah published Touching from a Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division, a biography of the singer. His life and death have been dramatised in the films 24 Hour Party People (2002) and Control (2007).

Life and career[link]

Early life and marriage[link]

Curtis was born at the Memorial Hospital in Stretford, Lancashire. He grew up in Hurdsfield, an area of Macclesfield,^[1] and from an early age he exhibited talent as a poet. Proof of his ability was his admission at the age of 11 to The King's School, Macclesfield with a scholarship. Despite this, he was not a dedicated student and did not further his education beyond O-level.^[2]

After leaving school he focused on the pursuit of art, literature and, most importantly, music. Curtis was employed in a variety of jobs, including civil servant in Manchester and later Macclesfield.

On 23 August 1975 Curtis married an old school friend, Deborah Woodruff. He was 19 and she 18. Their daughter Natalie was born on 16 April 1979. She is a photographer.^[3]

Joy Division[link]

In 1976 at a Sex Pistols gig, Curtis bumped into Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook.^[4] They were trying to form a band, and Curtis immediately proposed himself as vocalist and lyricist. The trio then unsuccessfully recruited a number of drummers before selecting Stephen Morris as their final member.

Initially the band was called Warsaw, but as their name conflicted with that of another group: Warsaw Pakt, the name was changed to Joy Division. The moniker was derived from a 1955 novel The House of Dolls which featured a Nazi concentration camp with a sexual slavery wing called the "Joy Division".

After starting Factory Records with Alan Erasmus, Tony Wilson signed the band to his label.

Whilst performing for Joy Division, Curtis became known for his quiet and awkward demeanour, as well as a unique dancing style reminiscent of the epileptic seizures he experienced, sometimes even on stage.^[5] There were several incidents where he collapsed and had to be helped off stage.^[6] In an interview for Northern Lights cassette magazine in November 1979 Ian Curtis made his only public comment on his dancing and performance. He explained the dance as a type of sign language with which to further express a song's emotional and lyrical content: "Instead of just singing about something you could show it as well, put it over in the way that it is, if you were totally involved in what you were doing".

Curtis's writing was filled with imagery of emotional isolation, death, alienation, and urban decay. He once commented in an interview that he wrote about "the different ways different people can cope with certain problems, how they might or might not adapt." He sang in a bass-baritone voice, in contrast to his speaking voice, which fell in the tenor range. Earlier in their career, Curtis would sing in a loud snarling voice similar to shouting; it is best displayed on the band's debut EP, An Ideal for Living (1978). Joy Division had its sparse recording style developed by producer Martin Hannett, with some of their most innovative work being created in Strawberry Studios in Stockport (owned by Manchester act 10cc) and Cargo Recording Studios Rochdale in 1979, a studio which was developed from John Peel investing money into the music business in Rochdale.

Although predominantly a vocalist, Curtis also played guitar on a handful of tracks (usually when Sumner was playing synthesiser; "Incubation" was a rare case where both played guitar). At first Curtis played Sumner's Shergold Masquerader, but in September 1979 he acquired his own guitar, a Vox Phantom Special VI (often described incorrectly as a Teardrop or ordinary Phantom model) which had many built-in effects used both live and in studio. After Curtis' death, Sumner inherited the guitar, and used it in several early New Order songs, such as "Everything's Gone Green". Curtis also played keyboard on some live versions of "She's Lost Control". He also played the melodica on "Decades" and "In A Lonely Place"; the latter was written and rehearsed for the cancelled American tour, and later salvaged as a New Order B-side.

Death[link]

Curtis' last live performance was on 2 May 1980, at High Hall of Birmingham University, a show that included Joy Division's first and only performance of "Ceremony", later recorded by New Order and released as their first single. The last song Curtis performed on stage was "Digital". The recording of this performance is on the Still album.^[7]

Detailed in Debbie Curtis' Touching from a Distance, Curtis was staying at his parents' house at this time and attempted to talk his wife into staying with him on 17 May 1980, to no avail. He told her to leave him alone in the house until he caught his train to Manchester the next morning.^[8] In the early hours of 18 May 1980, Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield. He had just viewed Werner Herzog's film Stroszek and listened to Iggy Pop's The Idiot. At the time of his death, his health was failing as a result of the epilepsy and attempting to balance his musical ambitions with his marriage, which was floundering in the aftermath of his close relationship with journalist Annik Honoré (who in 2010 would claim it was not an "affair" and merely a close and platonic relationship).^[9] His wife found Ian's body the next morning; he had used the kitchen's washing line to hang himself.

Curtis' memorial stone, which is inscribed with "Ian Curtis 18 – 5 – 80" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart", was stolen in July 2008 from the grounds of Macclesfield Cemetery.^[10] The missing memorial stone was later replaced by a new stone.^[11]

In a 1987 interview with Option, Stephen Morris commented on how he would describe Curtis to those who asked what he was like: "An ordinary bloke just like you or me, liked a bit of a laugh, a bit of a joke."^[12]

Legacy[link]

In 1990, Psychic TV released I.C. Water, a song dedicated to Curtis.

Deborah Curtis wrote Touching from a Distance, published in 1995, a biographical account of their marriage, detailing in part his infidelity with Annik Honoré. Authors Mick Middles and Lindsay Reade released the book Torn Apart: The Life of Ian Curtis in 2006. This biography takes a more intimate look at Curtis and includes photographs from personal family albums and excerpts from his letters to Honoré during their affair.

Paul Morley wrote Joy Division, Piece by Piece, writing about Joy Division 1977–2007; it was published in late 2007. The book documents all of his writings and reviews about Joy Division from their forming, up until Tony Wilson's death.

A wall on Wallace Street in Wellington, New Zealand, had the words "Ian Curtis Lives" written on it shortly after the singer's death. The message is repainted whenever it is painted over. A nearby wall on the same street on the 4 January 2005^[13] was originally emblazoned "Ian Curtis RIP", later modified to read "Ian Curtis R.I.P. Walk In Silence" along with the dates "1960–1981" (sic). Both are referred to as "The Ian Curtis Wall". McKinlay recalls after having watched 24 Hr Party People and drinking several pints with his brother, a well known New Zealand beer brewer, in the early hours of the morning he drove with a bucket of paint and a smaller roller to Wallace Street and repainted the wall after it had long since faded. On 10 September 2009, the wall was painted over by Wellington City Council's anti-graffiti team.^[14] The wall was chalked back up on 16 September 2009. Following this, council spokesman Richard MacLean said, "They [the anti-graffiti team] may turn a blind eye to it".^[15] The wall was repainted on 17 September 2009, this time with correct dates.

Film portrayals[link]

Curtis was portrayed by Sean Harris in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which dramatised the rise and fall of Factory Records from the 1970s to the 1990s.

In 2007 a British Ian Curtis biographical film called Control was released, based on material from Deborah Curtis' book Touching from a Distance. It was directed by the Dutch rock photographer and music video director Anton Corbijn, who had previously photographed the band and directed the video for "Atmosphere". Deborah Curtis and Tony Wilson were executive producers. Sam Riley, the lead singer of the band 10,000 Things, portrays Curtis, while Samantha Morton plays his wife, Deborah. The film had its debut at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007 to great acclaim, taking three awards at the Directors' Fortnight. It portrays Curtis' secondary school romance with Deborah, their marriage, his problems balancing his domestic life with his rise to fame, his affair with Annik Honoré, his struggle with poorly medicated epilepsy and depression,^[16] and his suicide.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Richard Skinner may refer to:

• Richard Skinner (politician) (1778–1833), American politician, attorney, and jurist from the US state of Vermont
• Richard Skinner (broadcaster) (born 1951), British radio and television broadcaster
• Richard L. Skinner, current Department of Homeland Security Inspector General

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.