1984: George Michael and Morrissey discuss JOY DIVISION! | Eight Days A Week | Music | BBC Archive

Two 1980s music icons (and Tony Blackburn) discuss a recently published book about the legendary Factory band Joy Division. Both reveal an admiration for the band but only one claims to be a genuine fan.

Originally broadcast 25 May, 1984.

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[edwardferry]

Only George seemed to grasp their uniqueness and musical influence, that lasted through the decades. He was also spot-on about Paul Morley’s pretentiousness.

[joshweinstein]

Wow, kudos to George Michael for having the most intelligent, accurate and appreciative take on Joy Division. What a considerate, awesome person.

[priscillagrunauer]

Morrissey being….Morrissey. Unexpectedly loved George Michael!

[LONESTARINDIE]

George Michael was such a beautiful soul, inside & out

[marcusorme]

Music is obvs highly subjective but imo Unknown Pleasures is a masterpiece - Disorder is a cracking opening track. Musicians don’t necessarily need to be virtuosos to ceate something that is original, exciting and interesting to listen to

[christophernason]

I can't work out whether Morrissey is damning Joy Division with faint praise or praising them with faint damnation.

[JohnHonda]

Its a joy to see things like this again.

[Dunbar]

Respect to George Micheal. Never thought I'd write such words, but the more I hear about the fellas politics, and hear what he had to say, the more my respect grows.

[Nickname]

Morrissey has a point though that Ian's untimely passing added a lot to the legend of Joy Division and that a lot of people would NEVER have heard of them if they just carried on as a band.

[SuzanneO]

George, Mozza and Tones. What a book club.

[MeathookCinema]

That was Tony Blackburn who stopped playing Siouxsie’s records because she said she didn’t listen to the radio.

[megacapulet]

Gorgeous George what an icon and a all round decent human being

[Kblog]

Simon Lebon is also a massive JD fan. Would like to hear him interviewed too.

[lisama]

Loved seeing George speaking so eloquently about joy divisions music. It was curious at the end of the clip, the host said ti George, lm going to stop you there. Was that because they ran out of time. I would’ve liked to see what happened after that .

[luziddrm]

Different music. For different people. Thats the beauty of music/art. ❤️‍🔥🎼❤️‍🔥 🎨 🖌️ George Michael's 🤘😎🤘

[craigl]

Amazing clip! Tony Blackburn talking about Joy Divison! , George in fact once said Closer was his favourite album ever...

[candideggplant]

George didn't get enough time but everyone gave their two cents and that was enough, I guess. I wouldn't say I am the biggest Joy Division fan but I will give credit where credit is due, they helped pave the way for bands later on in the future.
They all had thoughtful and honest opinions

[djoseph]

Both George and Morrisey were articulate and honest here. Just George enjoyed Joy Divisions music more than Morrisey. Nothing wrong with that.

[dale]

Blimey, can you imagine a "now" popstar doing an interview like that now? They cant put two words together without having to use assistantance in one or another format

[citizencairn]

Obviously one can discount Tony Blackburn's viewpoint... a DJ that doesn't like the band that produced Blue Monday?... yeah, whatever... however it does seem very odd to me to infer that Joy Division were emotionless. Very odd. Negative emotions are often far more intense than positive. Intriguing to see glimpses of what lay beneath George's happy-clappy veneer at that time. A seriously under appreciated artist.