“Andy Rourke Remembered”

Well, he may have been in a band with the greats, but let’s face it, Andy Rourke was one of them as well. The Manchester born Rourke joined his childhood pal Johnny Marr’s band The Smiths in 1982 and he played
with them until their demise in 1987. That’s Rourke you hear on every Smiths record, including The Queen Is Dead, Strangeways Here We Come and Louder Than Bombs. After the legendary band broke up, Rourke played with Sinead O’Connor, The Pretenders, Killing Joke,
Badly Drawn Boy, Ian Brown of the Stone Roses and Morrissey.  Rourke also teamed up with New Order’s Peter Hook and Mani of the Stone Roses and formed the band Freebass. He also played with Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries in the band D.A.R.K. and around the time I chatted with him, he had formed Blitz Vega with Kav Sandhu, a band that also featured Johnny Marr as a special guest. Rourke’s life was busy and exciting and this list doesn’t cover all he did, but it does serve as a reminder of how brilliant he was. A prowling blend of rockabilly, funk and post-punk, Rourke’s baselines were intricate, inventive and artful. Rourke died in Mid-May and the tributes that poured in were testament after testament that this man was loved.  Perhaps it was Moz’s,  however, that was the most on-point: "He will never die as long as his music is heard. He didn’t ever know his own power, and nothing that he played had been played by someone else. His distinction was so terrific and unconventional and he proved it could be done. He was also very, very funny and very happy, and post-Smiths, he kept a steady identity - never any manufactured moves. I suppose, at the end of it all, we hope to feel that we were valued. Andy need not worry about that.”

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0334: Andy Rourke (The Smiths, Freebass, D.A.R.K., Blitz Vega)

"Movement"

There’s nothing about Peter Hook that I can tell you you don’t already know, so let’s just do a refresher run through his musical CV. In the late '70s Hook formed Joy Division with childhood pal Bernard Sumner after the two friends saw the Sex Pistols play in Manchester. The band only put out two albums and one of those albums, the legendary Closer was put out two months after the band had ceased to b,e due to the suicide of singer Ian Curtis on the eve of Joy Division’s debut US/Canada tour.
Rechristened New Order and consisting of the remaining members of Joy Division plus keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, New Order blended jittery post-punk rhythms with dance music. The result? Well, you know the result. They were one of the biggest bands of the '80s, spawning hits like True Faith, The Perfect Kiss, Subculture and Blue Monday, which was the biggest selling 12-inch of all time. It might still be. New Order dominated the '80s, but the '90s weren’t too shabby—they had a #1 UK hit with World In Motion in 1990 and they had their biggest US hit with “Regret” in 1993. They kept crushing it, putting out Get Ready in 2001 and collaborating with Billy Corgan and Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream. They were given the Godlike Genius award at the 2005 NME awards and got nominated for a Grammy in 2006 for Guilt Is a Useless Emotion. Then things got a bit sour, with Hook leaving the band in 2007 and forming his own outfit Peter Hook and the Light, a band that featured his son Jack and much to his fans delight, revisited the Joy Division and New Order songbooks. Over the course of his career Hook has worked with The Stone Roses, and Perry Farrell, he toured with the Durutti Column, put out albums with Revenge and Monaco and wrote one of the best music books ever: Substance; Inside New Order. This is a partial list, btw. Almost a partial partial list because when it comes to Peter Hook, there’s a lot of ground to cover. But these are the basics. Do a deeper dive after you hear the show—the guy is a titan. As for his split with New Order and his boyhood pal Bernard, we don’t have time to go over the legal end of that dissolution, so let’s just say this. If you’re hoping for a reunion you’re wasting your good hope energy. Not going to happen. As a bassist, he plays with an authoritative blend of prowl and sting and not only is he one of the all time greats, he also happens to be a nice guy. This chat covers his fractured friendship with Sumner, why the New Order/Joy Division songbooks appeal to fans across generations and what Hooky has learned from his old material.

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Stereo Embers The Podcast 0364: Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order)

This week, we take a look at the 1991 thriller “Silence of the Lambs.” Aside from having some of the best performances, writing, directing and catering, this Jonathan Demme classic is one of the most eminently quotable films of all time. Look at that - for once we discuss a film that’s good? Are we evolving? We also talk about other pop culture stuff, because that’s how we roll. 

0:00 - Intros and the 2024 Election
13:00 - The Decameron (Netflix)
17:45 - The Renaissance Unchained (Amazon)
20:25 - How the States Got Their Shapes
25:00 - Peter Hook & The Light
30:00 - Green Day Saviors Tour
42:50 - The Devotees 
43:37 - The Silence of the Lambs

For more on Waldemar Januszczak go to https://waldemar.tv/

Episode 312 - The Silence Of The Lambs

Official Peter Hook & The Light poster for the June 2, 2025 show at Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC. A night of post-punk legends and timeless sound.
Get it here → https://danillebury.com/product/peter-hook-the-light-june-2-2025-cats-cradle-carrboro-nc-poster/

Peter Hook & the Light June 2 2025 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro NC

It may not be the day-in-the-life movie we wanted, but it was the one we deserved. A 90s-era nostalgia trip to the early 80s, “200 Cigarettes” is notable mostly for its cast of future stars. We also talk about dead parents, nuclear war, James Bond and shooting people to Lionel Ritchie. Because we’re just that freakin’ good.

4:40 - Gen Alpha linguistics professor 
7:00 - McCurdy, Jennette - I’m Glad My Mom Died (book)
13:10 - Jacobsen, Annie - Nuclear War: A Scenario (book)
18:00 - Peter Hook and the Light
21:20 - James Bond revisited (You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever)
38:50  - 200 Cigarettes

Episode 335 - 200 Cigarettes

Hosted by Alex Green, Stereo Embers: The Podcast is a weekly podcast airing exclusively on Bombshell Radio (www.bombshellradio.com) that features interviews with musicians, authors, artists and actors talking about the current creative moment in their lives. 

A professor at St. Mary's College of California, Alex is the Editor-In-Chief of Stereo Embers Magazine (www.stereoembersmagazine.com), the author of five books and has served as a Speaker/Moderator for LitQuake, Yahoo!, The Bay Area Book Festival, A Great Good Place For Books, Green Apple Books, and The St. Mary's College Of California MFA Reading Series. 

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