Joy Division and Coronation Street treasures launch British Pop Archive
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- 07 Apr 2022
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A set of Curtis's lyrics, notebooks and letters is in the collection with the entire archive of Granada, which made shows like Coronation Street.
The British Pop Archive will be housed in Manchester's John Rylands Library.
"We're starting off with a Manchester theme, but I want this to be a British Pop Archive," Prof Hannah Barker said.
The project will launch with an exhibition in the city next month. Many items, including Curtis's lyrics, have not previously been seen in public before.
They include the late singer's alternative lyrics written for the 1980 Joy Division album Closer and an unused verse for the song Atmosphere.
"There's something about seeing music that you're very familiar with and seeing its genesis on paper, and people's edits, that's very exciting," said Prof Barker, who is professor of British history at the University of Manchester and director of the John Rylands Research Institute.
The library will also house the archive of Joy Division and New Order manager and Factory Records co-founder Rob Gretton.
"He literally kept records of everything he did right from the beginning, so that's a fantastic and really big resource," Prof Barker said.
As well as pop music, the archive will cover all forms of popular culture.
Documentary-maker David Olusoga, who is professor of public history at the University of Manchester, described the Granada archive, which spans the 1950s to the 1990s, as "a major record of a crucial era in TV history". Read More…
