self-released An Ideal for Living

Joy Division made their recorded debut in June 1978 when the band self-released An Ideal for Living , and two weeks later their track “At a Later Date” was featured on the compilation album Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus (which had been recorded live in October 1977). In the Melody Maker review, Chris Brazier said that it “has the familiar rough-hewn nature of home-produced records, but they’re no mere drone-vendors—there are a lot of good ideas here, and they could be a very interesting band by now, seven months on”. The packaging of An Ideal for Living —which featured a drawing of a Hitler Youth member on the cover—coupled with the nature of the band’s name fuelled speculation about their political affiliations. While Hook and Sumner later said they were intrigued by fascism at the time, Morris believed that the group’s dalliance with Nazi imagery came from a desire to keep memories of the sacrifices of their parents and grandparents during World War II alive. He argued that accusations of neo-Nazi sympathies merely provoked the band “to keep on doing it, because that’s the kind of people we are”.