Ian Curtis: An unlikely Manchester City supporter

The first time I heard about the movie Control, about the life of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, was three years ago after I just finished “Touching From A Distance,” the excellent book by his widow Deborah Curtis.

When the movie was finally released in 2007, I agonized over the fact that it was only shown on a limited release to cinemas nationwide.

So when I finally got around to watching the DVD of Control earlier this week, I was delighted and surprised. Delighted because the biopic was exactly what I expected and made even better by the excellent brooding soundtrack. But surprised because of one scene in the film where the actor portraying Ian Curtis talked about his favorite color being blue because it was the color of Manchester City FC.

To me, Curtis would be an unlikely Man City supporter. The lanky singer who grew up in Macclesfield struck me as one of those mad music fans who never had time for such trivial matters as football. But with Macclesfield Town playing non-league football in the 1970s, City would be a more likely choice for Curtis than United. The Maine Road club was less flashy and more working class than the red half of Manchester.

The irony is that Manchester United fans sometimes sing a song about Ryan Giggs to the tune of “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” The song? “Giggs Will Tear You Apart.”

Joy Division would later morph into New Order, the band who has the honor of creating one of the best soccer songs ever, World In Motion, for England’s 1990 World Cup adventure.