May 18, 1980. 38 years ago today the world seemed about to end for me. I was in central Washington state when Mount St. Helens lashed out with ominous roiling volcano fury. Spooky swirling ash clouds, mid-day mid-night, trapped, detached from the world. Much later, once I got to know what was important to the cool kids, I learned that Ian Curtis of Joy Division ended his life also on May 18, 1980. I only just recently made that connection.

I have been reading a book by Peter Hook, “Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division,” which has brought the dark legend of “Love Will Tear Us Apart” down to earth. They were lanky young music nerds, with families, and they just wanted gigs and an identity (and a drummer for the longest time, until they lucked upon Stephen Morris). And Ian was suffering his own roiling turmoil with epilepsy, fundamentally facing electrocution each time he stepped on stage.

It’s amazing to think they were affiliated with Happy Mondays via Tony Wilson of Factory Records. Had they ever met, it seems like Peter Hook, bassist, would have smashed something heavy over Shaun Ryder’s mop head for being such a degenerate wanker. Did Ian hear on the news about the volcanic eruption building up in the Pacific Northwest? Did he have something to do with what it unleashed?