Love Will Tear Us Apart

I nearly walked out of The British Heart Foundation charity shop in Chepstow that day without noticing the box of singles near the checkout, but I'm glad I stopped to look as there were several good things therein, best of which was an original 1980 pressing of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. My copy is one of those on translucent deep purplish-red styrene, rather than black vinyl.

On the 33rpm B-side are two tracks: 'These Days' and (uncredited) the earlier and less morose "Pennine" version of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. I was unaware, until reading it on Discogs just now, that the text "For ML" on the A-side label refers to Martha Ladly (of Martha and the Muffins and, later, The Associates) who was apparently designer Pater Saville's then-girlfriend.

Would I have heard the song when it was first released? I was eleven at the time so maybe not - but it had a persistent afterlife owing to its status as Ian Curtis' swansong, and I surely would have known it by the time of its re-release in '83.

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All Wrapped Up

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