Ian Kevin Curtis (1956-1980) is still one of Macclesfield's most famous residents.

The King's School graduate was best known in the town for being the singer-songwriter for Joy Division.

But he also worked as a civil servant for Macclesfield Borough Council, for the department Macclesfield Unemployment Office.

The Macclesfield-raised artist moved on 77 Barton Street as an adult with his wife Deborah.

Ian also briefly raised their daughter Natalie, before his suicide on May 18 1980 in his Macclesfield home. The Joy Division frontman was just 23.

His work with the Factory Records post-punk band released two albums, but only one released during the lifetime of Ian Curtis.

Despite this, his legacy lives on throughout the world, in Manchester, and of course, in our town.

Here are five ways the Love Will Tear Us Apart co-songwriter has influenced his hometown of Macclesfield.

'Joy Diversion' Graffiti

If you're around the Picturedrome end of Chestergate, you may have spotted some humorous Joy Division graffiti nearby. A spray painted piece can be found which spoofs the band. A great piece for all lovers of wordplay, and Shadowplay. This Banksy-style urban art titled 'Joy Diversion' can be found in a turning on Chestergate into the start of Catherine Street. It shares a wall with street advertising which predates Curtis himself, the Macclesfield N. Dixon and Son Decorators logo. It is unknown who did the play on words artwork, which is a popular Joy Division image shared on social media around the world. There are others like it across the globe, but none in the town Ian drew inspiration from for his band's songs. A copycat graffiti also popped up at a road sign on Macclesfield's Park Lane in recent months. Mural Art In April 2021, Macclesfield artist Becca Smith completed a four-sided mural on an electricity substation in Macclesfield. The art piece, located in the centre of Churchill Way carpark, features a tribute to Ian Curtis and Joy Division. In a window, the black-and-white album cover to Joy Division's first album - Unknown Pleasures can be seen. It is situated on the west-facing wall which can be seen from Water Street. We spoke to Becca last month, following completion of her amazing mural which celebrates all things Macclesfield. In October 2021, a full-sized mural of Ian Curtis was unveiled in the courtyard of coffee, bar, and shop Proper Sound. It is the picture at the top of this article. You can read more about the new Macclesfield music store here Unknown Pleasures Plaque

In 2015, a plaque devoted to their best-known album Unknown Pleasures was unveiled.

A small circular crop of the pulsar artwork from their 1979 debut album is situated on the Old Labour Exchange building, which was where Curtis did his day job at the Macclesfield Unemployment Office.

The small tribute is located on Macclesfield's South Park Rd and Armitt Street.

Drummer Stephen Morris, who was a friend and bandmate of Ian, and still lives in our area to this day, opened the Macc plaque to the public.

It is hoped more tributes to Ian Curtis and his band will adorn our town in the future.

Tourism

Manchester Music Tours used to provide guides around the Joy Division sights for our town, until the organiser and former Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill died. People from all over the world travel to Macc to see where Ian took his inspiration from. Before the pandemic, the tour was especially popular with Belgian tourists, due to the romantic links between Ian Curtis and the Belgian journalist Annik Honoré in the months before his death. The tours resumed last summer, with the hopes more visitors will come to Macclesfield to honour Ian Curtis and spend their money in our town. Unknown Pleasures Cocktail

Less than a mile away from his Barton Street home, Chestergate business The Copper Room is now serving a drink named after one of Curtis' most famous works.

The Cooper Room is a unique restaurant and bar experience situated in Charles Roe House on 60-62 Chestergate. When they launched last summer, one of their most eye-catching cocktails was Unknown Pleasures, named after Joy Division's breakthrough debut album.

The Copper Room's Rick Armstrong described the drink as "A smokey whisky based drink with a light Lemonade finish. Dark and Light." A flavour which compliments Joy Division's music.

The menu captions it "A nod to the past, present and future", and contains, Coconut Rum, Midori, Chambord, Lemonade.

But Curtis' band is not the only rocking influence. There are also other cocktails on the menu named after popular musicians not from Macclesfield, such as the Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd). You can follow The Copper Room on Instagram.

Our Musicians

Many new guitar-based musicians in Macclesfield boost their local credibility with covering a song partially penned by Ian Curtis. In the first lockdown, Macclesfield band Glass Ankle released a viral cover of Joy Division's track Isolation. While the release was a tongue-in-cheek nod to coronavirus lockdown restrictions, it was more than just a novelty. As it has achieved over 5000 views on YouTube. and can be listened to here. We spoke to the band who is influenced by Joy Division last year. But it is also those who remember seeing Joy Division from 1979 that keep playing their music in town. The Nags Head pub of 60 Waters Green regularly have older rockers playing Joy Division covers, and they even have a ceramic college dedicated to Joy Division in their beer garden. Those were six ways Ian Curtis has impacted Macclesfield, over four decades since his death. Did we miss any big ones? Join in with the conversation on our social media. Follow Macc Nub on Facebook or Twitter. You can listen to Joy Division's best-known song at the top of this article. This article was originally a newsletter exclusive last year, published only for subscribers to the Macclesfield Nub News newsletter. It was originally produced for the 41st anniversary since the early death of Ian Curtis. It has now been made available to read for all subscribers. The FREE Macclesfield Nub News newsletter contains our ten best Macclesfield news stories, and an exclusive article just for subscribers. Please click here to subscribe to the Macclesfield Nub News newsletter, or enter your email in the shaded box below.