INTIMATE moments in the story of legendary Manchester bands Joy Division and New Order are revealed in a new book based on meticulous notes taken by the bands’ late manager, Rob Gretton.

They include the £7.50 spent by Joy Division on eggs and live mice to throw at fellow musicians The Buzzcocks during their 1979 tour together.

And then there are Gretton’s suggestions that Joy Division might consider using synthesizers and dress more smartly.

As any fan will tell you, it was their image and electronic sound which still make Joy Division and New Order – the band they became after singer Ian Curtis’s death – two of the world’s most influential acts.

Published by Gretton’s girlfriend, Lesley Gilbert, who lives in Chorlton, the book also reveals a list of names that the band considered after Curtis died, including Arab Legion Voices Crying, Dharma Bunms, the Radical Jesuits and Man Ray.

And there are poignant moments too, including a record of the flowers that Gretton bought for Ian Curtis’s funeral.

1 Top Class Manager – The Notebooks of Joy Division’s Manager 1978-1980, was compiled with help from Abigail Ward, editor of the Manchester and District Music Archive. Ten years on from Gretton’s death, aged 46, it emerges that there is still a lock-up somewhere in Manchester where the consummate hoarder’s priceless memorabilia, including posters and tapes, is stored.

It was while sorting though some of Gretton’s things that Gilbert chanced upon the spiral-bound reporters’ notepads in which he detailed his dealings with venues, recording studios and the band themselves.

The most interesting notes have been reproduced for the book, which also includes copies of invoices receipts and letters, including correspondence between Gretton and one Tony Wilson.

The book was launched this week with a free party at the One Central Street nightclub, an event which included legendary writer Jon Savage talking about Gretton, Joy Division and the book. Rob Gretton’s son Benedict was be among the DJs playing.

Gilbert, whose favourite page features the names of airlines that Gretton was considering for Joy Division’s aborted American tour, says the emotion of sorting through Gretton’s belongings only really hit her when she had the finished book in her hands.

"I thought for years that I’d like to do something in Rob’s memory, but I didn’t want to write my book, as that would have been rubbish. This book is everything I’d hoped."