NEW ORDER

Random and bite-sized facts on all things on the mythical band New Order. Totally random but totally fascinating if you're into it. Do you know New Order now?

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New Order’s “5 8 6” began life as an experiment in rhythm

“5 8 6”, on Power, Corruption & Lies, is one of the clearest examples of New Order moving away from conventional rock songwriting. Its title looks like a piece of unexplained code, while the track itself puts repetition and electronic rhythm ahead of a conventional verse-and-chorus structure.

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The American edition of Power, Corruption & Lies changed the album’s identity

Although “Blue Monday” is closely associated with Power, Corruption & Lies, it was not included on the original UK vinyl album. The American edition incorporated it, creating a different relationship between the album and one of New Order’s most recognisable recordings.

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Peter Saville’s flower painting came from the National Gallery

The cover of Power, Corruption & Lies uses Henri Fantin-Latour’s still-life painting of roses. Saville combined the nineteenth-century artwork with a colour-coded system, deliberately placing a traditional image alongside a distinctly modern visual language.

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The colour code on Power, Corruption & Lies had a spelling mistake

Peter Saville’s colour-coded design attracted attention beyond the record sleeve. After the album appeared, letters published in NME pointed out a spelling mistake in the code. Saville later recalled that one of the letter writers approached him years afterwards to tell him he had been responsible.

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New Order recorded Power, Corruption & Lies at Britannia Row

For Power, Corruption & Lies, the band worked at Britannia Row Studios in Islington, London, rather than relying on their usual recording base at Strawberry Studios in Stockport. The change suited an album increasingly built around electronic equipment, programmed rhythms and carefully constructed sound.

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“Blue Monday” began with a drum machine

Gillian Gilbert recalled that the distinctive opening of “Blue Monday” came from an Oberheim DMX drum machine. New Order wanted to make a track that was completely electronic, drawing on the dance music they had been hearing in clubs rather than simply adding synthesisers to a rock arrangement.

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A programming error became part of “Blue Monday”

Gillian Gilbert programmed the song’s synthesiser parts by entering notes manually. She accidentally omitted a note, leaving the melody slightly out of sync with the rhythm. The resulting effect became part of the track’s distinctive, unsettled character rather than being corrected.

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New Order sampled Kraftwerk on “Blue Monday”

The band used their early E-mu Emulator sampler to add choir-like sounds drawn from Kraftwerk’s “Radioactivity”, alongside other recorded sounds including thunder. The technique helped create the track’s unusual mixture of machine precision and eerie atmosphere.

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The band tried to make “Blue Monday” sing without a singer

New Order initially experimented with a robotic voice for the repeated question “How does it feel?” The recorded attempt was wiped, so Bernard Sumner ended up singing the line himself. The human voice became a crucial contrast with the track’s mechanical backing.

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“Blue Monday” was partly designed to avoid encores

Peter Hook has explained that the band wanted a programmed piece they could play before leaving the stage, rather than returning for an encore. Its extended running time was deliberately unconventional, and the idea was to keep the audience occupied while the musicians could get offstage.

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The “Blue Monday” sleeve was modelled on a floppy disk

Peter Saville was inspired by a floppy disk he saw when New Order played him the track. He designed a sleeve that resembled the computer storage device, with cut-out sections revealing a metallic inner layer. The catalogue information was communicated through a colour code instead of ordinary printed details.

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Not every “Blue Monday” sleeve had the famous cut-outs

Demand for the single was so high that some early copies were issued in a cheaper black sleeve without the distinctive holes. Saville later recalled buying one of these versions himself because the printers had struggled to keep up with demand.

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The “Blue Monday” colour system became part of Factory’s visual identity

Saville used colour coding to communicate information on the sleeve without relying on conventional typography. Similar systems subsequently appeared on releases associated with Factory Records, including New Order’s “Confusion” and “Thieves Like Us”.

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“The Beach” became a significant New Order B-side

“The Beach” accompanied “Blue Monday” as its B-side and later appeared among the rarities collected on Substance. It also illustrates how New Order used the extended 12-inch format to release material that did not fit neatly into a standard album sequence.

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“Confusion” was created through an unusual New York collaboration

For “Confusion”, New Order worked with American producer Arthur Baker, known for his involvement in electro and hip-hop-influenced dance music. Peter Hook recalled that the band arrived in New York without a finished song and gave Baker material from a day of studio jamming to work with.

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“Confusion” connected New Order with New York club culture

The collaboration with Arthur Baker helped push New Order further into American dance music. The track was associated with New York’s club scene, and its video was filmed at the Paradise Garage, the influential New York nightclub.

“Thieves Like Us” had a connection to an earlier song

The title of New Order’s “Thieves Like Us” is associated with the 1974 film of the same name directed by Robert Altman. The song developed into one of the band’s early singles and later appeared on Substance, preserving its place alongside the group’s better-known electronic recordings.

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“Thieves Like Us” had an instrumental counterpart

New Order’s archive includes “Thieves Like Us Instrumental”, a version that allows the arrangement to be heard without the familiar vocal. Its inclusion among the band’s rarities demonstrates how Factory-era releases and later collections preserve alternative versions beyond the original single.

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“The Perfect Kiss” had a video catalogue number of its own

The promotional film for “The Perfect Kiss” was assigned Factory catalogue number FAC 321, separate from the single’s FAC 123 designation. Factory treated the video as a distinct release in its own right, reflecting the label’s habit of cataloguing creative projects beyond records alone.

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Jonathan Demme directed “The Perfect Kiss” video

The video for “The Perfect Kiss” was directed by Jonathan Demme, later famous for films including The Silence of the Lambs. Rather than building a conventional narrative around the song, the video shows New Order performing in a studio, making the musicians and their equipment the focus.

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“The Perfect Kiss” was recorded at two London studios

The Factory catalogue credits “The Perfect Kiss” as recorded and mixed at Jam and Britannia Row Studios in London. Michael Johnson engineered the track, while New Order received the production credit themselves.

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The inner sleeves for “The Perfect Kiss” appeared in different colours

Peter Saville’s packaging for “The Perfect Kiss” included silver artwork and inner sleeves in cyan, magenta and black. Factory’s archive notes that a yellow version has been suggested but its existence remains unconfirmed, making it a small unresolved detail in the single’s release history.

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“Low-life” marked a more deliberate studio approach

By the time of Low-life, New Order had become more confident in combining electronic production with guitars and bass. The album’s tracks were constructed with the dancefloor in mind, while still retaining the darker melodic character inherited from the band’s earlier work.

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“Sub-culture” existed in substantially different versions

New Order’s original “Sub-culture” and its later single treatment demonstrate how the band’s songs could be reshaped for different audiences. The single version was remixed by John Robie, whose production brought a more overt dance-club emphasis to the track.

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John Robie became an important New Order collaborator

American musician and producer John Robie worked with New Order on releases including “Shellshock” and the single version of “Sub-culture”. His involvement helped connect the band’s Manchester post-punk roots with the more polished electronic dance sound developing in the United States.

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“Shellshock” had a film connection

New Order recorded “Shellshock” for the soundtrack of the 1986 film Pretty in Pink. The track also appeared on the group’s Substance compilation, allowing a song originally tied to a film project to become part of their broader singles catalogue.

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Substance included material that had not appeared on the original singles

The 1987 Substance collection gathered New Order’s singles and added a second disc of less familiar material in some formats. Its rarities include “Cries and Whispers”, “Mesh”, “Hurt”, “Lonesome Tonight” and “Murder”, giving listeners a view of the band beyond the major hits.

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Some Substance editions contained a hidden Factory in-joke

The run-out inscriptions on early copies of Substance included phrases such as “Goodbye Davy Pils”, “The Pleasure and Pain” and “Steven Won’t go to Stockport”. These etched messages are part of the record’s physical history and reward collectors who inspect the dead-wax area rather than just the sleeve.

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Substance appeared in unusually varied formats

Factory’s release records list Substance in double-LP, CD, cassette and even DAT formats. The cassette and DAT editions had their own packaging variations, including different wrappers and embossed or non-embossed versions, reflecting how the collection was presented across formats in the late 1980s.

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New Order’s 1984 television documentary was called Play at Home

New Order made a Channel 4 documentary titled Play at Home in 1984. It was later included as an extra in the expanded archival material connected with the band’s Power, Corruption & Lies era, offering a rare chance to see the group outside a standard performance or promotional interview.

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New Order’s early live performances included songs that stayed obscure

Archival footage from 1982 and 1983 preserves performances of tracks such as “Denial”, “Senses”, “Chosen Time” and “We All Stand”. These recordings reveal the band’s developing identity at a point when its repertoire still contained material that would never become familiar to the wider public.

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“Lonesome Tonight” survived in a live performance from Berlin

A New Order performance of “Lonesome Tonight” from Berlin’s Metropol in 1984 appears among the band’s archival recordings. The track is less familiar than the group’s major singles, making the live version a useful glimpse of the material surrounding their best-known releases at the time.

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“Murder” appeared in the band’s early live repertoire

New Order performed “Murder” during the period when they were developing their post-Joy Division sound. The track later appeared in the rarities section of Substance, giving a relatively obscure piece a place in the band’s officially collected history.

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“Procession” was part of the transition away from Joy Division

Released in 1981, “Procession” was one of New Order’s earliest singles and later appeared on Substance. Its place in the collection alongside “Ceremony” and “Everything’s Gone Green” makes it possible to trace the band’s evolution from post-punk towards a more electronic sound.

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“Everything’s Gone Green” was an important electronic turning point

New Order’s 1981 single “Everything’s Gone Green” helped establish the rhythmic and electronic direction that would become central to their later work. Its presence on Substance alongside the band’s subsequent dance-oriented singles underlines how early the group began moving beyond conventional guitar arrangements.

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New Order’s 1983 album sessions included early versions of later material

Archival releases associated with Power, Corruption & Lies include writing-session recordings and instrumental outtakes. Among the material are early versions and work-in-progress recordings connected with “Blue Monday”, “Thieves Like Us” and “Murder”, revealing how the songs developed before reaching their released forms.

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The band’s second album included a track titled “Your Silent Face”

“Your Silent Face”, from Power, Corruption & Lies, is often noted for its prominent synthesiser arrangement and restrained vocal delivery. Its title and atmosphere distinguish it from the album’s more overtly rhythmic tracks, showing how New Order could make electronic textures serve a mood rather than simply a dance beat.

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“Leave Me Alone” closed the original UK version of Power, Corruption & Lies

The original UK album sequence ends with “Leave Me Alone”, a comparatively guitar-led track on an album otherwise associated with New Order’s increasing use of electronic equipment. Its position gives the record a closing moment that looks back towards the band’s post-punk roots.

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“Age of Consent” opens Power, Corruption & Lies with Peter Hook’s bass

Despite the album’s electronic reputation, its opening track “Age of Consent” is driven by a distinctive bass line from Peter Hook. The decision to open with a more conventional band performance before moving deeper into electronic territory helps make the album’s stylistic range especially clear.

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New Order’s “5 8 6” was included in the band’s 1983 live sets

Archival concert footage from the Hacienda in Manchester preserves a performance of “5 8 6” in 1983. The recording documents the band presenting one of its more experimental album tracks in a live setting, rather than leaving it as a studio curiosity.

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New Order played “Ultraviolence” live in America in 1983

A performance of “Ultraviolence” from First Avenue in Minneapolis survives in the band’s archival material. The recording is a reminder that New Order’s early touring repertoire extended beyond the singles that later became their most familiar songs.

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New Order’s early live archive reaches beyond Britain

Recordings from the band’s early years include performances in Ireland, Germany and the United States. These documents show New Order developing their sound in front of audiences outside Manchester while many of their most distinctive electronic arrangements were still relatively new.

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New Order made music for a Manchester television drama

Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert became involved in composing music for the BBC series Making Out, a drama set in Manchester. The commission led to a substantial amount of short-form music and helped the pair develop skills that later fed into their work as the duo The Other Two.

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The Making Out commission nearly slipped through the cracks

Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert recalled that New Order had agreed to compose music for Making Out and then promptly forgot about the commitment while working on Technique. The programme’s producer eventually turned up during the album’s mixing sessions to ask how the soundtrack was progressing.

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Television music helped shape The Other Two

When Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert began releasing music as The Other Two, the original idea was connected with the soundtrack work they had done for television. Instead of simply releasing incidental music, they began turning material into songs, leading to the duo’s debut single “Tasty Fish” in 1991.

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“World in Motion” began with music written by Morris and Gilbert

The music for England’s 1990 World Cup song “World in Motion” grew out of a theme Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert had written for Janet Street-Porter’s documentary series Reportage. New Order developed it into a song for the national football team, which became their only UK No. 1 single.

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Technique was not completed in Ibiza

New Order worked on Technique in Ibiza, but the island sessions did not produce a finished album. The band later moved to Real World Studios in Wiltshire to complete the record, with engineer Michael Johnson recalling that much of the material still needed work after the Ibiza period.

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New Order’s Ibiza sessions were more fragmented than earlier recording work

Gillian Gilbert described a working method in which band members recorded at different times, with drums, vocals and other parts being completed separately. This contrasted with the more concentrated studio sessions of earlier albums and reflected both the group’s changing habits and the distractions of Ibiza.

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“Fine Time” was among the songs developed in Ibiza

The opening track of Technique, “Fine Time”, was demoed in Ibiza, where New Order were exposed to the island’s emerging club culture. The album’s mixture of house rhythms and rock instrumentation reflects the musical environment the band encountered there, even though much of the final recording took place elsewhere.

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Peter Hook described Technique as a struggle between bass and sequencers

Peter Hook characterised Technique as an “epic power struggle” between the sequencers and himself. The comment captures the tension between his prominent, melodic bass playing and the increasingly dominant electronic arrangements pursued by the rest of the band.

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Stephen Morris remembered Ibiza’s club programming as unpredictable

Morris recalled hearing acid house alongside Queen and Spanish music in Ibiza clubs. That unexpected mixture of styles helped create the atmosphere around Technique, an album that combined dancefloor rhythms with New Order’s existing interest in melodic rock and electronic experimentation.

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Factory’s catalogue treated music videos as separate works

Factory Records assigned catalogue numbers to visual projects as well as records. New Order’s “The Perfect Kiss” video was designated FAC 321, while the band’s wider catalogue includes posters, videos and other associated objects, reflecting the label’s unusually broad approach to releases.

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The Factory archive records alternative editions of New Order releases

Factory’s catalogue preserves details that are easily missed when looking only at a record’s main release. The Substance entries, for example, document test pressings, different sleeve types, cassette wrappers and DAT editions, providing a detailed record of how New Order’s music circulated in different physical formats.

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New Order’s history can be traced through the Factory catalogue numbers

Factory’s numbering system offers a way to follow New Order’s development through releases such as FAC 73 for “Blue Monday”, FACT 75 for Power, Corruption & Lies, FAC 123 for “The Perfect Kiss” and FACT 200 for Substance. The numbers reflect the label’s distinctive catalogue culture as much as the band’s discography.

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