Not often does it happen that a "holy grail version" of a tape that you've been listening to forever gets laid down right in front of you, from out of nowhere.
Incredibly, just that happened a few weeks ago in a small private forum.
A very kind soul, himself a Joy Division fan from almost day one, uploaded without much ado a tape he's had for years but (in his own words) 'never could find the right moment to let it go' - a transfer from the original pre-FM master reels of the legendary, much bootlegged performance of JOY DIVISION at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on january 11, 1980 - arguably their best recorded live performance (at least to my ears), but definitely in the top 5 and with absolute certainty the best sounding one.
Well, now it sounds even better!
And it's not called "The Definitive Edition" for nothing - the first version of this show that I had was the "Last Order" bootleg which sounded very very good and got me hooked to this show instantly. Over the years and with a few partial re-broadcasts more and more versions showed up, including a so-called "official release" on the "Re-Fractured" box set that ridiculously included gaps between all the tracks and didn't sound any better than most other versions floating around.
This is to my knowledge the very first time the full show has been transfered from the actual pre-FM master reels properly.
And I am very proud and happy to be able to take this into the public, with the kind permission of the same kind soul who uploaded this at the mentioned private forum.
All thanks go to him for unearthing and making available to everybody finally, after 32 years, one of the most important recordings in post punk music history (and I'm sure some people would argue rock music history)!
Turn it up and ENJOY!
surfling august 2012