New Order
Encyclopedia
New Order are an English rock
band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner
(vocals, guitars, synthesisers), Peter Hook
(bass, synthesisers) and Stephen Morris (drums, electronic drums, synthesisers). New Order was formed by the remaining members of Joy Division
, following the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis
, with the addition of keyboard player Gillian Gilbert
.
By combining New Wave
and electronic music
, New Order became one of the most critically acclaimed and highly influential bands of the 1980s. Though the band's early years were shadowed by the legacy and basic sound of Joy Division, their immersion in the early 1980s New York City club scene increased their knowledge of dance music
and enabled them to incorporate elements of that style into their work. The band's 1983 hit "Blue Monday
", the best-selling 12-inch single of all time, is one example of how the band transformed their sound.
New Order were the flagship band for Factory Records
. Their minimalist album sleeves and "non-image" (the band rarely gave interviews and were known for performing short concert sets with no encores) reflected the label's aesthetic of doing whatever the relevant parties wanted to do, including an aversion to including singles as album tracks. The band has often been acclaimed by fans, critics and other musicians as a highly influential force in the alternative rock
, dance and rave
music scenes.
New Order went on hiatus between 1993 and 1998, during which time the members participated in various side-projects. The band reconvened in 1998, and in 2001 released Get Ready
, their first album in eight years. In 2005, Phil Cunningham
(guitars, synthesisers) replaced Gilbert, who had left the group due to family commitments. In 2007, Peter Hook left the band and stated that he and Sumner had no further plans to work together. In turn, Sumner revealed in 2009 that he no longer wishes to make music as New Order. However, the band reformed in 2011 without Hook, with Gilbert returning to the fold and Tom Chapman replacing Hook on bass.
, Peter Hook
, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner
were members of the post-punk band Joy Division
, often featuring heavy production input from producer Martin Hannett
. Curtis committed suicide on 18 May 1980, the day before Joy Division were scheduled to depart for their first American tour, and prior to release of the band's second album, Closer
. The rest of the band decided soon after Curtis's death that they would carry on. Hook told Mojo in 1994, "The first meeting we all had, which was the Sunday night [after Curtis committed suicide], we agreed that. We didn't sit there crying. We didn't cry at his funeral. It came out as anger at the start. We were absolutely devastated: not only had we lost someone we considered our friend, we'd lost the group. Our life basically."
The members of Joy Division had agreed before Curtis's death not to continue under the Joy Division name should any one member leave the band. On 29 July 1980, the still unnamed trio debuted live at Manchester's Beach Club. Rob Gretton
, the band's manager for over twenty years, is credited for having found the name "New Order" in an article in The Guardian
entitled "The People's New Order of Kampuchea". The band adopted this name, despite its previous use for ex-Stooge
Ron Asheton
's band The New Order
.
As the term "New Order" was featured in Hitler
's Mein Kampf
as "the new order of the Third Reich" and the name Joy Division
originated from the prostitution wing of a Nazi concentration camp mentioned in the 1955 novel The House of Dolls
, critics attempted to cite fascist undertones. The band publicly rejected any claims that the name had anything to do with fascist or Nazi sympathies, with Sumner later saying, "We really, really thought it didn't have any connotations, and we thought that it was a neutral name, it didn't mean much...."
The band rehearsed with each member taking turns on vocals. Sumner ultimately took the role, as the guitar was an easier instrument to play while singing. Wanting to complete the line-up with someone they knew well and whose musical skill and style was compatible with their own, New Order invited Morris's girlfriend, Gillian Gilbert from Macclesfield
, to join the band during the early part of October 1980, as keyboardist and guitarist. Gilbert's membership was suggested by Gretton. Gilbert's first live performance with New Order occurred at The Squat in Manchester on 25 October 1980.
The initial release as New Order was the single "Ceremony
", backed with "In a Lonely Place". These two songs were written in the weeks before Curtis took his own life. With the release of Movement in November 1981, New Order initially started on a similar route as their previous incarnation, performing dark, melodic songs, albeit with an increased use of synthesisers. The band viewed the period as a low point, as they were still reeling from Curtis' death. Hook commented that the only positive thing to come out of the Movement sessions was that producer Martin Hannett
had showed the band how to use a mixing board, which allowed them to produce records by themselves from then on.
A change in musical direction was brought about when New Order visited New York City in 1981. The band immersed themselves in the New York dance scene and were introduced to post-disco
, Latin freestyle, and electro
. Additionally, the band had taken to listening to Italian disco
to cheer themselves up, while Morris taught himself drum programming. The singles that followed, "Everything's Gone Green
" and "Temptation
", indicated the change in direction toward dance music.
The Haçienda
, Factory Records
' own nightclub (largely funded by New Order) opened in May 1982 in Manchester and was even issued a Factory catalogue number: FAC51. The opening of UK's first ever superclub
was marked by a nearly 23-minute instrumental piece originally entitled "Prime 5 8 6", but released 15 years later as "Video 5 8 6
". Composed primarily by Sumner and Morris, "Prime 5 8 6"/"Video 5 8 6" was an early version of "5 8 6" that contained rhythm elements that would later surface on "Blue Monday" and "Ultraviolence".
, released in March 1983, was a synthesiser-based outing and a dramatic change in sound from Joy Division
and the preceding album, although the band had been hinting at the increased use of technology during the music-making process for a number of years then, including their work as Joy Division. Starting from what earlier singles had hinted, this was where the band had found their footing, mixing early techno music with their earlier guitar-based sound and showing the strong influence of acts like Kraftwerk
and Giorgio Moroder
. Even further in this direction was the electronically sequenced, four-on-the-floor single "Blue Monday
". Inspired by Klein & MBO's "Dirty Talk" and Sylvester
's disco classic, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
", "Blue Monday" became the best-selling independent 12" single
of all time in the UK; however, (much to the chagrin of the buying public) it was not on the track list of Power, Corruption & Lies
. This resulted in a sticker being applied to unsold copies of Power, Corruption & Lies
album saying, "DOES NOT CONTAIN BLUE MONDAY". (It was included on the cassette format in some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand.) "Blue Monday" is now included on the 2008 collector's edition of Power, Corruption & Lies.
The 1983 single "Confusion" firmly established the group as a dance music force, inspiring many musicians in subsequent years. In 1984 they followed the largely synthesised single "Thieves Like Us" with the heavy guitar-drum-bass rumble of "Murder", a not-too-distant cousin of "Ecstasy" from the Power, Corruption & Lies album.
refined and sometimes mixed the two styles, brandishing "The Perfect Kiss
"—the video for which was filmed by Jonathan Demme
—and "Sub-culture
". In February 1986, the soundtrack album
to Pretty in Pink
featuring "Shellshock
" was released on A&M Records
. An instrumental version of "Thieves Like Us
" and the instrumental "Elegia
" appeared in the film but were not on the soundtrack album. Later that summer, New Order headlined a line-up that included The Smiths
, The Fall, and A Certain Ratio
during the Festival of the Tenth Summer
at Manchester's G-Mex.
Brotherhood (1986) divided the two approaches onto separate album sides. The album notably featured "Bizarre Love Triangle
" and "Angel Dust" (of which a remixed instrumental version is available on the UK "True Faith" CD video single, under the title "Evil Dust"), a track which marries a synth break beat with Low-Life-era guitar effects. While New Order toured North America with friends Echo & the Bunnymen
, the summer of 1987 saw the release of the compilation Substance
, which featured the new single "True Faith". Substance was an important album in collecting the group's 12-inch singles onto CD for the first time and featured new versions of "Temptation" and "Confusion"—referred to as "Temptation '87" and "Confusion '87". A second disc featured several of the B-sides from the singles on the first disc, as well as additional A-sides "Procession" and "Murder" and another new song, "1963". The single, "True Faith", with its surreal video, became a hit on MTV and the band's first American top 40 hit. The single's B-side, "1963"—originally planned on being the A-side until the group's label convinced them to release "True Faith" instead—would later be released as a single in its own right several years later, with two new versions.
and the acid house
tunes making their way into the Hacienda. Partly recorded at Mediterranean Sound studios on Ibiza, Technique
was released in February 1989. The album entered the charts at number one in the UK and contained a mix of the acid house influence (as on "Fine Time
", the opening track) and a more traditional guitar-bass-drums sound on others (such as the single "Run 2
"). The album is a blend of occasionally upbeat, accessible music coupled with blunt, poignant lyrics. During the summer of 1989, New Order supported Technique by touring with Public Image Ltd, Throwing Muses
and The Sugarcubes
across the United States and Canada in what was the press dubbed the "Monsters of Alternative Rock" tour. Around this time Quincy Jones
, part-owner of Qwest Records
, stated –
NME
– May 1990
"Vanishing Point" was used as the theme tune
to the BBC1 TV series Making Out
– for which the band also composed additional incidental music
.
New Order recorded the official song of the England national football team
's 1990 World Cup
campaign, "World in Motion
", under the ad-hoc band name EnglandNewOrder. The song, co-written with comedian Keith Allen, was a number one UK hit, and the now-famous John Barnes
rap was also recorded by Paul Gascoigne
and Peter Beardsley
. These versions have not been made available for release, although the 7-inch single's B-side (entitled "The B Side") included a version of the rap where various members of the squad each contributed a line.
At around the same time, Bernard Sumner teamed up with fellow Mancunian and former Smiths
guitarist Johnny Marr
for the Electronic
project (also enlisting the help of Neil Tennant
and Chris Lowe
of the Pet Shop Boys
), while Peter Hook started a project called Revenge
, each of them leaving New Order but continuing to make New Order-style recordings.
Unusually for such a major group, New Order never had a formal contract with their label Factory Records
. (This was in fact the label's standard practice until the mid-1980s. According to Factory's co-founder Tony Wilson
, "All our bands are free to fuck off whenever they please.") Because of this, the group (rather than Factory Records) legally owned all their own recorded material. This has often been cited, not least by Wilson himself, as the main reason London Records
' 1992 offer to buy the ailing label fell through.
, released around the world in 1993, was the band's first album release since parting company with the now-defunct Factory Records. The release spawned the singles "Regret"—their highest-charting single in the US—"Ruined in a Day
", "World
", and "Spooky". Following the release of Republic, the band put New Order on hold while each member continued on with their own side-projects: Sumner once again teamed up with Marr in Electronic for Raise the Pressure
. Karl Bartos
(formerly of Kraftwerk
) also assisted with this record. Sumner also collaborated with the Chemical Brothers on "Out of Control", a track from their album Surrender; Hook formed the band Monaco
with former Revenge
member David Potts
; and Morris and Gilbert formed the aptly named The Other Two
.
In 1994, a second singles collection was released, entitled The Best of New Order
. It featured all of the band's singles since Substance as well as a few extra tracks: "Vanishing Point" (from 1989's Technique), "The Perfect Kiss", "Thieves Like Us", "Shellshock", and new recordings of "True Faith", "Bizarre Love Triangle", and "1963". The new versions of "True Faith" and "1963" – the latter with a yet newer, more guitar-oriented version produced by Arthur Baker
– were released as singles to promote the album. In the US, the track listing was altered to set it apart from Substance as well as the UK release of The Best of New Order which had been available months prior. This collection was followed by a remix album, The Rest of New Order
, featuring a selection of old remixes and newly-commissioned mixes of classic New Order tracks. Some versions contained an extra disc/cassette composed entirely of remixes of "Blue Monday". "Blue Monday" was released as a single for a third time to promote the collection.
The group reconvened in 1998 at the suggestion of Rob Gretton. Nearly five years had passed since they had last seen each other. Sumner said, "We decided before we agreed to doing any gig, to have a meeting, and if anyone had any grudges to bear, to iron them out." By the second meeting everyone agreed to continue playing, scheduling their reunion gig for the Phoenix Festival that same year. In addition to rarer songs, New Order also decided to begin playing Joy Division songs again. When the Phoenix Festival was cancelled due to low ticket sales, New Order instead played the second night of that year's Reading Festival
.
largely departed from their more electronic style and focused on the more guitar oriented music. According to Sumner, "Get Ready was guitar-heavy simply because we felt that we'd left that instrument alone for a long time." Longtime fan Billy Corgan
of The Smashing Pumpkins
played guitar and sang back-up on the track "Turn My Way", and in 2001 toured with the band on dates in the UK, US, and Japan for a short period of time. Phil Cunningham (formerly of Marion) joined the band in a live capacity, deputising for Gilbert who declined to tour in favour of caring for her and Morris' children. Primal Scream
's Bobby Gillespie
provided vocals on the track "Rock the Shack". Singles from the album included "Crystal", "60 Miles an Hour", and "Someone Like You".
In 2002, Q
featured New Order on their list of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die", although this was as part of a sub-list of "5 Bands That Could Go Either Way". Both New Order and Joy Division were portrayed in the Michael Winterbottom
film 24 Hour Party People
, depicting the rise and fall of Factory Records as seen through the eyes of label founder Tony Wilson
. Cameos by Wilson himself, along with Mark E. Smith
of The Fall and former members of The Stone Roses
and Inspiral Carpets
, lent a degree of legitimacy to the proceedings. The film touched on some of Factory's other artists, including Happy Mondays
and The Durutti Column
. The soundtrack featured Get Ready-era Chemical Brothers-produced "Here to Stay", which was released as a single. The DVD release of the single highlighted scenes taken from the film.
The band released a new album on 27 March 2005, entitled Waiting for the Sirens' Call
, their first with new member Phil Cunningham. Cunningham replaced Gilbert (now married to Morris) so she could look after their children. Singles from this album were "Krafty
", "Jetstream
" (which features guest vocals by Ana Matronic
from the Scissor Sisters
), and the title track
. According to Peter Hook, the band wrote and recorded enough material during the sessions for this album to release a follow-up in the near future, but it hasn't materialised yet. At the 2005 NME Awards
, New Order and Joy Division received the award for "Godlike Geniuses" (for lifetime achievement). Previous winners include Ozzy Osbourne
, The Clash
, and the Happy Mondays
. In 2006 the album track "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion" was nominated for a Grammy Award
in the category of Best Dance Recording
.
In the autumn of 2005, the group released another greatest hits compilation, in the form of Singles
. The two-disc release was an updated version of the Substance collection and contained every single released from their 1981 debut all the way through to "Waiting for the Sirens' Call". However, unlike Substance, which focused almost exclusively on the 12" versions of the group's singles, Singles collected the 7" versions, many of which (like "Ceremony", "Temptation" and "Confusion") had never been released on CD. The album was accompanied by a two-disc DVD set, entitled Item, that collected the extended UK version of NewOrderStory with a DVD of all New Order music videos as well as two newly commissioned videos for "Temptation '87
" and "Ceremony
".
The New Order: Live in Glasgow
DVD was recorded at the Glasgow Academy in 2006 and features 18 tracks, including 4 Joy Division songs. Next to that, the release also contains a bonus disc of footage from the band's personal archive including 1980s footage from Glastonbury, Rome, Cork, Rotterdam and Toronto.
show in November 2006, Peter Hook suggested that the band should stop touring. Rumours spread that the band were breaking up, but in January 2007 Stephen Morris denied the rumours, commenting, "It's the first I've heard of it." Morris added they were working on a new album as well as preparing for the release of Control, the Ian Curtis biopic
.
However, in early May 2007, bassist Peter Hook was interviewed by British radio station XFM
– originally to talk about his contribution to the debut album of former Jane's Addiction
singer Perry Farrell
's new band Satellite Party – and when asked "Is New Order over now?" replied, "Yeah, me and Bernard [Sumner] aren't working together." The interviewer pointed out that the band had split up and reunited numerous times before, to which Hook replied that "Bernard went off for a break with Electronic
, but it was different then." The interviewer said that the band would be working together again shortly anyway, to which Hook replied "No-one believes me... it's like The Boy Who Cried Wolf
!" Hook further commented on the band's break-up on his MySpace page: "I'm relieved... Really hated carryin' on as normal with an awful secret, so let's move on, shall we?"
Further complicating the news, NewOrderOnline, a website with support from New Order management, reported that, according to "a source close to the band," "the news about the split is false... New Order still exists despite what [Hook] said [....] Peter Hook can leave the band, but this doesn't mean the end of New Order." Hook mocked the "source close to the band" in a blog entry he made after returning from Cannes, where the group attended the premiere of the Ian Curtis
biopic Control, writing "Well, who could be closer to the band than me! I love these unnamed sources, or shall we call them cowards, eh?" Hook also reiterated that New Order had split in various interviews.
However, on 20 July 2007, Morris and Sumner released a further statement claiming that New Order would continue to work without Hook, expressing their stance on the on-off break-up situation. The statement read, "After 30 years in a band together we are very disappointed that Hooky has decided to go to the press and announce unilaterally that New Order have split up. We would have hoped that he could have approached us personally first. He does not speak for all the band, therefore we can only assume he no longer wants to be a part of New Order."
NME.com reported on 31 July 2007 that Peter Hook had posted a message on his MySpace blog, claiming he would take steps to prevent Morris and Sumner to continue as New Order, writing "This group [New Order] has split up! You are no more New Order than I am! You may have two thirds, but don't assume you have the rights to do anything 'New Order-ey', because you don't. I've still got a third! But I'm open to negotiation."
In the wake of Tony Wilson's death and rumours of New Order "reforming" with Hook, Hook wrote on his MySpace blog that "in a conversation with Oliver Wilson about a tribute gig for his father, he asked me what the chances were of getting New Order to perform. I said, 'Seeing as we have just split up, pretty slim.' He then said to me, 'If I could get the others to agree, would you do it?' I said, 'In honour of your father, I'd do anything.'" He added that "this means I would sell the popcorn, take the tickets, sweep up after, play bass in New Order/Joy Division/Crawling Chaos."
In January 2008 Hook told Bass Guitar Magazine writer Joel McIver
: "New Order have split up, and that's it. The only thing that made it hard was that Bernard and Stephen decided to turn around and say that they hadn't split up. What I simply said was that I would consider New Order to have split if one of them had left. I wouldn't carry on – and I don't see how they could even consider it. I wouldn't consider carrying on with New Order as me and Stephen, or me and Bernard. I'd say, let's knock it on the head and start again. But them two decided, whether it was out of anger or whatever, that they were gonna carry on as New Order. And I've said, you're not New Order, mate! That was our argument. We've split up. I'm not working with Bernard or Stephen again."
In July 2009, Hook revealed to Spinner "I didn't think, which was proved wrong, actually, that Bernard was very interested in New Order. I got the impression he couldn't give a fuck to be honest, whether it happened or not. And it's quite interesting because when I told him I didn't want to work with him any more through our manager he didn't respond. Then he started telling everyone that I hadn't told him. I put it down to Alzheimer's. He seems to have forgot what he'd been told six months before."
On 12 July 2009, Sumner revealed to Mojo
that there would not be any more New Order albums. He added, "When I make music these days, I want it to be fun, nice, enjoyable and I find those conditions with this new band. This new album is really important for me. It'll either work – people will like it – or I'll stop making music. I don't want to make music as part of New Order."
In February 2010, Hook contributed Strangely Enough Impact (A sonically enhanced spoken word dedication to Tony Wilson
) to Ceremony – A New Order Tribute
. The double album, released by an American record label 24 Hour Service Station in Tampa, Florida, benefited the Salford Foundation Trust's Tony Wilson Award, and is dedicated to the founder of Factory Records
who died in 2007 from cancer. 24 Hour Service Station label manager Marshall Dickson was inspired by Wilson and Factory's overall aesthetic to establish his own label. Sonshine Ward, Dickson's partner in the label and the tribute's executive producer, was instrumental in gathering New Order inspired artists from around the world to donated their time and recordings to support the Manchester charity, which assists young people who demonstrate special talents or ambitions in the arts or creative skills.
On the New Order Facebook Page, an unreleased song entitled "Hellbent" was released to fans and can be heard on SoundCloud. This is part of their new upcoming compilation release Total from Joy Division to New Order.
had formed Bad Lieutenant
along with Phil Cunningham
(guitar) and Jake Evans (guitar and vocals), and that they had already completed an album, Never Cry Another Tear
, which was released on 5 October 2009. Speaking about the project, Sumner said: "I'm very proud of it, it's a very good album. It's pretty guitary too because we've got three guitarists in the band."
On 2 July 2009, Sumner confirmed that the "Sink or Swim
" single would be released on 28 September 2009. The second single, "Twist of Fate", followed in March 2010. In addition to Cunningham and Evans the album also features appearances by Stephen Morris (drums), Jack Mitchell (drums),Tom Chapman (bass) and Alex James
(bass). The live band includes Morris on drums and Tom Chapman on bass. In a 1 July 2009 article in a local newspaper, Stephen Morris confirmed his participation in the new band, following the demise of New Order: "I'm only on a few tracks, but it's great to be playing with them again."
On 5 September 2011, the band announced that they would perform for the first time since 2006, but without Hook, at the Ancienne Belgique
, Brussels on 17 October and at the Bataclan
, Paris on 18 October. A single London show has been added, for 10 December. With a short South American Tour (Argentina, Brasil, and Chile) also for December.
ß
for the letter B
). All four members of the band used the name for production work for other artists' recordings between 1982 and 1985.
The first BeMusic credit was for Peter Hook producing Stockholm Monsters in 1982. Other artists with producer or musician credit for "BeMusic" were 52nd Street, Section 25, Marcel King, Quando Quango, Paul Haig
, Thick Pigeon, Nyam Nyam and Life.
Their production work as BeMusic was collected on two LTM compilation CDs, Cool As Ice: The BeMusic Productions and Twice As Nice (which also included production work by Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio and Arthur Baker).
, and partnered with Factory in the financing of the Manchester club The Haçienda. The band rarely gave interviews in the 1980s, later ascribing this to not wanting to discuss Curtis. This, along with the Peter Saville sleeve designs and the tendency to give short performances with no encores, gave New Order a reputation as standoffish. The band became more open in the '90s; for example, the aforementioned NewOrderStory (and in particular the longer UK version) featured extensive personal interviews.
Their music mixes rock with dance music, as can be seen on signature tracks such as "True Faith" and "Temptation
". This synthesis laid down the groundwork for dance/rock groups of today. The group's album art earned them the status of icons in the alternative
community, and has shown considerable longevity.
They have heavily influenced techno, rock, and pop musicians including Pet Shop Boys
, The Killers, and Moby
, and were themselves influenced by the likes of David Bowie
, Neu!
, Kraftwerk
, Cabaret Voltaire
and Giorgio Moroder
. They have also significantly influenced electro
, freestyle
and house
. The Kraftwerk influence was acknowledged by their single "Krafty
", which had cover art referencing "Autobahn
". Bassist Peter Hook contributed to New Order's sound by developing an idiosyncratic bass guitar technique. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings with a signature heavy chorus effect, leaving the "actual" basslines to keyboards or sequencers. This has often been cited as the defining characteristic of the New Order sound.
Drummer Stephen Morris regularly played a mixture of acoustic and electronic drums, and in many cases played along seamlessly with sequenced parts. All the band members could and did switch instruments throughout gigs, as evidenced on Jonathan Demme
's video for "The Perfect Kiss" and the fairly common Taras Shevchenko and Pumped Full of Drugs concert videos. In particular, Gilbert, Morris, and Sumner could be seen playing keyboards at times, while Hook played electronic drums variously. (Taras Shevchenko is especially notable for the fact all four members of the group have left the stage before the final song ("Temptation") comes to an end.)
and Cries and Whispers
. The 1989 album Technique is notable for not including any of its song title phrases in the lyrics of any of the nine tracks; Brotherhood contains the most, with three of its original nine tracks iterating the title in the lyrics. This practice is also extended to New Order's members' side projects, such as Electronic
and Bad Lieutenant
, bands which may suggest that the concept is Sumner's idea.
for songs not included on albums. Singles released in many formats and often with varying track lists including exclusive artwork were produced. According to Tony Wilson, Factory intentionally released other singles, LPs, and compilations in non-UK markets to increase their collectibility. Indeed, the complete New Order discography is far too sprawling for most fans to collect in its entirety, and the compilations released by Factory and other labels are notoriously incomplete. In the late '90s, London Records spoke of releasing a Depeche Mode
-esque singles retrospective for New Order, complete with original packaging and track lists. The project was at times named Cardboard and Plastic and Recycle, with t-shirts for the latter appearing at the infrequent New Order gigs. Eventually, the financial aspects caused the project to devolve into the Retro
box set (2002), which featured many tracks that were readily available elsewhere. The single-disc International
compilation (2002) similarly omits the classic, out of print recordings in favour of updating the conventional The Best of New Order
(1994) and Substance (1987). "Run 2
" (1989), which was the subject of legal action from John Denver
, who argued that the song's wordless guitar break was based on his own song "Leaving on a Jet Plane
", was finally reissued in 2008 on the bonus CD included in the remastered version of Technique
. An out-of-court settlement ensured that the song would never be re-released in its original form. Denver is now credited as a co-writer of the song on the Singles compilation.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner , also known as Bernard Dickin, Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrecht is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and producer....
(vocals, guitars, synthesisers), Peter Hook
Peter Hook
Peter Hook is an English bass player, musician and author.He was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until...
(bass, synthesisers) and Stephen Morris (drums, electronic drums, synthesisers). New Order was formed by the remaining members of Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, following the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis
Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer and lyricist, famous for leading the post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980...
, with the addition of keyboard player Gillian Gilbert
Gillian Gilbert
Gillian Lesley Gilbert is an English musician, keyboardist, guitarist and singer, best known as a member of New Order and a founding member of The Other Two.-Biography:...
.
By combining New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, New Order became one of the most critically acclaimed and highly influential bands of the 1980s. Though the band's early years were shadowed by the legacy and basic sound of Joy Division, their immersion in the early 1980s New York City club scene increased their knowledge of dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
and enabled them to incorporate elements of that style into their work. The band's 1983 hit "Blue Monday
Blue Monday (New Order song)
"Blue Monday" is a single released in 1983 by British band New Order, and later remixed in 1988 and 1995. The song has been widely remixed and covered since its original release, and became a popular anthem in the dance club scene.-Background:...
", the best-selling 12-inch single of all time, is one example of how the band transformed their sound.
New Order were the flagship band for Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
. Their minimalist album sleeves and "non-image" (the band rarely gave interviews and were known for performing short concert sets with no encores) reflected the label's aesthetic of doing whatever the relevant parties wanted to do, including an aversion to including singles as album tracks. The band has often been acclaimed by fans, critics and other musicians as a highly influential force in the alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, dance and rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
music scenes.
New Order went on hiatus between 1993 and 1998, during which time the members participated in various side-projects. The band reconvened in 1998, and in 2001 released Get Ready
Get Ready (New Order album)
Get Ready is the seventh studio album by the English rock band New Order. Released in August 2001 by London Records, this was the group's first album in eight years, following 1993's Republic....
, their first album in eight years. In 2005, Phil Cunningham
Phil Cunningham (rock musician)
Phil Cunningham is a British guitarist who is a member of the band Bad Lieutenant. He was previously a member of New Order, where he replaced Gillian Gilbert as a band member, but with a slightly different role, with less synthesizer and more guitar work.Cunningham was also a member of the...
(guitars, synthesisers) replaced Gilbert, who had left the group due to family commitments. In 2007, Peter Hook left the band and stated that he and Sumner had no further plans to work together. In turn, Sumner revealed in 2009 that he no longer wishes to make music as New Order. However, the band reformed in 2011 without Hook, with Gilbert returning to the fold and Tom Chapman replacing Hook on bass.
Origins
Between 1977 and 1980, Ian CurtisIan Curtis
Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer and lyricist, famous for leading the post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980...
, Peter Hook
Peter Hook
Peter Hook is an English bass player, musician and author.He was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until...
, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner , also known as Bernard Dickin, Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrecht is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and producer....
were members of the post-punk band Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, often featuring heavy production input from producer Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett , sometimes credited as Martin Zero, was a record producer and an original partner in Factory Records with Tony Wilson...
. Curtis committed suicide on 18 May 1980, the day before Joy Division were scheduled to depart for their first American tour, and prior to release of the band's second album, Closer
Closer (Joy Division album)
Closer is the second and final studio album by the English post-punk band Joy Division, released , two months following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. The album was originally scheduled to be released on . The record was originally released on the Factory Records label as a 12" LP and...
. The rest of the band decided soon after Curtis's death that they would carry on. Hook told Mojo in 1994, "The first meeting we all had, which was the Sunday night [after Curtis committed suicide], we agreed that. We didn't sit there crying. We didn't cry at his funeral. It came out as anger at the start. We were absolutely devastated: not only had we lost someone we considered our friend, we'd lost the group. Our life basically."
The members of Joy Division had agreed before Curtis's death not to continue under the Joy Division name should any one member leave the band. On 29 July 1980, the still unnamed trio debuted live at Manchester's Beach Club. Rob Gretton
Rob Gretton
Rob Gretton was the manager of Joy Division and New Order. He was also a partner in Factory Records, proprietor of the Rob's Records label and a co-founder along with Tony Wilson of The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester, England. In 1977, Gretton became a leading figure in the Manchester punk...
, the band's manager for over twenty years, is credited for having found the name "New Order" in an article in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
entitled "The People's New Order of Kampuchea". The band adopted this name, despite its previous use for ex-Stooge
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
Ron Asheton
Ron Asheton
Ronald Frank Asheton was an American guitarist and co-songwriter with Iggy Pop for the rock band The Stooges.Asheton is ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stones list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time....
's band The New Order
The New Order (band)
The New Order was an American hard rock and proto-punk band. The band was based in Los Angeles and existed from early 1975 to October 1976.-History:...
.
As the term "New Order" was featured in Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...
as "the new order of the Third Reich" and the name Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
originated from the prostitution wing of a Nazi concentration camp mentioned in the 1955 novel The House of Dolls
The House of Dolls
The House of Dolls is a 1955 novella by Ka-tzetnik 135633. The novella describes "Joy Divisions", which were allegedly groups of Jewish women in the concentration camps during World War II who were kept for the sexual pleasure of Nazi soldiers....
, critics attempted to cite fascist undertones. The band publicly rejected any claims that the name had anything to do with fascist or Nazi sympathies, with Sumner later saying, "We really, really thought it didn't have any connotations, and we thought that it was a neutral name, it didn't mean much...."
The band rehearsed with each member taking turns on vocals. Sumner ultimately took the role, as the guitar was an easier instrument to play while singing. Wanting to complete the line-up with someone they knew well and whose musical skill and style was compatible with their own, New Order invited Morris's girlfriend, Gillian Gilbert from Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...
, to join the band during the early part of October 1980, as keyboardist and guitarist. Gilbert's membership was suggested by Gretton. Gilbert's first live performance with New Order occurred at The Squat in Manchester on 25 October 1980.
The initial release as New Order was the single "Ceremony
Ceremony (song)
"Ceremony" is a song by Joy Division, released as New Order's debut single in 1981. The song, as well as the B-side, "In a Lonely Place", were written as Joy Division prior to the death of Ian Curtis...
", backed with "In a Lonely Place". These two songs were written in the weeks before Curtis took his own life. With the release of Movement in November 1981, New Order initially started on a similar route as their previous incarnation, performing dark, melodic songs, albeit with an increased use of synthesisers. The band viewed the period as a low point, as they were still reeling from Curtis' death. Hook commented that the only positive thing to come out of the Movement sessions was that producer Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett , sometimes credited as Martin Zero, was a record producer and an original partner in Factory Records with Tony Wilson...
had showed the band how to use a mixing board, which allowed them to produce records by themselves from then on.
A change in musical direction was brought about when New Order visited New York City in 1981. The band immersed themselves in the New York dance scene and were introduced to post-disco
Post-disco
Post-disco refers to a historically significant period in popular music history beginning with the commercial death of disco music in the late 1970s and ending with the mainstream appearance of house music in late 1980s.The stripped-down musical trends followed from the DJ- and producer-driven,...
, Latin freestyle, and electro
Electro (music)
Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...
. Additionally, the band had taken to listening to Italian disco
Italo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...
to cheer themselves up, while Morris taught himself drum programming. The singles that followed, "Everything's Gone Green
Everything's Gone Green
"Everything's Gone Green" is the third single by the English alternative rock/electronic band New Order. It was released in December 1981 and reached number three on the UK Independent Singles chart, number twenty-nine on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles chart and number thirty-four on the U.S...
" and "Temptation
Temptation (New Order song)
"Temptation" is a stand-alone single released by British band New Order on Factory Records. The single reached #29 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in 1982.-Original release:...
", indicated the change in direction toward dance music.
The Haçienda
The Haçienda
Fac 51 Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, England. It became most famous during the "Madchester" years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, during the 1990s it was labelled the most famous club in the world by Newsweek magazine...
, Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
' own nightclub (largely funded by New Order) opened in May 1982 in Manchester and was even issued a Factory catalogue number: FAC51. The opening of UK's first ever superclub
Superclub
Superclub is a term used to refer to a nightclub owned and managed by a dance music record label, such as The Haçienda club, which was owned by Factory Records...
was marked by a nearly 23-minute instrumental piece originally entitled "Prime 5 8 6", but released 15 years later as "Video 5 8 6
Video 5 8 6
"Video 5 8 6", originally titled "Prime 5 8 6", is an electronic instrumental piece written and produced in 1982 by the British group New Order. In December 1982, the track was initially released in two sections in Touch Music's first cassette magazine, Feature Mist...
". Composed primarily by Sumner and Morris, "Prime 5 8 6"/"Video 5 8 6" was an early version of "5 8 6" that contained rhythm elements that would later surface on "Blue Monday" and "Ultraviolence".
Power, Corruption & Lies
Power, Corruption & LiesPower, Corruption & Lies
Power, Corruption & Lies is the second studio album by New Order, released in May 1983 on Factory Recordings. It is more electronic-based than their previous album Movement, with heavier use of synthesizers...
, released in March 1983, was a synthesiser-based outing and a dramatic change in sound from Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
and the preceding album, although the band had been hinting at the increased use of technology during the music-making process for a number of years then, including their work as Joy Division. Starting from what earlier singles had hinted, this was where the band had found their footing, mixing early techno music with their earlier guitar-based sound and showing the strong influence of acts like Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
and Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
. Even further in this direction was the electronically sequenced, four-on-the-floor single "Blue Monday
Blue Monday (New Order song)
"Blue Monday" is a single released in 1983 by British band New Order, and later remixed in 1988 and 1995. The song has been widely remixed and covered since its original release, and became a popular anthem in the dance club scene.-Background:...
". Inspired by Klein & MBO's "Dirty Talk" and Sylvester
Sylvester James
-Studio albums:-Live albums:-Compilation albums:* Mighty Real UK #62* 12 By 12 * Immortal -Singles:-Additional recordings:*Lights Out San Francisco...
's disco classic, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
"You Make Me Feel " is the title of a 1978 single by American disco singer Sylvester James, who performed using just his first name, Sylvester...
", "Blue Monday" became the best-selling independent 12" single
12-inch single
The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
of all time in the UK; however, (much to the chagrin of the buying public) it was not on the track list of Power, Corruption & Lies
Power, Corruption & Lies
Power, Corruption & Lies is the second studio album by New Order, released in May 1983 on Factory Recordings. It is more electronic-based than their previous album Movement, with heavier use of synthesizers...
. This resulted in a sticker being applied to unsold copies of Power, Corruption & Lies
Power, Corruption & Lies
Power, Corruption & Lies is the second studio album by New Order, released in May 1983 on Factory Recordings. It is more electronic-based than their previous album Movement, with heavier use of synthesizers...
album saying, "DOES NOT CONTAIN BLUE MONDAY". (It was included on the cassette format in some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand.) "Blue Monday" is now included on the 2008 collector's edition of Power, Corruption & Lies.
The 1983 single "Confusion" firmly established the group as a dance music force, inspiring many musicians in subsequent years. In 1984 they followed the largely synthesised single "Thieves Like Us" with the heavy guitar-drum-bass rumble of "Murder", a not-too-distant cousin of "Ecstasy" from the Power, Corruption & Lies album.
Low-Life, Brotherhood, and Substance
1985's Low-LifeLow-Life
Low-Life is the third studio album by English rock band New Order. Released in May 1985 by Qwest Records, Low-Life is considered to be among New Order's strongest work, displaying the moment in which the band completed its transformation from post-punk hold-overs to dance rock pioneers...
refined and sometimes mixed the two styles, brandishing "The Perfect Kiss
The Perfect Kiss
"The Perfect Kiss" is a song by the English rock band New Order. It is the first New Order song to be included on a studio album at the same time as its release as a single...
"—the video for which was filmed by Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
—and "Sub-culture
Sub-culture (song)
-Release:It was the second and final single that also appeared on the group's album release of the same year, Low-Life. The B-side is a remix of the A-side titled "Dub-vulture"...
". In February 1986, the soundtrack album
Pretty in Pink (soundtrack)
The Pretty in Pink soundtrack album was released in 1986 for the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink, a now classic coming-of-age film about teenage love and social cliques in a 1980s American high school....
to Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about teenage love and social cliques in 1980s American high schools. It is one of a group of John Hughes films starring Molly Ringwald, and is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film...
featuring "Shellshock
Shellshock (song)
"Shellshock" is a single released by British group New Order in March 1986. The song originally appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Pretty in Pink one month prior to its single release...
" was released on A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
. An instrumental version of "Thieves Like Us
Thieves Like Us (song)
"Thieves Like Us" is a single by British group New Order, released in April 1984 by Factory Records. It is one of the group's most popular songs. It is named after the 1974 crime movie Thieves Like Us, directed by Robert Altman...
" and the instrumental "Elegia
Elegia
"Elegia" is a song by the British electro/rock band, New Order. Unusually for New Order, it is an instrumental and a waltz. It can be found on their third studio album, Low-Life ....
" appeared in the film but were not on the soundtrack album. Later that summer, New Order headlined a line-up that included The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
, The Fall, and A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio are a Post-punk band formed in 1977 in Manchester, England. While originally part of the punk rock movement, they soon added funk and dance elements to their sound. They are sometimes referred to as "post punk funk"...
during the Festival of the Tenth Summer
Festival of the Tenth Summer
The Festival of the Tenth Summer was a music and art festival that took place in Manchester in July 1986. The festival was organised by Factory Records to 'celebrate Manchester' specifically with reference to the first performance by the Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester on 4...
at Manchester's G-Mex.
Brotherhood (1986) divided the two approaches onto separate album sides. The album notably featured "Bizarre Love Triangle
Bizarre Love Triangle
"Bizarre Love Triangle" is a single released in 1986 by the English rock band New Order. A version is included on their album Brotherhood....
" and "Angel Dust" (of which a remixed instrumental version is available on the UK "True Faith" CD video single, under the title "Evil Dust"), a track which marries a synth break beat with Low-Life-era guitar effects. While New Order toured North America with friends Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
, the summer of 1987 saw the release of the compilation Substance
Substance 1987
-Chart positions:...
, which featured the new single "True Faith". Substance was an important album in collecting the group's 12-inch singles onto CD for the first time and featured new versions of "Temptation" and "Confusion"—referred to as "Temptation '87" and "Confusion '87". A second disc featured several of the B-sides from the singles on the first disc, as well as additional A-sides "Procession" and "Murder" and another new song, "1963". The single, "True Faith", with its surreal video, became a hit on MTV and the band's first American top 40 hit. The single's B-side, "1963"—originally planned on being the A-side until the group's label convinced them to release "True Faith" instead—would later be released as a single in its own right several years later, with two new versions.
Technique
By this time, the group was heavily influenced by the Balearic house sounds of IbizaIbiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
and the acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
tunes making their way into the Hacienda. Partly recorded at Mediterranean Sound studios on Ibiza, Technique
Technique (album)
Technique is the fifth studio album by New Order, released in 1989 via Factory Records. Partly recorded on the island of Ibiza, it incorporates Balearic beat and acid house influences into the group's electro/rock sound...
was released in February 1989. The album entered the charts at number one in the UK and contained a mix of the acid house influence (as on "Fine Time
Fine Time
"Fine Time" is a song by New Order released in 1988 and the first single from their 1989 album Technique. The B-side "Fine Line" is simply the A-side without Bernard Sumner's vocals....
", the opening track) and a more traditional guitar-bass-drums sound on others (such as the single "Run 2
Run 2
"Run 2" was New Order's third and final single from their 1989 album Technique.-Overview:"Run 2" was remixed by Scott Litt from the version on Technique, hence the appendage of "2" to the title. The main difference is that the song has been made more radio-friendly by editing down most of the long...
"). The album is a blend of occasionally upbeat, accessible music coupled with blunt, poignant lyrics. During the summer of 1989, New Order supported Technique by touring with Public Image Ltd, Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses is an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, who both wrote the...
and The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes were an Icelandic alternative rock band formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. They received critical and popular acclaim internationally.-History:...
across the United States and Canada in what was the press dubbed the "Monsters of Alternative Rock" tour. Around this time Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
, part-owner of Qwest Records
Qwest Records
Qwest Records is the American record label started by Quincy Jones in 1980 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, and owned byWarner Music Group. although Quincy was still under contract with A&M records through 1981. George Benson's 1980 Give Me the Night LP was the first release on Qwest,...
, stated –
NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
– May 1990
"Vanishing Point" was used as the theme tune
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
to the BBC1 TV series Making Out
Making Out
Making Out is a British television series, shown by the BBC between 1989 and 1991.The series, written by Debbie Horsfield, mixed comedy and drama in its portrayal of the women who worked on the factory floor at New Lyne Electronics in Manchester, tackling the personal lives of the characters as...
– for which the band also composed additional incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
.
New Order recorded the official song of the England national football team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
's 1990 World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
campaign, "World in Motion
World in Motion
"World in Motion" is a song by English musical group New Order. It is New Order's only UK number one single. The song was produced for the England football team's 1990 FIFA World Cup campaign, and features several members of the 1990 English team, as well as comedian Keith Allen, who co-wrote the...
", under the ad-hoc band name EnglandNewOrder. The song, co-written with comedian Keith Allen, was a number one UK hit, and the now-famous John Barnes
John Barnes (footballer)
John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE is an English football manager and former player.During his playing career, Barnes had successful periods at Watford and Liverpool in the 1980s and 1990s, winning the First Division twice, the FA Cup twice, and playing for England 79 times...
rap was also recorded by Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...
and Peter Beardsley
Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain...
. These versions have not been made available for release, although the 7-inch single's B-side (entitled "The B Side") included a version of the rap where various members of the squad each contributed a line.
At around the same time, Bernard Sumner teamed up with fellow Mancunian and former Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
guitarist Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
for the Electronic
Electronic (band)
-Albums:-Singles:-Music videos:-External links:* *...
project (also enlisting the help of Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
and Chris Lowe
Chris Lowe
Chris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
of the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
), while Peter Hook started a project called Revenge
Revenge (band)
Revenge was a band formed by New Order bassist Peter Hook and Lavolta Lakota and Rawhead singer Davyth Hicks on guitar and vocals, and Chris Jones . Revenge formed after New Order's hiatus in 1989-1990 and played their final gigs in January 1993...
, each of them leaving New Order but continuing to make New Order-style recordings.
Unusually for such a major group, New Order never had a formal contract with their label Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
. (This was in fact the label's standard practice until the mid-1980s. According to Factory's co-founder Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
, "All our bands are free to fuck off whenever they please.") Because of this, the group (rather than Factory Records) legally owned all their own recorded material. This has often been cited, not least by Wilson himself, as the main reason London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
' 1992 offer to buy the ailing label fell through.
Republic and band hiatus
RepublicRepublic (album)
Republic is the sixth studio album by New Order. Released in 1993 by London Records, it was their first album released after the demise of Factory Records, and their last for eight years....
, released around the world in 1993, was the band's first album release since parting company with the now-defunct Factory Records. The release spawned the singles "Regret"—their highest-charting single in the US—"Ruined in a Day
Ruined in a Day
"Ruined in a Day" is a song by British electronic group New Order. It was released as the second single from their 1993 album Republic. It also appeared on the group's Best of compilation the following year, and on the 2005 chronology Singles....
", "World
World (The Price of Love)
"World " is a 1993 single by New Order, taken from the album Republic. Simply listed as "World" on the album, the subtitle "The Price of Love" was added for the single release, as it is repeated during the chorus...
", and "Spooky". Following the release of Republic, the band put New Order on hold while each member continued on with their own side-projects: Sumner once again teamed up with Marr in Electronic for Raise the Pressure
Raise the Pressure
Raise the Pressure is Electronic's second album, released in July 1996.-Recording:Seven of the thirteen tracks were composed by full-time members Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner, and the other six co-written with former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos...
. Karl Bartos
Karl Bartos
Karl Bartos was, between 1975 and 1990, along with Wolfgang Flür, an electronic percussionist in the electronic-music group Kraftwerk. He was originally recruited to play on its US "Autobahn" tour...
(formerly of Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
) also assisted with this record. Sumner also collaborated with the Chemical Brothers on "Out of Control", a track from their album Surrender; Hook formed the band Monaco
Monaco (band)
Monaco was a side project of New Order bassist Peter Hook. Together with David Potts, the only remaining member of Revenge, the band was formed in 1995...
with former Revenge
Revenge (band)
Revenge was a band formed by New Order bassist Peter Hook and Lavolta Lakota and Rawhead singer Davyth Hicks on guitar and vocals, and Chris Jones . Revenge formed after New Order's hiatus in 1989-1990 and played their final gigs in January 1993...
member David Potts
David Potts
David Potts , known to bandmates and fans as "Pottsy", is the ex-frontman of Monaco.-Career:...
; and Morris and Gilbert formed the aptly named The Other Two
The Other Two
AlbumsSingles-External links:* * - Videos :* * * *...
.
In 1994, a second singles collection was released, entitled The Best of New Order
The Best of New Order
- Video release :# "True Faith-94"# "Regret"# "Run"# "Bizarre Love Triangle"# "Fine Time"# "The Perfect Kiss"# "Shellshock"# "Confusion"# "Blue Monday-88"# "Round & Round-94"# "World"# "Ruined in a Day"# "State of the Nation"...
. It featured all of the band's singles since Substance as well as a few extra tracks: "Vanishing Point" (from 1989's Technique), "The Perfect Kiss", "Thieves Like Us", "Shellshock", and new recordings of "True Faith", "Bizarre Love Triangle", and "1963". The new versions of "True Faith" and "1963" – the latter with a yet newer, more guitar-oriented version produced by Arthur Baker
Arthur Baker (musician)
Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...
– were released as singles to promote the album. In the US, the track listing was altered to set it apart from Substance as well as the UK release of The Best of New Order which had been available months prior. This collection was followed by a remix album, The Rest of New Order
The Rest of New Order
New Order or The Rest of New Order is a remix album by New Order released in August 1995 again by Qwest/London Records.-Overview:...
, featuring a selection of old remixes and newly-commissioned mixes of classic New Order tracks. Some versions contained an extra disc/cassette composed entirely of remixes of "Blue Monday". "Blue Monday" was released as a single for a third time to promote the collection.
The group reconvened in 1998 at the suggestion of Rob Gretton. Nearly five years had passed since they had last seen each other. Sumner said, "We decided before we agreed to doing any gig, to have a meeting, and if anyone had any grudges to bear, to iron them out." By the second meeting everyone agreed to continue playing, scheduling their reunion gig for the Phoenix Festival that same year. In addition to rarer songs, New Order also decided to begin playing Joy Division songs again. When the Phoenix Festival was cancelled due to low ticket sales, New Order instead played the second night of that year's Reading Festival
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...
.
Get Ready
Their 2001 release Get ReadyGet Ready (New Order album)
Get Ready is the seventh studio album by the English rock band New Order. Released in August 2001 by London Records, this was the group's first album in eight years, following 1993's Republic....
largely departed from their more electronic style and focused on the more guitar oriented music. According to Sumner, "Get Ready was guitar-heavy simply because we felt that we'd left that instrument alone for a long time." Longtime fan Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
of The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
played guitar and sang back-up on the track "Turn My Way", and in 2001 toured with the band on dates in the UK, US, and Japan for a short period of time. Phil Cunningham (formerly of Marion) joined the band in a live capacity, deputising for Gilbert who declined to tour in favour of caring for her and Morris' children. Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
's Bobby Gillespie
Bobby Gillespie
Robert Bernard Andrew "Bobby" Gillespie is a Scottish musician. He is the lead singer and founding member of the alternative rock band, Primal Scream. He was also the drummer for The Jesus and Mary Chain in the mid-1980s.- Early life :Born and raised in the south side district of Mount Florida in...
provided vocals on the track "Rock the Shack". Singles from the album included "Crystal", "60 Miles an Hour", and "Someone Like You".
In 2002, Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
featured New Order on their list of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die", although this was as part of a sub-list of "5 Bands That Could Go Either Way". Both New Order and Joy Division were portrayed in the Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
film 24 Hour Party People
24 Hour Party People
24 Hour Party People is a 2002 British film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Winterbottom...
, depicting the rise and fall of Factory Records as seen through the eyes of label founder Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
. Cameos by Wilson himself, along with Mark E. Smith
Mark E. Smith
Mark Edward Smith is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and only constant member of the English post-punk band The Fall.-Early life:...
of The Fall and former members of The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
and Inspiral Carpets
Inspiral Carpets
Inspiral Carpets are an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1983. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate...
, lent a degree of legitimacy to the proceedings. The film touched on some of Factory's other artists, including Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
and The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England. The band is an ongoing project of guitarist Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. Other current members are Keir Stewart and Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan...
. The soundtrack featured Get Ready-era Chemical Brothers-produced "Here to Stay", which was released as a single. The DVD release of the single highlighted scenes taken from the film.
Waiting for the Sirens' Call and Singles
Waiting for the Sirens' Call
-Singles:* "Krafty" * "Jetstream" * "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" * "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion" -Personnel:* Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitars, synthesisers and programming...
, their first with new member Phil Cunningham. Cunningham replaced Gilbert (now married to Morris) so she could look after their children. Singles from this album were "Krafty
Krafty
"Krafty" is a song by New Order, released as the first single from the band's 2005 album, Waiting for the Sirens' Call.It marks the first new release by New Order for Warner Bros...
", "Jetstream
Jetstream (song)
"Jetstream" is a single by New Order. Released through Warner Music on 16 May 2005, it is the second single to be taken from their album Waiting for the Sirens' Call....
" (which features guest vocals by Ana Matronic
Ana Matronic
Ana Matronic is the female lead singer for the Scissor Sisters.Her stage name is said to be due to "a deep and abiding love of robots"...
from the Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
), and the title track
Waiting for the Sirens' Call (song)
"Waiting for the Sirens' Call" is a single released in 2005 by the group New Order. The third single from the Waiting for the Sirens' Call album, it was released by London Records on 26 September 2005....
. According to Peter Hook, the band wrote and recorded enough material during the sessions for this album to release a follow-up in the near future, but it hasn't materialised yet. At the 2005 NME Awards
NME Awards
The NME Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine, NME .The first awards show was held in 1953 as the NME Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of the magazine....
, New Order and Joy Division received the award for "Godlike Geniuses" (for lifetime achievement). Previous winners include Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
, The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, and the Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
. In 2006 the album track "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion" was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the category of Best Dance Recording
Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording
The Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality vocal performances in the dance music genre...
.
In the autumn of 2005, the group released another greatest hits compilation, in the form of Singles
Singles (New Order album)
-Chart positions:...
. The two-disc release was an updated version of the Substance collection and contained every single released from their 1981 debut all the way through to "Waiting for the Sirens' Call". However, unlike Substance, which focused almost exclusively on the 12" versions of the group's singles, Singles collected the 7" versions, many of which (like "Ceremony", "Temptation" and "Confusion") had never been released on CD. The album was accompanied by a two-disc DVD set, entitled Item, that collected the extended UK version of NewOrderStory with a DVD of all New Order music videos as well as two newly commissioned videos for "Temptation '87
Temptation (New Order song)
"Temptation" is a stand-alone single released by British band New Order on Factory Records. The single reached #29 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in 1982.-Original release:...
" and "Ceremony
Ceremony (song)
"Ceremony" is a song by Joy Division, released as New Order's debut single in 1981. The song, as well as the B-side, "In a Lonely Place", were written as Joy Division prior to the death of Ian Curtis...
".
The New Order: Live in Glasgow
Live in Glasgow (New Order DVD)
Live in Glasgow is a live DVD released by New Order, in 2008. It features 18 tracks, recorded in October 2006 at the O2 Academy Glasgow. A bonus disc is also included which features tracks recorded live from the early days called Rare and Unseen Footage....
DVD was recorded at the Glasgow Academy in 2006 and features 18 tracks, including 4 Joy Division songs. Next to that, the release also contains a bonus disc of footage from the band's personal archive including 1980s footage from Glastonbury, Rome, Cork, Rotterdam and Toronto.
Hook's departure
In 2006, the band played several one-off live dates as well as short tours in the UK, Brazil and Argentina. At the end of the Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
show in November 2006, Peter Hook suggested that the band should stop touring. Rumours spread that the band were breaking up, but in January 2007 Stephen Morris denied the rumours, commenting, "It's the first I've heard of it." Morris added they were working on a new album as well as preparing for the release of Control, the Ian Curtis biopic
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
.
However, in early May 2007, bassist Peter Hook was interviewed by British radio station XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
– originally to talk about his contribution to the debut album of former Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band's original line-up featured Perry Farrell , Dave Navarro , Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins . After breaking up in 1991, Jane's Addiction briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2001, both times...
singer Perry Farrell
Perry Farrell
Perry Farrell is the frontman for the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Farrell created the touring festival Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction in 1991; it has since evolved into an annual destination festival. Farrell continues to produce Lollapalooza with partners William...
's new band Satellite Party – and when asked "Is New Order over now?" replied, "Yeah, me and Bernard [Sumner] aren't working together." The interviewer pointed out that the band had split up and reunited numerous times before, to which Hook replied that "Bernard went off for a break with Electronic
Electronic (band)
-Albums:-Singles:-Music videos:-External links:* *...
, but it was different then." The interviewer said that the band would be working together again shortly anyway, to which Hook replied "No-one believes me... it's like The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Boy Who Cried Wolf, is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 210 in the Perry Index. From it is derived the English idiom 'to cry wolf', meaning to give a false alarm.-The fable and its history:...
!" Hook further commented on the band's break-up on his MySpace page: "I'm relieved... Really hated carryin' on as normal with an awful secret, so let's move on, shall we?"
Further complicating the news, NewOrderOnline, a website with support from New Order management, reported that, according to "a source close to the band," "the news about the split is false... New Order still exists despite what [Hook] said [....] Peter Hook can leave the band, but this doesn't mean the end of New Order." Hook mocked the "source close to the band" in a blog entry he made after returning from Cannes, where the group attended the premiere of the Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis
Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer and lyricist, famous for leading the post-punk band Joy Division. Joy Division released their debut album, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979 and recorded their follow-up, Closer, in 1980...
biopic Control, writing "Well, who could be closer to the band than me! I love these unnamed sources, or shall we call them cowards, eh?" Hook also reiterated that New Order had split in various interviews.
However, on 20 July 2007, Morris and Sumner released a further statement claiming that New Order would continue to work without Hook, expressing their stance on the on-off break-up situation. The statement read, "After 30 years in a band together we are very disappointed that Hooky has decided to go to the press and announce unilaterally that New Order have split up. We would have hoped that he could have approached us personally first. He does not speak for all the band, therefore we can only assume he no longer wants to be a part of New Order."
NME.com reported on 31 July 2007 that Peter Hook had posted a message on his MySpace blog, claiming he would take steps to prevent Morris and Sumner to continue as New Order, writing "This group [New Order] has split up! You are no more New Order than I am! You may have two thirds, but don't assume you have the rights to do anything 'New Order-ey', because you don't. I've still got a third! But I'm open to negotiation."
In the wake of Tony Wilson's death and rumours of New Order "reforming" with Hook, Hook wrote on his MySpace blog that "in a conversation with Oliver Wilson about a tribute gig for his father, he asked me what the chances were of getting New Order to perform. I said, 'Seeing as we have just split up, pretty slim.' He then said to me, 'If I could get the others to agree, would you do it?' I said, 'In honour of your father, I'd do anything.'" He added that "this means I would sell the popcorn, take the tickets, sweep up after, play bass in New Order/Joy Division/Crawling Chaos."
In January 2008 Hook told Bass Guitar Magazine writer Joel McIver
Joel McIver
Joel McIver is a British author. The best-known of his 20 books to date is the bestselling Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica, first published in 2004 and selling close to 50,000 copies in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Black Sabbath, Slayer, Ice...
: "New Order have split up, and that's it. The only thing that made it hard was that Bernard and Stephen decided to turn around and say that they hadn't split up. What I simply said was that I would consider New Order to have split if one of them had left. I wouldn't carry on – and I don't see how they could even consider it. I wouldn't consider carrying on with New Order as me and Stephen, or me and Bernard. I'd say, let's knock it on the head and start again. But them two decided, whether it was out of anger or whatever, that they were gonna carry on as New Order. And I've said, you're not New Order, mate! That was our argument. We've split up. I'm not working with Bernard or Stephen again."
In July 2009, Hook revealed to Spinner "I didn't think, which was proved wrong, actually, that Bernard was very interested in New Order. I got the impression he couldn't give a fuck to be honest, whether it happened or not. And it's quite interesting because when I told him I didn't want to work with him any more through our manager he didn't respond. Then he started telling everyone that I hadn't told him. I put it down to Alzheimer's. He seems to have forgot what he'd been told six months before."
On 12 July 2009, Sumner revealed to Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
that there would not be any more New Order albums. He added, "When I make music these days, I want it to be fun, nice, enjoyable and I find those conditions with this new band. This new album is really important for me. It'll either work – people will like it – or I'll stop making music. I don't want to make music as part of New Order."
In February 2010, Hook contributed Strangely Enough Impact (A sonically enhanced spoken word dedication to Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
) to Ceremony – A New Order Tribute
Ceremony – A New Order Tribute
Ceremony - A New Order Tribute is a collection of New Order covers by various independent acts from The United States and Europe, compiled into a Double CD Digi-pack and two additional Digital Albums....
. The double album, released by an American record label 24 Hour Service Station in Tampa, Florida, benefited the Salford Foundation Trust's Tony Wilson Award, and is dedicated to the founder of Factory Records
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
who died in 2007 from cancer. 24 Hour Service Station label manager Marshall Dickson was inspired by Wilson and Factory's overall aesthetic to establish his own label. Sonshine Ward, Dickson's partner in the label and the tribute's executive producer, was instrumental in gathering New Order inspired artists from around the world to donated their time and recordings to support the Manchester charity, which assists young people who demonstrate special talents or ambitions in the arts or creative skills.
On the New Order Facebook Page, an unreleased song entitled "Hellbent" was released to fans and can be heard on SoundCloud. This is part of their new upcoming compilation release Total from Joy Division to New Order.
Bad Lieutenant
In June 2009, it was announced that Bernard SumnerBernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner , also known as Bernard Dickin, Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrecht is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and producer....
had formed Bad Lieutenant
Bad Lieutenant (band)
Bad Lieutenant are an English alternative rock band formed in 2007 following the breakup of New Order. The band consists of Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, Phil Cunningham, Jake Evans and Tom Chapman....
along with Phil Cunningham
Phil Cunningham (rock musician)
Phil Cunningham is a British guitarist who is a member of the band Bad Lieutenant. He was previously a member of New Order, where he replaced Gillian Gilbert as a band member, but with a slightly different role, with less synthesizer and more guitar work.Cunningham was also a member of the...
(guitar) and Jake Evans (guitar and vocals), and that they had already completed an album, Never Cry Another Tear
Never Cry Another Tear
-Personnel:Bad Lieutenant* Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass* Jake Evans – vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass* Phil Cunningham – guitars, keyboards, bassGuest musicians* Matt Evans – backing vocals , drums...
, which was released on 5 October 2009. Speaking about the project, Sumner said: "I'm very proud of it, it's a very good album. It's pretty guitary too because we've got three guitarists in the band."
On 2 July 2009, Sumner confirmed that the "Sink or Swim
Sink or Swim (song)
"Sink or Swim" was the début release and first single by Bad Lieutenant. It appears as the first track on their début album Never Cry Another Tear. It was released on 28 September 2009. The single was backed with the fellow album track "Dynamo"...
" single would be released on 28 September 2009. The second single, "Twist of Fate", followed in March 2010. In addition to Cunningham and Evans the album also features appearances by Stephen Morris (drums), Jack Mitchell (drums),Tom Chapman (bass) and Alex James
Alex James (musician)
Professionally known as Alex James is an English musician, songwriter, journalist and cheesemaker. He is best known as the bass player and occasional vocalist of band Blur...
(bass). The live band includes Morris on drums and Tom Chapman on bass. In a 1 July 2009 article in a local newspaper, Stephen Morris confirmed his participation in the new band, following the demise of New Order: "I'm only on a few tracks, but it's great to be playing with them again."
2011 reunion
In a 2011 article in the Guardian, band members confirmed that personal and business conflicts that have arisen over the years have made it unlikely they will ever perform or record as a group again. Stephen Morris is quoted saying, "There's no future for New Order. It's hard to draw a line under everything, but I think we have."On 5 September 2011, the band announced that they would perform for the first time since 2006, but without Hook, at the Ancienne Belgique
Ancienne Belgique
The Ancienne Belgique is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and local acts.-The venue:...
, Brussels on 17 October and at the Bataclan
Bataclan (theatre)
The Bataclan is a "salle de spectacle" at 50 boulevard Voltaire in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. It was built in 1864 by the architect Charles Duval. Its name refers to Ba-Ta-Clan, an operetta by Offenbach...
, Paris on 18 October. A single London show has been added, for 10 December. With a short South American Tour (Argentina, Brasil, and Chile) also for December.
BeMusic
"BeMusic" was a name the band used for their publishing company (and the LP label for Movement says "B Music" in large letters, though using an italicItalic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
ß
ß
In the German alphabet, ß is a letter that originated as a ligature of ss or sz. Like double "s", it is pronounced as an , but in standard spelling, it is only used after long vowels and diphthongs, while ss is used after short vowels...
for the letter B
B
B is the second letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is used to represent a variety of bilabial sounds , most commonly a voiced bilabial plosive.-History:...
). All four members of the band used the name for production work for other artists' recordings between 1982 and 1985.
The first BeMusic credit was for Peter Hook producing Stockholm Monsters in 1982. Other artists with producer or musician credit for "BeMusic" were 52nd Street, Section 25, Marcel King, Quando Quango, Paul Haig
Paul Haig
Paul Haig is a Scottish indie composer, musician and singer. He was originally a member of 1980s post-punk band Josef K who were signed to the Postcard record label...
, Thick Pigeon, Nyam Nyam and Life.
Their production work as BeMusic was collected on two LTM compilation CDs, Cool As Ice: The BeMusic Productions and Twice As Nice (which also included production work by Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio and Arthur Baker).
Sound
Both New Order and Joy Division were among the most successful artists on the Factory Records label, run by Granada television personality Tony WilsonTony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
, and partnered with Factory in the financing of the Manchester club The Haçienda. The band rarely gave interviews in the 1980s, later ascribing this to not wanting to discuss Curtis. This, along with the Peter Saville sleeve designs and the tendency to give short performances with no encores, gave New Order a reputation as standoffish. The band became more open in the '90s; for example, the aforementioned NewOrderStory (and in particular the longer UK version) featured extensive personal interviews.
Their music mixes rock with dance music, as can be seen on signature tracks such as "True Faith" and "Temptation
Temptation (New Order song)
"Temptation" is a stand-alone single released by British band New Order on Factory Records. The single reached #29 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in 1982.-Original release:...
". This synthesis laid down the groundwork for dance/rock groups of today. The group's album art earned them the status of icons in the alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
community, and has shown considerable longevity.
They have heavily influenced techno, rock, and pop musicians including Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
, The Killers, and Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, and were themselves influenced by the likes of David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Neu!
Neu!
Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
, Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, Cabaret Voltaire
Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...
and Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
. They have also significantly influenced electro
Electro (music)
Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...
, freestyle
Freestyle music
Freestyle or Latin freestyle, sometimes referred to as Latin hip hop, is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1980s. Mostly popular during the mid 80s to the early 90s...
and house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
. The Kraftwerk influence was acknowledged by their single "Krafty
Krafty
"Krafty" is a song by New Order, released as the first single from the band's 2005 album, Waiting for the Sirens' Call.It marks the first new release by New Order for Warner Bros...
", which had cover art referencing "Autobahn
Autobahn (song)
"Autobahn" is a song by German electronic band Kraftwerk, composed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider of the band, with Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics. It is co-produced by Conny Plank, and was the band's first track to use sung lyrics...
". Bassist Peter Hook contributed to New Order's sound by developing an idiosyncratic bass guitar technique. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings with a signature heavy chorus effect, leaving the "actual" basslines to keyboards or sequencers. This has often been cited as the defining characteristic of the New Order sound.
Drummer Stephen Morris regularly played a mixture of acoustic and electronic drums, and in many cases played along seamlessly with sequenced parts. All the band members could and did switch instruments throughout gigs, as evidenced on Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
's video for "The Perfect Kiss" and the fairly common Taras Shevchenko and Pumped Full of Drugs concert videos. In particular, Gilbert, Morris, and Sumner could be seen playing keyboards at times, while Hook played electronic drums variously. (Taras Shevchenko is especially notable for the fact all four members of the group have left the stage before the final song ("Temptation") comes to an end.)
Album covers
New Order albums, and Factory Records products in general, frequently bore the minimalist packaging of Saville. The group's record sleeves bucked the 1980s trend by rarely showing the band members (the Low-Life album was the exception) or even providing basic information such as the band name or the title of the release. Song names were often hidden within the shrink wrapped package, either on the disc itself (such as the "Blue Monday" single) or on an inconspicuous part of an inner sleeve ("The Perfect Kiss" single), or a cryptic colour code invented by Saville (Power, Corruption & Lies). Saville said his intention was to sell the band as a "mass-produced secret" of sorts, and that the minimalist style was enough to allow fans to identify the band's products without explicit labelling.Song titles
Many New Order song titles have nothing to do with the song. In some cases, songs with normal titles appear to have had their titles swapped with other songs. For example, the phrase "This time of night" appears in the song "As It Is When It Was" on Brotherhood but is the title of a song on Low-Life, and "Face Up" from Low-Life features the phrase "In a lonely place", the title of the B-side to "Ceremony". Also, the track "Chemical" from the 1993 album Republic featured the word brotherhood, which was the name of the 1986 album. Other song titles were taken from the titles of old movies such as Thieves Like UsThieves Like Us (film)
Thieves Like Us is a 1974 film directed by Robert Altman, starring Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall. The film was based on the novel Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson...
and Cries and Whispers
Cries and Whispers
Cries and Whispers is a 1972 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. The film is set on a mansion at the end of the 19th century and is about two sisters who watch over their third sister on her deathbed, torn...
. The 1989 album Technique is notable for not including any of its song title phrases in the lyrics of any of the nine tracks; Brotherhood contains the most, with three of its original nine tracks iterating the title in the lyrics. This practice is also extended to New Order's members' side projects, such as Electronic
Electronic (band)
-Albums:-Singles:-Music videos:-External links:* *...
and Bad Lieutenant
Bad Lieutenant
Bad Lieutenant is a 1992 crime-drama film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Harvey Keitel as the eponymous "bad lieutenant". The screenplay was written by actress-model Zoë Lund. She also played a small role in the film. Lund had been discovered by Ferrara and had starred in his earlier film, Ms...
, bands which may suggest that the concept is Sumner's idea.
Singles
New Order released many singlesSingle (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
for songs not included on albums. Singles released in many formats and often with varying track lists including exclusive artwork were produced. According to Tony Wilson, Factory intentionally released other singles, LPs, and compilations in non-UK markets to increase their collectibility. Indeed, the complete New Order discography is far too sprawling for most fans to collect in its entirety, and the compilations released by Factory and other labels are notoriously incomplete. In the late '90s, London Records spoke of releasing a Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
-esque singles retrospective for New Order, complete with original packaging and track lists. The project was at times named Cardboard and Plastic and Recycle, with t-shirts for the latter appearing at the infrequent New Order gigs. Eventually, the financial aspects caused the project to devolve into the Retro
Retro (New Order album)
Retro is a 2002 box set of music by the English band New Order. It comprises four themed CDs. In the UK, initial quantities came with a fifth disc which featured rare tracks.-History:The box set was released as a compromise...
box set (2002), which featured many tracks that were readily available elsewhere. The single-disc International
International (New Order album)
-Chart positions:...
compilation (2002) similarly omits the classic, out of print recordings in favour of updating the conventional The Best of New Order
The Best of New Order
- Video release :# "True Faith-94"# "Regret"# "Run"# "Bizarre Love Triangle"# "Fine Time"# "The Perfect Kiss"# "Shellshock"# "Confusion"# "Blue Monday-88"# "Round & Round-94"# "World"# "Ruined in a Day"# "State of the Nation"...
(1994) and Substance (1987). "Run 2
Run 2
"Run 2" was New Order's third and final single from their 1989 album Technique.-Overview:"Run 2" was remixed by Scott Litt from the version on Technique, hence the appendage of "2" to the title. The main difference is that the song has been made more radio-friendly by editing down most of the long...
" (1989), which was the subject of legal action from John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
, who argued that the song's wordless guitar break was based on his own song "Leaving on a Jet Plane
Leaving on a Jet Plane
"Leaving on a Jet Plane" is a song written by John Denver in 1966 and most famously recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. The original title of the song was "Oh Babe I Hate to Go" but Denver's then producer, Milt Okun, convinced him to change the title....
", was finally reissued in 2008 on the bonus CD included in the remastered version of Technique
Technique (album)
Technique is the fifth studio album by New Order, released in 1989 via Factory Records. Partly recorded on the island of Ibiza, it incorporates Balearic beat and acid house influences into the group's electro/rock sound...
. An out-of-court settlement ensured that the song would never be re-released in its original form. Denver is now credited as a co-writer of the song on the Singles compilation.
Discography
- Movement (1981)
- Power, Corruption & LiesPower, Corruption & LiesPower, Corruption & Lies is the second studio album by New Order, released in May 1983 on Factory Recordings. It is more electronic-based than their previous album Movement, with heavier use of synthesizers...
(1983) - Low-LifeLow-LifeLow-Life is the third studio album by English rock band New Order. Released in May 1985 by Qwest Records, Low-Life is considered to be among New Order's strongest work, displaying the moment in which the band completed its transformation from post-punk hold-overs to dance rock pioneers...
(1985) - Brotherhood (1986)
- TechniqueTechnique (album)Technique is the fifth studio album by New Order, released in 1989 via Factory Records. Partly recorded on the island of Ibiza, it incorporates Balearic beat and acid house influences into the group's electro/rock sound...
(1989) - RepublicRepublic (album)Republic is the sixth studio album by New Order. Released in 1993 by London Records, it was their first album released after the demise of Factory Records, and their last for eight years....
(1993) - Get ReadyGet Ready (New Order album)Get Ready is the seventh studio album by the English rock band New Order. Released in August 2001 by London Records, this was the group's first album in eight years, following 1993's Republic....
(2001) - Waiting for the Sirens' CallWaiting for the Sirens' Call-Singles:* "Krafty" * "Jetstream" * "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" * "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion" -Personnel:* Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitars, synthesisers and programming...
(2005) - The Lost Sirens (2011)
Further reading
- Edge, Brian. New Order + Joy Division: Pleasures and Wayward Distractions. London: Omnibus Press, 1988.
- Flowers, Claude. New Order + Joy Division: Dreams Never End. London: Omnibus Press, 1995.
- Johnson, Mark. An Ideal For Living: An History Of Joy Division. London: Bobcat Books, 1984.
- Middles, Mick. From Joy Division to New Order: The Factory Story. London: Virgin Books, 1996.
External links
- New Order Online – semi-official website and largest New Order website in general, endorsed by the band