i've been reading a book called Rip It up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. Pretty great read, especially the chapter on Joy division/The Fall.
This makes me extremely curious. What went down between them?
Smith rode his moped past an industrial estate called Trafford Park en route to his job in Manchester's docks. Legend has it he often passed a young man, dressed in a similar-looking donkey jacket, on his way to work. It was Ian Curtis. It goes on to talk about how both Joy Division and The Fall had a lot in common. Similar backgrounds, similar education, similar jobs, liked the same bands. They also rehearsed in the same building and played some shows together, yet neither band ever acknowledged each others existence.