Are Bernard and Hooky really getting along these days?

Is it just me but they never seem to exchange a word during gigs these days?.And often when Bernard is talking between songs Hooky will start pummeling his bass as if to drown him out.And they don`t do many interviews together.It seems to be either Hooky and Steve or Bernard and Phil .But never Hooky and Bernard together,.

Egos eh?.

And they don't sit next to each other on flights either, fucking outrageous. Guess after 40 years or whatever of knowing each other they might be a tad bored. Relates to the only in it for the money thread.

Well, in the Lisbon gig earlier this year, Barney yelled the words of Krafty (ruining the song completely, btw). Pete was furious and they had a rough discussion on stage at the end of the song. Not a single word to each other during the rest of the concert... Might explain something

I don't think it's anything to worry about. Speaking as a married couple who have been together for a long time and plan to stay that way, we can say that fights will happen, tough times will occur, but if there's enough love between Pete and Barney as there is between us then they will survive.

Sincerely, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman :p

Taboo # 7 wrote: I don't think it's anything to worry about. Speaking as a married couple who have been together for a long time and plan to stay that way, we can say that fights will happen, tough times will occur, but if there's enough love between Pete and Barney as there is between us then they will survive.

Sincerely, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman :p

Nothing better than make-up sex!

Hannett of the Apes wrote:

Taboo # 7 wrote: I don't think it's anything to worry about. Speaking as a married couple who have been together for a long time and plan to stay that way, we can say that fights will happen, tough times will occur, but if there's enough love between Pete and Barney as there is between us then they will survive.

Sincerely, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman :p

Nothing better than make-up sex!

Make-up sex? Is that like when you take some lipstick and eyeliner pencil and draw humorous faces on the genitalia of you and your partner?

Yeah i guess they are just like a married couple.Dont speak to each other but the loves still there.

Johnny wrote: Yeah i guess they are just like a married couple.Dont speak to each other but the loves still there.

And Hooky only hits him because he loves him.

Stutter wrote: Well, in the Lisbon gig earlier this year, Barney yelled the words of Krafty (ruining the song completely, btw). Pete was furious and they had a rough discussion on stage at the end of the song. Not a single word to each other during the rest of the concert... Might explain something

Did it look something like this book cover

Yeah, you don't see Bernard and Steve doing interviews together or Hooky and Phil. Why is that?

Newsflash they don't even live in the same house. Shocking isn't it. And when not working on New Order they might not even see each other for days.

Even though they don't get on, the fact they got back together after a long 'divorce' says a lot. They probably know when to avoid each other.

They get on fine - maybe the occassional tiff, but what friends don't have an occassional tiff? The balance of power betweeen them is pretty much equal when it comes to leadership of the group, although from time to time one of them will want dominance which can cause a brief upset.

Captain Psychology.

craigy wrote: The balance of power betweeen them is pretty much equal when it comes to leadership of the group{quote]

Infrequent poster, ready to be shouted down...

I'd disagree, I think Bernard holds all the cards at the moment, the whole getting back to together is on his terms, and Peter's happy to go along with things (To a certain extent, that's when the rows happen). A recent interview with Peter gave the impression that he wrote his bass parts around what Bernard has already written, rather than the old days of him banging out a bass riff and letting the band work around him.

Some would call that give and take.

There was a change of songwriting emphasis a few years back - before Get Ready - wherein Barney would go away and write most of a song alone, bringing it back for the others to add bits to it and generally flesh it out.

This was significantly different to how they did things earlier on where they'd jam for ages and then pick the bits they liked to develop them into songs. Barney's now much more of a solo songwriter than he was before. I suppose writing or co-writing the three Electronic albums has helped that whereas Hooky probably continued to use the old 'jam it for ages and then pick the bits out' approach with Revenge and Monaco.

When the songs get credited to just B.Sumner in future as opposed to New Order, then we'll all know the balance has totally shifted.

Phil's just a hired hand really. I don't think he has any input on the writing side. He's basically a mute human sequencer!

Going back to 2002, Bernard was announcing songs on stage as ones he had written. It all seems to go back to 1993, when Bernard thought he was being ripped off, firstly by Wilson and latterly by his band mates. He was owed a lot of money by Factory, and the reason Factory couldn't pay was because they had given the money to The Other Two and Revenge as advances! Ever since then he has been quick to big up songs that he had a major part in writing as being his own, and his ego shift to become a dictator in what they can and can't do as a band is now a considerable influence. I have absolutely no doubt at all that Hooky would love to be gigging more, and would happily wheel out some of the old bass riffs for us all again. However, he who must be obeyed won't do them, end of. EGG in Torino was probably a one-off, seeing as Bernard made such a mess of it. Noticeable as well how he has squeezed Phil's contribution (HNWYD) out of the set recently. As far as he is concerned, it is Bernard Sumner plus three other musicians, and that ain't the way it has to be.

Which makes sense that Hooky kept disappearing in the pit to be closer to the crowd. The man is aching to do the indoor gigs again.

About the songrwiting I think the main work is Bernard's, but not always, for example Krafty was written by Hooky, Hey Now sees an obvious input from Phil, and Bernard said he was afraid to fuck up a great song like the title track after hearing how good it was before writing the vocals and the lyrics. About Hooky and Bernard I'm afraid things are not as good as in 1998 when it really looked like they were back to true friendship. There are increasing difficult moments between them. But both seem excited about New Order's future, and when they take the piss out of each other they seem to do it with no real grudges, so I still hope they can get through the next album. But at this stage I'd say that it would have been better, as I suggested, they took a couple of year off after WFTSC, using the remaining songs as B sides, and come back for a brand new album at the end of the decade. Carrying on as they're doing is maybe pushing it a bit too far and I hope Andy Robinson can keep the peace in the band otherwise we'll see another Reading 93 next year. Then, these are just my impressions. What do the people closer to the band think about this? Is there really anything serious going on between them or we should not worry?

I sure hope they are.

The better they get along, the better the chance of a new album.

I think that with Hooky not drinking any more (due to being an alcoholic) and Barney not doing as much drugs any more, they probably realise that they out grew each other several decades ago, but need each other for their jobs. the piss taking is in humour, but many a true word! as they say.

i hope they last out for the next album and a decent tour afterwards.

this would also explain why such a short gigging spree for WFTSC.

I think that with Hooky not drinking any more (due to being an alcoholic) and Barney not doing as much drugs any more, they probably realise that they out grew each other several decades ago, but need each other for their jobs. the piss taking is in humour, but many a true word! as they say.

i hope they last out for the next album and a decent tour afterwards.

this would also explain why such a short gigging spree for WFTSC.

Let em fight all they want...as long as they keep making good music, we can all be content....