SHE'S LOST CONTROL / ATMOSPHERE Joy Division 1980 12" Factory (US) FACTUS 2 VG+

$

33

"She's Lost Control" is a song by the English rock band Joy Division. Released on their 1979 debut album, Unknown Pleasures, "She's Lost Control" was first performed live by the band in June 1978 and draws primary lyrical inspiration from a young woman experiencing a violent epileptic seizure.

Two separate recordings of the song have been released: the version appearing on the band's debut album, and an extended, more electronic version released in 1980 as a 12" single [as offered here]. This 12" single version contains an additional verse not present on the initial version of the song, and was recorded in March 1980 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, making this song one of the band's last studio recordings prior to the May 1980 suicide of their lead singer, Ian Curtis. On the US release of the 12" single, "She's Lost Control" appeared as the A-side (with "Atmosphere" as the B-side), as opposed the UK version, where the song appeared as the B-side to "Atmosphere".

SAD ASIDE:  Curtis primarily drew the lyrical inspiration for "She's Lost Control" from a young woman with whom he had become acquainted through his employment as an Assistant Disablement Resettlement Officer at a Macclesfield occupational rehabilitation centre between 1978 and 1979. The woman had epilepsy and had been desperate to find employment, yet she suffered seizures whenever she came to the exchange, which would greatly disturb Curtis, who himself suffered from epilepsy. At one stage, this young woman ceased attending her appointments at the occupational rehabilitation centre. Initially, Curtis assumed she had found a job, but he would later discover she had died of an epileptic seizure. Curtis would later inform his wife he had been informed this woman had choked to death in her sleep as a result of an epileptic seizure. Consequently, one of Ian Curtis' greatest fears was dying in his sleep as a result of an epileptic seizure. Due to this fear, he and his wife would establish a ritual whereby, upon evenings following a Joy Division gig in which Curtis did not experience an epileptic seizure, Ian would either sit in a chair and wait for an epileptic seizure to occur in his wife's presence, or lie in bed with his wife as both listened in silence, to await a change in his breathing rhythm (which would signal an impending seizure), in order that his wife could help him, before he would sleep.

THIS COPY is a first U.S. RTI pressing from 1980 on Factory Records (see Notes, below).

The vinyl looks good and per a test listen, plays perfectly. The vinyl is in Very Good Plus [VG+] or better condition.

The original cover has the faintest ghost of ring wear and some generals signs of handling. Overall, it is in Very Good Plus [VG+] condition.

The original inner sleeve is plain white with square corners and a center label hole. It is now browning with age, but with not splits or other flaws of any kind, it is in Very Good Plus [VG+] or better condition.

Notes

White card sleeve; labels with cream typesetting and design on very dark green background.
First U.S. version, pressed by Record Technology Incorporated (RTI), as identified by:
• Small pressing ring and
• One or two "+" plus-marks etched in the runouts after the matrix number (with or without a tiny dot or scribble in each quadrant). [on this copy, only found on side two, see photo]

This release exists pressed on regular opaque black (i.e. partially-recycled) vinyl or on several varieties and purities of virgin vinyl, which may appear a translucent dark red, brown, or teal when held to a bright light source. No sequence has been identified for the types of vinyl used. [This copy is regular opaque black.]

Distributed by Rough Trade
A Factory Record

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, this copy): FACTUS 2A L•2473

Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, this copy): FACTUS 2B L-2473 9502 + +

ENJOY!