Fandom, Image and Authenticity

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1 Fandom, Image and Authenticity

2 Pop Music, Culture and Identity Series Editors: Steve Clark, University of Tokyo, Japan, Tristanne Connolly, St Jerome s, University of Waterloo, Canada, and Jason Whittaker, Falmouth University, UK Advisory Board: Chris Best, University College Falmouth, UK, Audrey Faine, Vice President of Marketing, CBS Records, Gavin Hayes, Musician, USA, John Hutnyk, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, Allan F. Moore, University of Surrey, UK, Ryan Moore, Florida Atlantic University, USA, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, University of East London, UK, John Phillips, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Cristina Ruotolo, San Francisco, USA, Karl Simms, University of Liverpool, UK, Will Straw, McGill University, Canada, and Steve Waksman, Smith College, USA Pop music lasts. A form all too often assumed to be transient, commercial, and mass-cultural has proven itself durable, tenacious, and continually evolving. As such, it has become a crucial component in defining various forms of identity (individual and collective) as influenced by factors such as nation, class, gender, ethnicity, location/situation, and historical period. Pop Music, Culture and Identity investigates the implications of this greatly enhanced status. Particular attention will be paid to issues such as the iconography of celebrity, the ever-expanding archive, the nature of the performance-event, the parameters of generational memory, and the impact of new technologies on global marketing. In particular, the series aims to highlight interdisciplinary approaches and incorporate the informed testimony of the fan alongside a challenging diversity of academic methodologies. Jennifer Otter Bickerdike FANDOM, IMAGE AND AUTHENTICITY Joy Devotion and the Second Lives of Kurt Cobain and Ian Curtis Rosemary Overall AFFECTIVE INTENSITIES IN EXTREME MUSIC SCENCES Cases from Australia and Japan Pop Music, Culture and Identity Series Standing Order ISBN (hardback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England

3 Fandom, Image and Authenticity Joy Devotion and the Second Lives of Kurt Cobain and Ian Curtis Jennifer Otter Bickerdike Senior Lecturer, University of East London, UK

4 Jennifer Otter Bickerdike 2014 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act First published 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.

5 To my biggest heroes my grandparents, John Delaware Otter and Jeanette Weld Otter I love you and miss you every day

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7 Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements ix xi Introduction 1 Tears dry on their own 1 That thing called authenticity 7 Methodology 11 Literary frameworks 13 Chapter 1 17 Joy Division tribute bands 17 Tattoo you the hyperreal and object fetishism of the body 22 Image, tribute and death 28 Chapter 2 33 The cult of Curtis 33 Poster boy 38 Rock n roll romanticism 43 Chapter 3 48 Hagiography 48 Chapter 4 66 Branding of the Hyperreal 66 Consuming Curtis and Cobain: the branding of death 67 Love will keep us in popular culture? 71 Omnipresence 75 Mickey Division 78 Necro-fever 82 Chapter 5 89 I want to own your memory 89 Commercial Kurt 93 Chapter Joy Division documentaries 105 The fiction of Joy Division 110 Cinema Cobain 116 Character Kurt 120 vii

8 viii Contents Chapter Dark tourism and sonic pilgrimage 126 JFK as framework 127 Online voyeurs vs. real-time traveller: the paragon/ paradox of Ian Curtis 130 First journey to Macclesfield 131 Trip to Père Lachaise 135 Dating Ian Curtis 137 Do-it-yourself (DIY) 138 The prime real estate of Ian Curtis Barton Street 140 The Curtis grave 142 Trinkets, tributes and trash 148 Seattle calling: Kurt Cobain 154 Viretta Park 157 Kurt s house: 171 Lake Washington Blvd 164 Aberdeen 165 Conclusion 170 Notes 175 Bibliography 183 Index 190

9 List of Figures I.1 Media people wait for something to happen outside Amy Winehouse s home, the day after her body was found, Camden Square, Camden, London, July I.2 Reporters creating a story in Camden Square, July Mike Parkinson, May 18, 2010, Macclesfield cemetery and crematorium Sarah Edington, May 18, 2010, Macclesfield cemetery and crematorium Bench by Graham Dolphin, 2010, London Macclesfield cemetery and crematorium, Map of Macclesfield cemetery and crematorium, created by Lydia Bevan, Barton Street, Macclesfield, Thirtieth anniversary of Ian Curtis s death, May 18, 2010, Macclesfield Trash or tribute, Macclesfield cemetery and crematorium, When the party s over one month after the thirtieth anniversary of Curtis s death Touching from a Distance, left on the Ian Curtis Memorial Stone, Touching from a Distance, after bitter winter storms, Framed picture of Ian Curtis left at his grave, Postcard from Australian fan, as delivered to Ian Curtis s grave, Viretta Park, Seattle, April Rose left on Kurt s Bench in Viretta Park, Seattle, April ix

10 x List of Figures 7.13 Kurt Cobain s childhood home, Aberdeen, Washington, April Kurt Cobain s Riverfront Park, Aberdeen, Washington, April Graffiti under the Young Street Bridge, Aberdeen, Washington, April

11 Acknowledgements I am forever indebted and grateful to the many people all around the world that I am lucky enough to have as friends, family, mentors, inspirations and partners in crime. To my husband, James Bickerdike I am constantly having to pinch myself as to how I got so lucky to find such a man, one who loves me so very much, who is my backbone and who lets me drag him on bizarre literary and sonic pilgrimages. I cannot believe I found you, and get to spend the rest of my life as your wife and conspirator. I would not have made it to England, through my 20s, 30s or 40s, without the unyielding love, support and patience of two people: Gary Baker and Leslie Dotson Van Every. I love you two so very much, and am always in awe of your endless well of belief in me. It is an honour and a privilege to call you both my family. A massive thank you also is due to: Alix Brodie-Wray, Lynne Collins, Marie Claire Halvorson, Stacy Horne, John Hutnyk, Ryan Moore, Amie Dirks Naylor, Chris Rojek, John Sparrowhawk, Eric Van Every, Georgia Van Every, Robert Warhurst and my former professors at San Francisco State University, without whom I would never been able to embark on this mad adventure in the first place: the fantastic Drs Carel Bertram, Sandra Luft, Cristina Ruotolo, Mary Scott and Saul Steier. A huge round of gratitude to my editors, Stephen Clark, Tristanne Connolly and Jason Whittaker. I am forever thankful for you taking a chance on a then PhD student, for enduring my endless questions and inquiries and for your thoughtful and supportive words. To the fine folk at Palgrave, Chris Penfold and Felicity Plester, to quote Morrissey, the pleasure, the privilege is mine. Most importantly, thank you to the beautiful, haunting and forever inspiring music and legends of Joy Division, Nirvana and all their fans worldwide who shared their stories and passions with me. xi

The Emergence of Somatic Psychology and Bodymind Therapy

The Emergence of Somatic Psychology and Bodymind Therapy Critical Theory and Practice in Psychology and the Human Sciences Titles include: Barnaby B. Barratt THE EMERGENCE OF SOMATIC PSYCHOLOGY AND BODYMIND