Hook in classic pose
From Joy Division through New Order and beyond, Peter Hook’s low-slung, chiming bass-lines have influenced aspiring four-string slingers for 30 years.
Everyone from U2 to the XX have copped a little of the Hook style. But the man himself admits that illegal filesharing has now destroyed the income of even rock titans like himself.
“Lily Allen was right to speak out about illegal downloading and to step back from music,” Hook tells Beehive. “Musicians are no longer credited and rewarded for their work. I’ve seen New Order’s royalties dwindle by 97% because of illegal downloading.
“It makes you think twice about whether it’s worth writing new material. Lily got dreadfully harangued for what she said but the girl’s got balls.”
Vintage line-up
Live performance is more important than ever for musicians like Hook, who will be joining Allen at the Vintage At Goodwood festival next month.
Allen is unveiling her new vintage clothing line (“I used to bounce her on my knee, when she was little” recalls Hooky, still a pal of her hellraising dad, Keith.).
Hook and his band The Light will close the event by performing Joy Division’s seminal 1979 album Unknown Pleasures with a full orchestra and choir for the first time.
It’s a nerve-wracking challenge for Hook, not least because hardcore Joy Division fans believe it’s sacrilege of him to sing Ian Curtis’ words.
“I still live with Ian’s death every day,” argues Hook, 30 years after the iconic singer’s suicide. “Perfoming Unknown Pleasures is so frightening because you have to live up to people’s expectations. I’m very nervous, it’s easier to play abroad. I don’t plan to play the album live again in England after this.”
Hook always thought rock stars messing with orchestras reeked of “pretension” until a collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic at a charity gig. “I was absolutely blown away. They give the songs a new depth and lustrous finish. I was so honoured when Wayne Hemmingway (Vintage festival curator) asked me to recreate Unknown Pleasures with an orchestra.”
Joy Division: happy days
Sadly there’s no healing of the New Order split in 2007, which prompted Hook to form his new band, which includes son Jack and guest vocals from former Happy Mondays singer Rowetta Satchell.
“It’s like a divorce, you argue over cutting the kitchen table in half. We suffer everyday because of the battles between Bernard (Sumner) and myself. All of us bear some guilt. The management seems incapable of bringing us together even to safeguard our legacy.”
Hook, 54, has more irons in the fire anyway. There’s Freebass, his group with fellow Manc bassists Mani and Andy Rourke. And How Not To Run A Club, his hilarious account of the rise and fall of The Hacienda club, in which New Order sunk their earnings, has sold 50,000 hardback copies.
He’s working on a sequel. “Lots of curious bystanders have written books about Joy Division but no-one has told the story from the inside. So it’s called Inside Joy Division, for obvious reasons. I’m looking forward to writing it.”
In fact Hooky is chuffed to learn that he’s just been named by the FT as one of the leading cultural forces in the North West, alongside such luminaries as Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle.
A born raconteur – describing how his mother came up with his famous low-slung bass stance, saying “everyone needs a gimmick, our Pete” or affectionately calling John Lydon “an arsehole who loves to wind everyone up, don’t feel special” – it’s exploring the music of that brief period when Joy Division lit up the post-punk landscape that currently fascinates him.
“When we recorded Unknown Pleasures Bernard and I were very unhappy with Martin Hannett’s production. We felt he had watered down the aggression and anger. In those days we were fighting the world. But Martin actually created something beautifully spare, with the ability to last 30 years and forever.
“When we play it with the orchestra we take it to a different world, it sounds very grand, rich and even moving. As a rock musician who thought orchestration was pretentious twaddle I had to admit I was blown away.”
Vintage at Goodwood takes place August 13 to 15 – include a new line-up of The Faces with Mick Hucknall replacing original singer Rod Stewart.
Sandie Shaw, Heaven 17 and The Buzzcocks are also on the bill at the event which celebrates the best of British music and design over the past few decades.
Tickets and full programme at www.vintageatgoodwood.com
Good article Pete Hook is a legend, I love New Order and I hope they patch up their differences and get back together, really enjoying the new Freebass album.