An original letter written in pencil by former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante to Bernard Sumner of New Order and Joy Division has surfaced on eBay, from the collection of longtime Chili Peppers employee and road manager Louie Matheu. In this letter Frusciante talks about possibly recording with New Order (Frusciante eventually guested on a live version with New Order for the 24 Hour Party People soundtrack.)
Frusciante writes “It was great seeing you and meeting Sarah. It’s too bad I got sick when I would have had the chance to come up to Bath. It was really nice of you to invite me. I obviously would have been very honored to play on the stuff you are doing and if you still want me to, you could send me a CD which I could play to on a computer in my home studio and send you back the file. I realize some people have reservations about that style of working and rightfully so. Nevertheless, the thought of missing a chance to play on a New Order record is a bummer and were it not for my close friend dying of cancer in LA, I would have looked into extending my trip to pay you a visit. Either way, it was a nice thought and I am thrilled that you ever entertained the idea. It also made me so happy that you and Hooky (Joy Division/New Order bassist Peter Hook) came to the show. Thanks. Louis tried to E-mail you to get your street address or PO Box so we can send you that book we were talking about but he got no reply. And obviously if you want to get in tokuch you can communicate with me at this address. All my love, John”
Matheu writes in his accompanying letter of authenticity “This note was faxed to Bernard. JF was little attached to material things. In fact, his Grammy came to my house, he looked at it and giggled, shrugged his shoulders, didn’t so much as touch it and left it in my care. He would often leave his personal effects behind in hotels and dressing rooms with little if any thought to their value or import…this is from my personal collection.”
