Culture That Made Me: Peter Hook (New Order, etc) reveals his touchstones
Peter Hook plays in Limerick and Dublin.
Peter Hook, 66, grew up in Salford, Manchester. In 1976, he co-founded Joy Division, a band that evolved into New Order following the death of singer Ian Curtis. He split from the other members of New Order in 2007, and in 2009, Hook published The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club, about his time co-owning the legendary Manchester nightclub.
His band Peter Hook & the Light will perform gigs at the Big Top, Limerick (Thursday, Nov 10) and Dublin’s Olympia Theatre (Friday). See: www.peterhookandthelight.com.
The first record I bought was The New Age of Atlantic. It was 99p. It had people on it like John Prine, Loudon Wainwright III, an American rock band Cactus, Led Zeppelin. I still enjoy and play John Prine all the time. He has a wonderful song called When I Get to Heaven which I’m gonna have played at my funeral. He was so prolific. His anti-war lyrics and his reflections on American patriotism are very poignant, and his lyrics feel clever, but not enough to alienate you like a Bob Dylan kind of clever. He feels like someone you could talk to – his lyrics are almost like conversations.
My life is divided into post-punk and pre-punk. When I was pre-punk, the best album I'd heard was Led Zeppelin II. It’s amazing music. It always will be. The production is insane. In many ways, it's a better record than, say, Never Mind the Bollocks from the Sex Pistols, but the thing about Never Mind the Bollocks is that it has an energy. It has a spite and an aggression that me at 20 really, really felt. I felt much more inclusive of the Sex Pistols than I did with Led Zeppelin.
I saw Led Zeppelin play at a venue in Stretford, Manchester, called Hard Rock. I must admit I didn't feel that I could do anything that they were doing. A few weeks later I saw the Sex Pistols play. They were mainly feeding back and shouting “F**k off” at the audience. I thought I could do that. I was in love with their nihilism and anarchic way of acting. They seemed to capture the confusion and trepidation you feel as a teenager going out into the world: “Just tell everyone to 'Fuck off!’ Aarghh!” That's exactly how I felt.
The first bass player I ever noticed was Carol Kaye. The reason I noticed her was because she played bass on a track called Just My Imagination, which is my favourite ever Motown song. I have tried to rip that baseline off, but I’ve never successfully done it.
One of the first groups I went to see was The Clash. Paul Simonon was 'whoa'. He had this long bass strap. It was his throwing of shapes and the way that he acted around the music. So I copied his strap length and throwing of shapes. Then I saw The Stranglers. I still remember it: Bingley Hall, Stafford. I was blown away by Jean-Jacques’s sound live. I remember waiting until the gig finished and writing down his equipment and I bought it. So I was emulating Jean-Jacques’s sound and melodies along with Paul Simonon’s look [laughs]. My wife always says to me: “Well, where did that go wrong?”
Barney [Sumner, Joy Division co-founder] and I were heavy metal kids. Ian Curtis really opened up the world to me. He introduced me to Iggy Pop, the Doors, Lou Reed and Velvet Underground. Listening to music with Ian was like the covers were ripped off your eyes. He also introduced me to Faust, Can and all these punk bands that he loved like Suicide.
Iggy Pop is unrivalled live on stage. I remember Ian lent me Metallic K.O., the live album by The Stooges. Iggy Pop is the one person I would love to play with. I was jealous of New Order when they got to play with him. I was DJing in Florida, where he lives, around 2004. In the club, the manager said to me: “Iggy usually comes in for a drink on the night. He always comes in a big convertible. He’s let park right outside.” I was like, Does he? That’s weird because it was a proper club night. So I'm DJing away, and the guy came over and said, “He's in. Iggy Pop – he's in. He’s at the bar.” He pointed him out and Iggy Pop was at the bar with his top off. What a man. If Ian Curtis only knew.
When I DJ, I don't play many indie-type DJs, it's mostly dance music. If I was picking a track to get people up, it'd be Where Love Lives by Alison Limerick, the 1991 remix. It starts with piano, which is a much-underrated instrument. When you think of dance music, your mind wouldn't go to piano. But the piano is vital to most dance music, even in acid house when it was do-it-yourself. When that piano Where Love Lives comes in, the crowd goes bonkers.
Quadrophenia is one of my favourite LPs and films because I was a mod. I had a scooter. If I'm feeling a bit blue or miserable, I'll always stick on Quadrophenia or watch the film – it makes me feel better. We played in Brighton and I actually found the alley from Quadrophenia where the actress Leslie Ash gets it on with the lead character. I was over the moon. Whoa!
My lovely wife got me a first edition of F Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night for Christmas. It’s probably one of the only books I’ve read three or four times. It's set in the South of France. For a kid from Salford, it’s quite exotic. I first read it when we were recording Leave me Alone by New Order. That book and Leave me Alone, as a track, go together so well. It was a wonderful aspect of recording – I read book after book while we were recording. I'd have a pile of them, going almost to the roof of the studio. That that was just before I discovered drugs [laughs].
Jack Reacher books are my special treat. I’d love to be Jack Reacher. He gets revenge on all these arseholes. That’s what I love about them. He wears a certain kind of shoe – a Cheaney. I bought a pair of Cheaneys. I was in Groucho in London just before Covid. I was meeting my lawyer. Lee Child came and sat opposite. He was having a meeting with his publisher, I presume. I had my Cheaneys on. He kept looking at me. He's a fan of Manchester music, and I’m looking at him and I'm thinking 'Bloody hell, I've got these shoes on here because Jack Reacher wears ’em'. How weird is that?
