Blue Monday: the ultimate song

I was considering Blue Monday recently and I confirmed my long-held belief that it represents a pinnacle not only in New Order's collective song-writing experience but also in pop music history. How so?

The song was apparently written to see what their new Oberheim DMX drum machine could do as well as more fully utilise the abilities of their Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 synth and poly-sequencer setup. Both experiments worked fantastically well. Musically you've got everything that the Order had before: Hooky's bass to the fore, an enigmatic Barney lyric/vocal, but now with an extended arrangement influenced by Moroder and Patrick Cowley's work with Sylvester, the Kraftwerk reference through the 'Uranium' choir sample, the kudos of being released on an influential indie label, it becoming a classic dancefloor anthem, the biggest selling 12" of all time etc and...it possessing a sleeve which cost more to produce than it made (apparently)!

By the way, I always considered the floppy disc sleeve was itself a statement: the song was the software you loaded into your system on a giant disc. That the band or song name weren't on the sleeve was also important: no pre-conceptions here - just play it.

One or two of these facets would probably gain it notoriety but the whole lot together represents a watershed moment in pop history.

A personal recollection: I was at a youth club party - being a mere callow youth of still 16 when it was released - and grew a bit weary of the derivative New York electro being continuously played. I went home, brought back BM and the place just freaked! I must've played it and The Beach about five times each that night and the whole place danced as they never had together before!

Things changed forever and not least for New Order themselves. I think it's also one of the first times FUNK featured on a New Order song: cop the funky bits Gillian plays! I think its influence as a piece of music extends from there: they were already seriously influential with guitar-liking persons through Joy Division and Movement but the early promise of Everything's Gone Green and Temptation solidified in Blue Monday - it's like they went beyond themselves and drew a line in the sand, a high watermark.

That it remains as remixed as it does and is still played worldwide is evident of its continuing brilliance. It'll soon be 25 years since its initial release.

Blue Monday is the ultimate song.

My brother watched the Joy Division to Happy Mondays Factory BBC4 doc the other week.He hadn't known about the Blue Monday sleeve costing so much to produce and therefore losing money on each copy.So his initial comment was "Why did it cost so much money to just put a few holes in the sleeves?" He's got a point there hasn't he? Why did it cost so much to put those floppy disc type holes in ? I mean it's just a normal record sleeve apart from the holes

Probably for the same reason that Polo mints cost more than normal mints. And Jammy Dodgers are more than normal Jam-filled biscuits. And because the sleeve was a two-part design (requiring an inner sleeve where most 12" only constituted a simple slipcase), the card was heavier to support the holes and the range of colours in the colour wheel meant that the printing was was full-colour (requiring each sleeve to go through the screen three times), then another machine was required to cut the holes. It's surprising how reprographic costs used to ramp up with seemingly simple changes in complexity of design.

It's probably all done with laser beams now, like.

Dont shoot me for saying this but I dont really like Blue Monday - ive heard it too many times and it gets a bit monotonous. There are many better songs that NO have done.

Brilliant post Chem,

well thought out,well put down in words.

Ive got to be 'in the mood' to listen to BM,

though it takes nothing away from the track,

it was,is and always will be a classic

great post

BM

classic track......

http://new-gamestown.myminicity.com/

Thank you. I didn't wish to overstate the case for BM but it's hard not to really as it such a definitive track. I should say, therefore, that it can't be praised enough but I still meet people who don't 'get it' too well; the real magic of the song just goes over their heads.

In terms of influence, it's hard to underate it: think of all the (almost immediate) rip-offs like Divine's Love Reaction etc and it's true to say it had a huge effect on the development of Chicago house and Detroit techno as well as the hi-energy scene in the UK and the US. Indeed, Blue Monday became a blueprint! I like to think that it'll still be highly-regarded in another 25 years.

Ps the recent Monaco live version of it was interesting too!

I must say I suspect a bit of myth making with regards to the sleeve as the copy I bought in 1983 just has a simple white paper sleeve in the inside. So at some point early on they must have realised they were losing money and got rid of the die cut inner sleeve.

The original pressing had a silver inner as well, silver inks cost more to use.

The myth doesn't really take into account the fact that they dropped most of these expensive features on later pressings, so it won't have cost more to make for the majority of what was sold after the first few runs.

Chemical wrote:

In terms of influence, it's hard to underate it: think of all the (almost immediate) rip-offs like Divine's Love Reaction etc

I think the biggest 'nod' its had, was the 'mash up' with Kylie Minogue's "Cant Get You Out Of My Head" (commercially,anyway).

Gazman wrote:

Chemical wrote:

In terms of influence, it's hard to underate it: think of all the (almost immediate) rip-offs like Divine's Love Reaction etc

I think the biggest 'nod' its had, was the 'mash up' with Kylie Minogue's "Cant Get You Out Of My Head" (commercially,anyway).

Or Ultravox's White China

Gazman wrote:

I think the biggest 'nod' its had, was the 'mash up' with Kylie Minogue's "Cant Get You Out Of My Head" (commercially,anyway).

talking about Cant Get You Out Of My Head, i like the coldshite version what they played on glastonbury 2005

i know Gary...you'd say back to the topic :D

BEst description I ever read of BM was from an NME or Sounds review of True Faith.

I'm recalling this from a 20yr old file here, no doubt some bugger here will post a scan of said article to show how wrong I am.

"True Faith, is, like Blue Monday, the archetypical New Order song, a symphony you can dance to".

It's odd, I've heard it so many times, and yet every so often it, particularly the "outro" section of it, bowls me over, makes my eyes tearful and my throat lumpful. At Monty's NO disco, it did it, I nearly blubbed (I think it's status as "essence of New Order" was too much on top of the brilliant company I'd had all day (and that includes Liam, and Kershaw I might add, both fabulous chaps in the "big room"[1] ). The Apollo ruined me completely and tears streamed down my face (after all, my first time hearing it for real), Barney noodling the TPK strings over it, almost left me "hicking" like a cried-out 6 year old. I survived Bournemouth and Wembley, but Wolves, standing at the back and not only experiencing the piece, but taking time to experience the way everyone else was experiencing it, was quire emotional, and I welled up....though just a little.

I find it odd, admitting that music has such power over me, but as old Bertie Wells said, "These storms of emotion of mine, have a habit of exhausting themselves", and I go semi normal again.

EDIT: Methinks Digi'll never speak to me again.

[1]Big Room: n.

(Also Big Blue Room) The extremely large room with the blue ceiling and intensely bright light (during the day) or black ceiling with lots of tiny night-lights (during the night) found outside all computer installations. “He can't come to the phone right now, he's somewhere out in the Big Room.”

Great initial post, but forgetting one thing... one of the greatest parts of BM is that the drumming sounds exactly like a .50 caliber machine gun shooting off.... pure bliss and harmony of sound and power there

A monolithic slab of machine-driven funk - instantly recognisable - first few beats and you just know what it is.

Best moment was a few years ago in Fabric, where I wandered from Room 1 into Room 2 at around 4am, and both DJs were playing Blue Monday on that amazing soundsystem.

Suffice to say, it sounded fucking great.

Chemical wrote: I was considering Blue Monday recently and I confirmed my long-held belief that it represents a pinnacle not only in New Order's collective song-writing experience but also in pop music history. How so?

The song was apparently written to see what their new Oberheim DMX drum machine could do as well as more fully utilise the abilities of their Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 synth and poly-sequencer setup. Both experiments worked fantastically well. Musically you've got everything that the Order had before: Hooky's bass to the fore, an enigmatic Barney lyric/vocal, but now with an extended arrangement influenced by Moroder and Patrick Cowley's work with Sylvester, the Kraftwerk reference through the 'Uranium' choir sample, the kudos of being released on an influential indie label, it becoming a classic dancefloor anthem, the biggest selling 12" of all time etc and...it possessing a sleeve which cost more to produce than it made (apparently)!

By the way, I always considered the floppy disc sleeve was itself a statement: the song was the software you loaded into your system on a giant disc. That the band or song name weren't on the sleeve was also important: no pre-conceptions here - just play it.

One or two of these facets would probably gain it notoriety but the whole lot together represents a watershed moment in pop history.

A personal recollection: I was at a youth club party - being a mere callow youth of still 16 when it was released - and grew a bit weary of the derivative New York electro being continuously played. I went home, brought back BM and the place just freaked! I must've played it and The Beach about five times each that night and the whole place danced as they never had together before!

Things changed forever and not least for New Order themselves. I think it's also one of the first times FUNK featured on a New Order song: cop the funky bits Gillian plays! I think its influence as a piece of music extends from there: they were already seriously influential with guitar-liking persons through Joy Division and Movement but the early promise of Everything's Gone Green and Temptation solidified in Blue Monday - it's like they went beyond themselves and drew a line in the sand, a high watermark.

That it remains as remixed as it does and is still played worldwide is evident of its continuing brilliance. It'll soon be 25 years since its initial release.

Blue Monday is the ultimate song.

what an absolute genuine perspective!

it was,is and always will be a classic!

Chemical wrote: Ps the recent Monaco live version of it was interesting too!

thanks, we thought so too

top post btw

johnny james wrote: The original pressing had a silver inner as well, silver inks cost more to use.

The myth doesn't really take into account the fact that they dropped most of these expensive features on later pressings, so it won't have cost more to make for the majority of what was sold after the first few runs.

Shhh!

It's utter bollocks and bores me shitless when they have to do it live ( i mean swith a computer on )

She has the funk!

She can come and dance like that for me anytime.

7 7 7 wrote: It's utter bollocks and bores me shitless when they have to do it live ( i mean swith a computer on )

racist

whether we are based on carbon or silicon makes no fundamental difference, we should each be treated with th appropriate respect.

except nowdays the computers do not play any instruments, just a "tape", so yer point NOW stands.

i went through a period of several years where i could barely listen to BM, but i'm starting to appreciate it again. i'm still rather sick of the song, but in all fairness it is a great piece of music. you're absolutely right, chemical, it is quite revolutionary!

It is in more ways than appear to immediately apparent.

It was also a big song for the Order themselves: previously the electronic side had been bolted onto the guitar-based thing. Although in songs like EGG and Temptation there is a significant synth presence, BM took this several stages further. It was also a song which really put them on the map commercially as well as critically. As odd as it may seem now, there were those at the time who professed to say they were influenced by NO "until Blue Monday"! BM and Confusion proved to be somewhat of a watershed for some followers who were consumed by the more guitar-based earlier songs: BM was not only dancey but electronic and popular too!

It's a song that reveals itself over a long time: the unusual samples on it for instance like the explosion sounds and the delayed percussion. Excellent. If ever Oberheim needed a demo song for the DMX, Blue Monday is it too!

May i also ADD to the ever growing list of NOOLs who think this is a GREAT post.WELL DONE to CHEMICALs is all i can say!

Thank you! I think I'd be working up to posting it for quite a while. Bloody New Order! Once their music gets into you, you end up posting stuff about it!

I've always loved Blue Monday. And though I'll admit I never think "Oh I'll play Blue Monday" very often, every time I hear it I'm reminded how awesome the song really is. Overplayed? I guess in some respects, but in another, perhaps it isn't if I can get excited every time it comes on.

In all honesty, it could very well be one of the most influencial songs ever recorded.

Blue Monday is really cool... too bad the band never did much else.

Chemical wrote: I was considering Blue Monday recently and I confirmed my long-held belief that it represents a pinnacle not only in New Order's collective song-writing experience but also in pop music history. How so?

The song was apparently written to see what their new Oberheim DMX drum machine could do as well as more fully utilise the abilities of their Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 synth and poly-sequencer setup. Both experiments worked fantastically well. Musically you've got everything that the Order had before: Hooky's bass to the fore, an enigmatic Barney lyric/vocal, but now with an extended arrangement influenced by Moroder and Patrick Cowley's work with Sylvester, the Kraftwerk reference through the 'Uranium' choir sample, the kudos of being released on an influential indie label, it becoming a classic dancefloor anthem, the biggest selling 12" of all time etc and...it possessing a sleeve which cost more to produce than it made (apparently)!

By the way, I always considered the floppy disc sleeve was itself a statement: the song was the software you loaded into your system on a giant disc. That the band or song name weren't on the sleeve was also important: no pre-conceptions here - just play it.

One or two of these facets would probably gain it notoriety but the whole lot together represents a watershed moment in pop history.

A personal recollection: I was at a youth club party - being a mere callow youth of still 16 when it was released - and grew a bit weary of the derivative New York electro being continuously played. I went home, brought back BM and the place just freaked! I must've played it and The Beach about five times each that night and the whole place danced as they never had together before!

Things changed forever and not least for New Order themselves. I think it's also one of the first times FUNK featured on a New Order song: cop the funky bits Gillian plays! I think its influence as a piece of music extends from there: they were already seriously influential with guitar-liking persons through Joy Division and Movement but the early promise of Everything's Gone Green and Temptation solidified in Blue Monday - it's like they went beyond themselves and drew a line in the sand, a high watermark.

That it remains as remixed as it does and is still played worldwide is evident of its continuing brilliance. It'll soon be 25 years since its initial release.

Blue Monday is the ultimate song.

I totally agree Al. I really cant see why this song is so derided by members of this board and by the band themselves. There are plenty of worse songs and plenty of worse albums that they produced. Your right it is a clear evolution of the Kraftwerk/Giorgio Moroder formula and in 1983 it was something of an achievement to have such a stark uncomproming song actually in the charts amidst a myriad of Duran, Culture Club, Spandau etc. I actually heard this song played on Radio 2 recently and my first thought was wow this sounds so radical even now.

Great post :)

I've always loved BM and its always going to be in my top 5 favourite songs of all time. The way it all fits together and there are so many little touches that make it genius... that wobbly synth from the start that's absent until the end, the extra notes at the end of the bass solo that leads to the outro, so mayn other bits i can't describe... i'll stick it on when i get home and put the times on!

Oh God help us

when i was learning blue monday on keyboard, i found the parts to be pretty easy. before hand i thought it would be hard to play...love this song but don't like to hear it very often.

I think it became a pain for the band to play live for two reasons:

1. It's quite a layered song and, moving away from the DMX/Polysequencer setup meant they had to recreate it all on whatever gear they had later. It took a good deal of time and hard work to come close to the original once again (courtesy of a hard drive recorder) later on.

2. Being one of their most well-known songs also made it appear to be a catchphrase and the Order resisted playing what they thought was an obvious song because they felt they had loads of other just-as-good songs. I think Barney said something about it once in an interview about people being disappointed if you didn't play it but hoping they'd understand why.

Confusion: yup, just as radical really. You've the whole NY/Arthur Baker electro thing there. Cha-cha, cha-cha-hey! Both of these songs are light years from Ceremony and what's on Movement and yet they're just a few years younger. Errrr...quite remarkable!

darran clarke wrote: Dont shoot me for saying this but I dont really like Blue Monday - ive heard it too many times and it gets a bit monotonous. There are many better songs that NO have done.

Agreed. I don't choose to listen to it but I fall at the grace of it whenever I hear it on TV or radio. However it is a New Order classic and indeed an all time music classic. Innovative etc etc.

I prefer The Beach...

Snorri xxx

Snorrimon wrote: I prefer The Beach...

Snorri xxx

Fcuk off to Blackpool then teacher!