New Order (band)
(Read all about New Order after the video)
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980, currently comprising Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, Phil Cunningham and Tom Chapman. The band was formed in 1980 by Sumner, Morris, and Peter Hook, who were the remaining members of post-punk group Joy Division following the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis. They added Gilbert (keyboards and guitars) later that year.
By combining post-punk with an increasing influence from electronic and dance music, New Order became one of the most critically acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s.[1]
Though the band's early years were shadowed by the legacy of Joy
Division, their experience of the early 1980s New York City club scene
saw them incorporate elements of dance rhythms and instrumentation into
their work. The band's 1983 hit "Blue Monday", the best-selling 12-inch single of all time, is one example of how their sound became increasingly uptempo and electronic.[2]
New Order were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records.
Their unlabelled 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 until 1984. Throughout their career, the band's records
were art-directed by designer Peter Saville.
The group disbanded in 1993 to work on individual projects, and
reunited in 1998. In 2001, Cunningham (guitars, keyboards and
synthesisers) replaced Gilbert, who took a sabbatical from the band
because of family commitments. In 2007, Hook left the band over personal
conflicts.[3] After Hook's departure, Sumner, Cunningham, and Morris worked on Bad Lieutenant and the band reunited in 2011 without Hook, with Gilbert returning and Chapman replacing Hook on bass.[4] The band members have been involved in several solo projects, such as Sumner's Electronic and Bad Lieutenant; Hook's Monaco and Revenge and Gilbert and Morris' The Other Two.
In September 2015, the band released their tenth studio album, Music Complete.
History
Origins and formation: 1977–1980
Between 1977 and 1980, Ian Curtis, 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.[5]
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.[6]
Prior to his death, the members of Joy Division had agreed not to
continue under the Joy Division name should any one member leave. On 29
July 1980, the still unnamed trio debuted live at Manchester's Beach
Club.[7][8][9] 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 former Stooge Ron Asheton's band The New Order. The group states that the name New Order (as was also the case with "Joy Division") does not draw a direct line to Nazism or Fascism.[10]
The band rehearsed with each member taking turns on vocals. Sumner
ultimately took the role, as he could sing when he wasn't playing his
guitar. They wanted to complete the line-up with someone they knew well
and whose musical skill and style was compatible with their own. Gretton
suggested[10] Morris's girlfriend Gillian Gilbert,
and she was invited to join the band in early October 1980, as
keyboardist and guitarist. Her first live performance with the band
occurred at The Squat in Manchester on 25 October 1980.[11][12]
Movement: 1981–1982
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.[10] 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.[13] More recently, Hook indicated a change of heart: "I think Movement
gets a raw deal in general really – for me, when you consider the
circumstances in which it was written, it is a fantastic record."[14]
New Order visited New York City again in 1981, where the band were introduced to post-disco, freestyle and electro.[15] The band had taken to listening to Italian disco to cheer themselves up, while Morris taught himself drum programming.[16] The singles that followed, "Everything's Gone Green" and "Temptation", saw a 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",[17] but released 15 years later as "Video 5 8 6".[18]
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".[17]
Power, Corruption & Lies: 1983–1984
Power, Corruption & Lies, released in May 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)",[19] "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".[citation needed]
(It was included on the cassette format in some countries, such as
Australia and New Zealand and on the original North American CD release
of the album, alongside its B-side, "The Beach".) "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: 1985–1987
1985's Low-Life 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.[20]
Brotherhood (1986) divided the two approaches onto separate album sides.[citation needed] 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". 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.
In December 1987, the band released a further single, "Touched by the Hand of God", with a Kathryn Bigelow-directed video parodying glam-metal. The single reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart and number 1 in the UK Independent Singles chart, but would not appear on an album until the 1994 compilation The Best of New Order.
Technique, Republic and first break-up: 1988–1993
By this time, the group was heavily influenced by the Balearic sounds of Ibiza, which were making their way into the Haçienda. 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 acid house influence (as on opening
track "Fine Time") and a more traditional rock sound (as on the single "Run 2").
The album is a blend of 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 the press dubbed the "Monsters of Alternative Rock" tour.[21] Around this time, band members also began side projects including Electronic (Sumner with Johnny Marr) and Revenge (Hook with Davyth Hicks). Morris and Gilbert began to work together on outside TV theme production work.
In 1990, 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 the band's sole number one UK hit.[22] The song was originally planned to be titled "E for England", however the Football Association vetoed the title upon realising that this was a reference to ecstasy;
a drug heavily associated with the Haçienda. (Allen claimed that his
original draft lyrics included "E is for England, England starts with E /
We'll all be smiling when we're in Italy."[23]) The song also featured chanting from members of the England team and Allen, and a guest rap from left winger John Barnes. It was again produced by Stephen Hague, who the band chose to produce their next album.
The band's next album Republic was shadowed by the collapse of their longtime label Factory Records. The label had been ailing due to financial difficulties, and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1992.[24]
New Order never had a formal contract with Factory. Although unusual
for a major group, this was Factory's standard practice until the
mid-1980s. Because of this, the band, rather than Factory Records,
legally owned all of their recordings. This has been cited by Wilson
himself[25] as the main reason London Records'
1992 offer to buy the ailing label fell through. Following Factory's
collapse, New Order signed with London, as did Morris and Gilbert
separately for their side project The Other Two, whose debut album was originally intended for release on Factory. Republic, released around the world in 1993, spawned the singles "Regret"—New Order's highest-charting single in the US—"Ruined in a Day", "World", and "Spooky".
Following the release and promotion of Republic, the band put New Order on hold while focusing on side projects; with The Other Two's debut album released in 1993. 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", "1963", and "Round &
Round". The new versions of "True Faith" and "1963" (the latter as a
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 existing and newly commissioned mixes of
classic New Order tracks. Some versions contained an extra disc or
cassette composed entirely of remixes of "Blue Monday". "Blue Monday"
was released as a single for a third time to promote the collection.
Reformation and Get Ready: 1998–2003
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."[26]
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.[27] When the Phoenix Festival was cancelled due to low ticket sales, New Order instead played the last night of that year's Reading Festival.[28]
Their 2001 release Get Ready largely departed from their more electronic style and focused on 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."[29] 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",[30]
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 Happy Mondays 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 the new track Here to Stay, produced by the Chemical Brothers, which was released as a single. The single's music video highlighted scenes taken from the film.
Waiting for the Sirens' Call, Singles and second break-up: 2004–2007
The band released a new album on 27 March 2005, titled 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 Scissor Sisters), and the title track. 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 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, titled 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.[31]
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.
In 2006, the band played several one-off live dates as well as short tours in the UK, Brazil and Argentina. After their Buenos Aires show in November 2006, Peter Hook suggested that the band should stop touring.[32] In early May 2007, Hook was interviewed by British radio station XFM – originally to talk about his contribution to the debut album of Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell's new band Satellite Party
– and stated that "Me and Bernard aren't working together." 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."[33] However, Sumner revealed in 2009 that he no longer wished to make music as New Order.[34]
Reunion with new line-up, Lost Sirens and Music Complete: 2011–present
In September 2011, the band announced that they would perform for the first time since 2006, at the Ancienne Belgique, Brussels on 17 October and at the Bataclan, Paris on 18 October.[35]
The band's line-up included keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, who returned
to the band after a ten-year break, and Bad Lieutenant bassist Tom
Chapman in place of Peter Hook.[36] They played subsequent shows in London and South America in December.[37]
In December 2011, New Order released Live at the London Troxy, a live album from their performance of 10 December 2011 at The Troxy in London. This release featured the new lineup and their first show in London in over five years.
They continued to tour throughout 2012, including a short tour of New
Zealand and Australia in February/March. They played at the 'T in the
Park' festival in Scotland on 3 and 4 July 2012 and at the EXIT Festival
in Novi Sad Serbia on 13 July 2012. New Order performed at Hyde Park with Blur and The Specials to celebrate the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.[38]
In December 2012 it was announced that Lost Sirens[39] would be released in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2013. Lost Sirens is an eight-track album of tracks left out of Waiting for the Sirens' Call.
The album was discussed by Gillian Gilbert in a Brazilian interview to
promote the band’s appearance in São Paulo. She acknowledged issues with
former member Peter Hook, and stated there was "a lot going on behind
the scenes on the copyright" delaying the release.[40]
The band debuted their first newly-written song since the Waiting for the Sirens' Call sessions, titled "Singularity", during Lollapalooza Chile in March 2014.[41] In July, the group toured North America,[42][43] where they debuted the song "Plastic".[44] On 2 September it was announced that the band decided to release their new album through Mute Records. The New Order catalogue remains with Warner Music.[45][46]
On 22 September 2015 the band released a new album, Music Complete, their first without Peter Hook.
The album was produced mostly by the band themselves, except
"Singularity" and "Unlearn This Hatred", both produced by Tom Rowlands,
while "Superheated" features additional production by Stuart Price.[47] The album was released on CD, regular and limited-edition double clear LP, and an 8-piece deluxe vinyl box set,
containing the double clear LP as well as extended versions of the 11
tracks on 6 different coloured vinyl. All formats were available as of
the initial release date, except the box set, which was released on 20
November 2015. The extended versions of all tracks, originally exclusive
to the deluxe vinyl box set, were compiled into a new version of the
album titled Complete Music. Complete Music was released on CD and digital formats on 13 May 2016.[48]
In November 2015, Peter Hook sued Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and
Gillian Gilbert. In an objection, he claimed that they set up a new
company behind his back and it has generated an income of £7.8 million
in four years while he received only a fraction of that. The three
members insisted they had treated Mr. Hook fairly and that his stake in
the band's royalties was reasonable. The judge ruled that there was "at
least a reasonable prospect" of Mr. Hook proving that he was not getting
a fair share of royalties and other income. He was willing to hear the
case but urged the parties to come to an agreement rather than suffer
legal costs of around £900,000.[49]
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