Happy birthday to "an old friend from college"

One day after marking my MOM’S BIRTHDAY, today I mark the 30th BIRTHDAY of what you could call “an old friend from college.”
“UNKNOWN PLEASURES,” the debut album of JOY DIVISION, was recorded April 1-17, 1979 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, England and released on June 14, 1979 on Manchester‘s Factory Records.
It was “love at first listen” when I first heard it, several years later, and this powerful album later accompanied me to the depths -- literally.
I have owned an imported, Italian cassette tape of “Unknown Pleasures“ since my freshmen year at MOUNT MERCY COLLEGE, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.
My work-study assignment during my freshman and sophomore years was to sweep the subterranean passageways connecting campus buildings.
I would pop “Unknown Pleasures“ into my Walkman and happily sweep away -- powered in part by the amazing music filling my ears.
Two years ago, the British music weekly NME reappraised the landmark, post-punk album, in a review that garnered “Unknown Pleasures” a rare, 10-out-of-10 review:
“The band’s debut is simply one of the best records ever made, and is still powerful enough to floor you. With an almost dub-like, spacey atmosphere sculpted by studio genius Martin Hannett, the band’s sound -- Peter Hook’s rumbling bass lines, Barney Sumner’s eerie guitar shrieks and Steven Morris’ machine-like drumming -- was almost the polar opposite of the punk music which had brought them together after a Sex Pistols show in 1976.”
I am always afraid the legacy of late vocalist IAN CURTIS will overshadow the music his band produced. I needn’t worry. Listening today, “Unknown Pleasures” remains utterly remarkable -- with or without a broom in my hand.