The rise of New Order

Before New Order was established, its members started as an English rock band named Joy Division formed in Salford in 1976. They set a milestone to the gothic rock developed in the 80’s and were the pioneers in their genre, among “The Cure”, “Sisters Of Mercy” and “Siouxsie and the Banshees”. Their music had a dark theme, and even darker lyrics, by the front man and sole lyricist Ian Curtis.

They were characterizing with sadness and sorrow, and the feel of the songs is reaching deep into harsh and lost moments. Curtis was unwilling to explain the meaning behind his lyrics, and only later it was reviled they were about himself, as he suffered from depression.

Curtis’s inspiration was mainly from “David Bowie”, ”Iggy Pop”, and “The Doors” and seem to adapt a deep baritone voice as Jim Morrison. Their first album “unknown pleasures” was a great success. Among the hits were “Day of the Lords” and “New Dawn fades” and their single “Atmosphere” was one of their greatest.

The band’s live performance was known for Curtis’s “seizure dance” on stage, and only later it was reviled he suffered from epilepsy.

As Curtis suffered from personal problems including a failing marriage, depression, and epilepsy, his condition made it increasingly difficult for him to perform. He committed suicide in the age 23, on the eve of the band’s first US/Canada tour in May 1980. Joy Division’s second and final album, Closer, was released two months later and the single “Love Will Tear Us Apart” became their highest charting releases.

In 2007 a movie about joy division came out named “control” which describes the band’s members situation and the circumstances lead Curtis to kill himself. The movie pours light on the meaning of the hit song, “Love will tear us apart”, which gets completely different perspective.

Despite their short career, Joy Division have exerted a wide-reaching influence on bands including “U2”, “The Cure” and “Radiohead”.

Before Curtis’s suicide, the band made a promise that without one of them, they will get themselves a different name. Than after Curtis’s death the three rest band members formed a new band, named “New Order” in 1980, which became one of the most acclaimed and influential bands at the time. It turned out, that the band name was not the only change in the band, but their whole music style was switched upside down. They replaced the electric guitar with synthesisers and dance rhythms and their hopeful and happy music left no trace of Joy Division style.

The initial release as New Order was the single “Ceremony” written before Curtis’s suicide. It is a mid-tempo rock song in the key of C major, contains two implied chords, C major and F major, shown through the driving bassline.

Their first album was “movement” released in 1981 and contained dark, melodic songs as their previous incarnation, as the band members were still reeling from Curtis’s death.

When visiting in New York, the band were introduced to post-disco, freestyle and electro. They listen to Italian disco to cheer themselves up and learned drum programing. The single followed “Temptation” was a change in direction into dance music.

Their next album, “power corruption and lies” came out in 1983 and was a dramatic change from the dark Joy Division style to a different one. That time the band’s use of technology increased, and experimented with mixing early techno music with their earlier guitar-based sound.

In the same year the single “Confusion” came out featuring dance music. It was unique for having both Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner playing bass guitars on it, and three different remixes of the song were released.

In the same year, 1983, came out the four-on-the-floor single “Blue Monday”. “Blue Monday” became the best-selling independent 12″ single of all time. (A 12 inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time compared to LPs. This allows louder levels to be cut on the disc by the mastering engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality).

However, 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”.

The original single was a commercial hit, making the top 10 in many countries. In the United Kingdom, it has sold 1.16 million copies in all formats, including the 1988 and 1995 re-releases. Sales of the original 1983 12″ release account for the bulk of the total, at over 700,000 copies.

“Blue Monday” was a crucial link between Seventies disco and the dance/house that took off at the end of the Eighties. Synth-pop had been a major force in British popular music for several years, but “Blue Monday” was a dance record that also exhibited influences from the New York club scene.

The single’s original sleeve, was die-cut with a silver inner sleeve. It cost so much to produce that Factory Records, where it was recorded, actually lost money on each copy sold (5 pound per sleeve).

It is noted that no one expected “Blue Monday” would be a commercially successful record at all, so no one expected the cost to be an issue.

In the summer of 1987  the compilation Substance was released, and was one of their greatest albums. It has two sides and contain many hits of the band. Among them was the new single “True Faith”, “Thieves like us”, and “shellshock”.

This was a part of New Order story, one of the greatest, unforetable, unique bands of the 80s making music to this day. They made a long way from starting as a dark rock band, to a unique, cherful, dance, synth-pop band in a dramatic, almost unbelieveable change. They survived two breakups and united throughout the years, Created 10 successfull albums, and its members made cooporations with another musicians (like Electronic, formed by New Order singer and guitarist Bernard Sumner and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr).

They have many great hits, and influence and inspire with their music that truly speaks to you.