The First Time I Heard Joy Division / New Order is Part I in an ongoing series where musicians and writers tell their stories of first hearing the music of an iconic artist or band. In this first volume, forty-five different musicians and writers remember their initial experiences hearing the seminal post-punk UK band Joy Division and/or its offshoot, New Order.

Contributors to the Joy Division / New Order edition include musicians such as Adam Franklin (Swervedriver); David Lewis Gedge (The Wedding Present); Emma Anderson (Lush); Aidan Baker; Lou Rhodes (Lamb); Christophe Den Tandt (The Names); Pieter Nooten (Clan of Xymox); Brian Thornell (Earlimart, Wrong Way Driver); Count (Halou); Mark Refoy (Slipstream, Spiritualized); Shane Butler (Quilt); Mia Clarke (Electrelane); David Hawes (Catherine Wheel); Matt Kadane (Bedhead, Consonant); Matt Elliott (The Third Eye Foundation); Mike VanPortfleet (Lycia); Thomas Meluch (Benoit Pioulard); Ari Neufeld (Breathless); Morgane Lhote (Stereolab); Matt Jencik (Implodes); Ben Mullins (Midwest Product); Philip King (Lush, The Jesus & Mary Chain); Dexter Tortoriello (Houses); Tim Keegan (Robyn Hitchcock); Steve Hovington (B-Movie); Matt Keppel (Microfilm); Henry Frayne (Lanterna); James Chapman (Maps); Greg Bertens (Film School); Steve Elkins (The Autumns); Jon Attwood (Yellow6); Mark Beazley (Rothko); Nigel Humberstone (In the Nursery); Dawn Smithson (Jessamine); and writers like James Greer (also onetime member of Guided By Voices); Mitch Cullin; Sylvia Sellers-Garcia; Ben Kopel; Alistair McCartney; D. Travers Scott; Mark Gluth; Ian Johnston; Daniel Allen Cox; Jaime Clarke; and Sheri Joseph.

The "First Time I Heard" book series is edited by Scott Heim, a novelist (Mysterious Skin, We Disappear) who is also a longtime music fan. Other installments in the series (or those forthcoming soon) include books on David Bowie, The Smiths, Kate Bush, Cocteau Twins, R.E.M., Kraftwerk, My Bloody Valentine, Abba, Roxy Music, The Pixies, and others.