Joy Division
April 1980
T.J. Davidson's Rehearsal Studios, Manchester, UK
Producer: Unknown
Tracklist:
1. In A Lonely Place (Final Vocals, Take 2)
2. In A Lonely Place (Final Vocals, Take 3)*
3. Ceremony*
4. In A Lonely Place (Mix of Take's 2 and 3)
5. In A Lonely Place (Snippets)
*Removed due to it's official release on the 'Heart & Soul' boxset. The version of In A Lonely Place on the boxset is cut to 2 and a half minutes, the full length recording in this session is 5:23 in length.
Notes: The official story is that these two songs were recorded on cassette at JD's rehearsal room, and Peter Hook dug the tape out of his collection in time for the "Heart And Soul" boxset.
However, we don't think they were recorded on the same occasion. Ceremony runs a bit slow and is in stereo while In A Lonely Place is the right speed but in mono. We reckon the two songs were probably recorded on different tape recorders at different times.
It has been stated that these two songs were recorded only days before Ian's untimely death in May 1980, but on this version of "Ceremony" it sounds like Barney is having a little bit of trouble with his guitar part, and Ian's voice is noticeably faltering as if he hasn't figured out how to sing it yet. This would indicate that these two songs most likely date back to April 1980, and recorded prior to the Birmingham University gig on May 2nd, 1980 as featured on "Still". They all sound a lot more confident in their delivery of "Ceremony" on "Still" (even if Ian's vocals are inaudible during the first verse due to his microphone not having been turned on in time), as if they by then had run through the song a few more times in rehearsals and figured out how they wanted it to sound.
This old rehearsal room tape even runs out during "In A Lonely Place", or so the story goes, the final verse is missing on "Heart And Soul" anyway. According to others there IS a full version, but the final verse was deliberately omitted for reasons of "taste". While this seems unlikely to us, the fact remains that the song "Fades" out in two steps rather than being cut off because the tape ran out. Maybe someone just pressed "record" by mistake later on?
According to the "Heart And Soul" box these tracks were recorded at Graveyard Studios, Prestwick, but it's more likely a case of these songs having been mixed or "cleaned up" at this studio, by person or persons unknown. Listening to these songs there is little to suggest that they were recorded at a professional studio to begin with. It is also a bit unlikely that Joy Division would have decided to record yet more songs so soon after the "Closer" sessions, keeping in mind Ian's fragile health at this time, with several concerts having to be cancelled.