The suicide shocked the band and their management. In 2005, Wilson said: “I think all of us made the mistake of not thinking his suicide was going to happen … We all completely underestimated the danger. We didn’t take it seriously. That’s how stupid we were.” Music critic Simon Reynolds…
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In June 1980, Dark Room , their fourth studio album was released, which was produced by the Brewster brothers. The album peaked at No. 5 in Australia and No. 37 on the New Zealand Albums Chart . Its overseas version had re-recorded versions of “Ivory Stairs” and “Straight Jacket” in…
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The group toured frequently during 1979; at the end of that year, on December 7th, they opened for the band The Who at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan , while developing their next album, Tomcattin , which was released in June 1980. They went on to release the album Marauder…
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The band auditioned dozens of replacements for Criss in June 1980.
While Criss appeared on the cover of the next album, Unmasked , Anton Fig was the actual drummer, although he was not credited. Showcasing a slick, contemporary pop sound, Unmasked (released May 20, 1980) had the dubious distinction of being the first non-Platinum Kiss album since Dressed to Kill .…
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Between 1977 and 1980, Ian Curtis , Peter Hook , Stephen Morris , and Bernard Sumner were members of the post-punk band Joy Division , often featuring heavy production input from producer Martin Hannett . Curtis died by suicide on 18 May 1980, the day before Joy Division were scheduled…
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The evening before the band were due to depart for America, Curtis returned to his Macclesfield home to talk to Deborah. He asked her to drop an impending divorce suit, and asked her to leave him alone in the house until he caught a train to Manchester the following morning.…
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On 17 May 1980, the group appeared on the teenage music show American Bandstand at the invitation of host Dick Clark . PiL’s performance was chaotic; they abandoned lip-syncing, invited the audience onto the stage while the music played and Lydon clowned. Clark named the performance among his top 100…
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On 8 May 1980, while the band were on tour in Europe, Bronze released The Golden Years , which sold better than any of their previous releases, reaching number eight on the UK Singles Chart. The band had, however, preferred the title Flying Tonight , in reference to the “Bomber”…
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In May 1980, A&M in the UK released Six Pack , a package containing the five A&M singles (not including “Fall Out”) in their original sleeves plus a mono alternate take of the album track ” The Bed’s Too Big Without You ” backed with a live version of “Truth…
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