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.
