Hooky on the new album

I hadn't spotted this until now, apologies if its already been posted, from Hooky's blog in July: here's the link too: http://www.peterhook.co.uk/#/blogs/hookys-blog

"A lot of people have been asking what I feel about the New Record. Apart from the lousy titles it hasn’t had much impact, to be honest. I do not think the band has any validity at all now.

As I keep saying… !t may be called New Order but it is not New Order. It is definitely more Bad Lieutenant. In fact, a lot of the tracks on this record were destined for the 2nd Bad Lieutenant album (canned because of the lack of success). I must say that writing and finishing any album is something definitely to be proud of. I just wish the circumstances suited its release. It is funny seeing all the bullshit that’s surrounds the release. That is definitely something that I am not used to. Our last record was released in 2005 and while I witnessed it surrounding their gigs and so called reformation, this is a lot different.

It does make me wonder who they are trying to convince…themselves?…or you?

It is your money that keeps them going. In the same way it keeps me going. I suppose the difference is I am not pretending to be something I’m not. Writing the New Order book and going over everything in such detail has shown me many things I wasn’t really aware of. One thing it has definitely shown me is that New Order weren’t just a group…it was, in some ways, more an attitude. An attitude we brought with us from Joy Division and Punk. An attitude and celebration of a time that was very special. Embodied in Factory, The Hacienda and Manchester.

An anarchic, selfish way of looking at this crazy, bullshit business, that made it special, bearable and our own.

We did everything we could to try and change the system for the better, for everyone, and almost succeeded. At times, it made life very difficult for us. But the music and that attitude kept us going. Playing the gigs, ignoring Joy Division, at last winning the audiences approval and building a following, soon showed us we were doing something right.

Unfortunately when Factory went bust we knew things would change and slowly they did. After never having a single on an album, Republic, on London Records had four, the interminable remixing of the songs further diluting the core of the music and the principles. Then the videos etc etc.,

We changed too. In my opinion that’s when New Order finished as an attitude and way of life. We became just another group doing what every other group does. Once Rob passed it was buried with him.

Now they are just another group without the right line up, desperately trying to prove to you that they still have some value. That they still deserve your money and respect…take it from me…they don’t. Amazingly they have even conned Daniel Miller at Mute too.

My legal fight over the unauthorised use of the name is still ongoing. I will get Justice soon.

Until then recognise this for exactly what it is.

I can remember doing the promo for ‘Waiting for The siren’s Call’ and having to pretend everything was great with the group. Pretending we were all together and happy with the release. Like some new actress joining ‘Emmerdale’ or ‘Coronation Street’ all that ‘Were all one big happy family’ bollocks. Even though certain members were hardly on it. But I supposed we were used to doing that.

Credit it where it’s due though, as I said before making an LP, especially a New Order LP takes you through 7 kinds of hell at least. So completing it is a great achievement and I am positive that Barney will have worked very, very hard indeed on trying to make this one, the one that proves he doesn’t need me. I hear he has said there are two songs about me on it?

WOW! I’m flattered!

Although it makes him sound (especially after all this time) like a spurned lover….a bit creepy.

I suppose I, like you, will have to wait to pass final judgement. I hope he doesn’t succeed…I really do. New Order were very special, it started when that three piece appeared at The Beach Club and with that same three piece hardly changing all the way up to Technique, the magic was still there even then".

Laughably selective memory. Low-life featured two singles; Brotherhood had one (two on the CD release); Technique three. All before Republic's four. All on Factory.

And I think we all recognise who's sounding like a spurned lover.

And I'm certain talk of this legal battle over the band name will fizzle out soon. He's been on about it for y e a r s . . . (and Mute will have more capable solicitors in the extremely unlikely event it ever progresses).

Sad individual.

Yikes. Does he put that much stock in the trolls that say New Order are shit without him on youtube and facebook? I feel like people have been trolling New Order since Ian Curtis was put fresh in the grave. Sure, Bernard's propped up some bad tunes in the last decade (or more), but he's also been the principal songwriter since PCL. And if you look at the trajectory of the group, New Order are almost always at their best when Stephen and Bernard are in fruitful collaboration. That's kind of the unspoken dynamic in this group: the bass & drums core of Joy Division was slowly eschewed in favor of a role blurring electronic - acoustic tapestry, and that yielded much of what is musically enduring about New Order. Even if some of these new songs were originally slated for BL 2, who cares? Unless you are a punk band a song usually goes through a long process of maturation, especially with a group that's been around as long as New Order. If they reworked song ideas to recast them as New Order, that's great if the songs turn out memorable and well crafted. Hooky is right about one thing: there is a brand to support, and if that means Bernard (and Stephen, Gillian, Phil, and Tom) have worked doubly hard to prove themselves, then the fans will get a more than decent record.

blunt laser wrote: New Order weren’t just a group…it was, in some ways, more an attitude. An attitude we brought with us from Joy Division and Punk. An attitude and celebration of a time that was very special. Embodied in Factory, The Hacienda and Manchester.

blunt laser wrote: We did everything we could to try and change the system for the better, for everyone, and almost succeeded. At times, it made life very difficult for us. But the music and that attitude kept us going. Playing the gigs, ignoring Joy Division, at last winning the audiences approval and building a following, soon showed us we were doing something right.

Unfortunately when Factory went bust we knew things would change and slowly they did. After never having a single on an album, Republic, on London Records had four, the interminable remixing of the songs further diluting the core of the music and the principles. Then the videos etc etc.,

We changed too. In my opinion that’s when New Order finished as an attitude and way of life. We became just another group doing what every other group does. Once Rob passed it was buried with him.

My first contact with New Order started because the music - I didn't know anything about the attitude first. I just hear the songs on the radio, then I searched for the records in the shops... the last stage was to know everything I needed (or wanted) to know about the people behind the music, their ideas and their attitude. Yes, the attitude became music more brilliant, but I was already hooked on the band's sound at that point. So, the music is what really matters to me. And it seems that reformed New Order still produces good and fresh music.

Hooky seems to ignore the music. He thinks New Order only as "concept" or a way to do (or not to do) things (in music industry) and that concept would have died from a determined point. I respect his opinion but if I didn't know anything about Joy Division, Factory, Haçienda, etc, even so I would love Blue Monday, TPK, Low Life, Technique... and now Restless.

Another point is: people get older and change their minds. Rebels at youth; family men at middle-aged. It's quite odd a 60 years old man having the same mind and ideas like a young punk rocker. Nothing wrong to play the greatest hits to big audiences. It's not a crime to make money. After all, for what you spent years of your life writing successful singles and albums?

He can feel what he wants, and despite everything that's gone on at least he continues to not tear apart what New Order did for its first 10 years (except for the continuing weird exclusion of Gillian, which must be related to the lawsuit and use of the New Order name). Anyway, a bit of a tangent. I listened to the two Monaco albums on the way to work this morning and they're not classics like Technique or anything, but they were creative and have some really good moments. I wonder why he doesn't make an effort to do something new again (but dear God, no more Freebass). We will all know soon enough if New Order without him is a pale form of its old self (Restless is a very middling tune for me), but better to keep going forward than looking back.

What an utterly deluded, childish cunt. The amount of times I've felt like slapping him over the years with his bitchy comments. What's rich is he plays the victim card when the shoe's on the other foot.

I remember him saying years ago "oh if only you knew the real reason we split up etc etc." He was then asked to tell all, and he declined.

Dickhead.

So following his logic:

Jack has left Peter Hook and the light - they must change their name surely?

Man United have sold De Maria - they can no long be called Man United !

I leave my place of work - it must rebrand itself ?

How lame !!!!!

any new material from the light --- err no not until the NEW ORDER LP is released !

Roger Waters (one person could not keep the name Pink Floyd) Legal precedent - use this Barney

Bobby Chalton can't call himself Man United

What a joke

NU ORDAH

R0CKET M1CK wrote: any new material from the light --- err no not until the NEW ORDER LP is released !

Roger Waters (one person could not keep the name Pink Floyd) Legal precedent - use this Barney

Bobby Chalton can't call himself Man United

What a joke

NU ORDAH

Who is this? Tribute Rocket Mick😕

Rocket Mick wrote:

R0CKET M1CK wrote: any new material from the light --- err no not until the NEW ORDER LP is released !

Roger Waters (one person could not keep the name Pink Floyd) Legal precedent - use this Barney

Bobby Chalton can't call himself Man United

What a joke

NU ORDAH

Who is this? Tribute Rocket Mick😕

A Digital Mick sent from the future. He's incredibly lifelike.

Yeah, Hooky. Put your money where your mouth is. Dont forget to book your 30th Anniversary Tour of "Music Complete" for 2045.

Firstly, complete fucking hypocrisy. He carried on when Ian died, and Gillian left. Now, when he leaves, it isn't New Order anymore? Bullshit.

Secondly, he's the spurned lover, using every interview to proclaim "IF I CAN'T HAVE NEW ORDER NOBODY CAN!" like a jealous drunk whose wife finally tired of him and moved on.

You can take plenty of his statements abut "New Odour" and apply them to himself.

I wish him and The Light success, but The Light are a travelling musical museum, and tribute-band-to-himself, and until he puts his money where his mouth is, and stands behind some *NEW* material, he's desperately trying to convince us of his own current value. (Freebass? Jeez. I wish I'd been paid just to hear it.)

I could write loads more, but i can't be arsed. However, if he has a legal team, they probably should ban him from spouting such vitriol on the internet and to interviewers : I can imagine it just thickens the evidence pile at New Order Corp of examples of defamatory statements intended to vexatiously damage their ability to trade.

Another rant from Hooky's blog:

Tue, 11 Aug 2015 11:29:12

It seems there is a God!

The so called ‘New Odour Single’ is crap. Thank you my higher power!

Well it’s not crap, it’s just OK…which will do me. I must admit it was a very strange moment getting ready to listen to it. But I did and it sounds exactly like I thought it would…a Barney Sumner solo record. He truly is in control. Chorus is quite catchy but it is not as good as any other Single we ever recorded…Oh! Apart from ‘Jetstream’ … another Barney Sumner solo singleJ

I am delighted.

It is soulless and Barney even manages to sound bored while he sings it (should be called ‘Care less’ …cos it sounds like he doesn’t). The bass is relegated to a backing role, just how he likes it, in fact everything is in a backing role. The drums start off well but the complicated pattern is distracting. The whole song seems programmed to within an inch of it’s life (I bet that computer was red hot)…I bet it was re-programmed for weeks or months even, with everyone kept waiting until had every possible overdub had been exhausted, driving everyone mad in the process. It’s a bit lifeless, much like the group.

I feel sorry for the fans… waiting 10 years for some material with our name on it and getting presented with this? It really feels to me like just going through the motions (exactly why I split the group up in 2007). ‘The Emperor’s new clothes’ springs to mind.

Now the poor bastards have to do the promotion and pretend how much they enjoyed making it and how fulfilling it was etc etc., how everyone was fully involved blah blah blah…how were all getting on great, so much better than before. It’s like them soap actresses that appear on Lorraine and the first thing they say is, ‘Oh yeh! We’re just one big happy family on the set.’

Oh the deceit, just like we did on ‘Get Ready’ and ‘Siren’s’… god forgive me. I must admit that is one thing I don’t miss is the lying, the pretence, the myth/pantomime that all group’s peddle.

I was reading his MOJO Interview, which I will answer for you soon. I am sick and tired of that bastard lying about what happened with the Hacienda Name, I really am. The guy is a fucking moron as well as a liar (allegedly;) it’s time you knew the truth and I will write to MOJO and provide the proof.

My wife keeps telling me off, telling me to stop, to focus on how much I enjoy what I do now and not take any notice of the others. I know she’s right. But until the case is settled I cannot let up, not until justice is done. What they did to me is disgusting, stealing what was rightly mine from behind my back while I was in tour in China without ANY involvement with me, and expecting me to just lump it. NO CHANCE! After 31 years blood sweat and tears. What would you do?

Using the excuse of me playing Joy Division and taking The Hacienda name as justification to you, the fans, that they were right to come back as New Order without me. This is simply not true.

As I said before Bad Lieutenant were playing both Joy Division and New Order songs long before I did, and the Hacienda name was bought by Rob Gretton in 1997 at a public auction held by The Liquidator after The Hac went bankrupt. I get sick of repeating it, sometimes it feels like an ant kicking an elephant…but I’ll keep kicking until you all see sense.

They should be boycotted by every New Order Fan…they do not deserve your support. They are Thieves…’Thieves like them’ hee hee;)

Jozek wrote: My wife keeps telling me off, telling me to stop, to focus on how much I enjoy what I do now and not take any notice of the others. I know she’s right.

"My wife essentially wants me to stop being a twat and be an old man. I'm unable to do this and want to make this as bloody and terribly unnecessary as possible. I want the first result in Google to be about how the band is no more and I'm not in it. I want it to new fans just discovering New Order will be so distracted by the legal mess they won't be able to look past it, and instead won't read about the amazing gigs in the 80s and our amazing music, and instead, read about petty old men squabbling."

smh.

Jozek wrote: Another rant from Hooky's blog:

Tue, 11 Aug 2015 11:29:12

It seems there is a God!

The so called ‘New Odour Single’ is crap. Thank you my higher power!

Well it’s not crap, it’s just OK…which will do me. I must admit it was a very strange moment getting ready to listen to it. But I did and it sounds exactly like I thought it would…a Barney Sumner solo record. He truly is in control. Chorus is quite catchy but it is not as good as any other Single we ever recorded…Oh! Apart from ‘Jetstream’ … another Barney Sumner solo singleJ

I am delighted.

It is soulless and Barney even manages to sound bored while he sings it (should be called ‘Care less’ …cos it sounds like he doesn’t). The bass is relegated to a backing role, just how he likes it, in fact everything is in a backing role. The drums start off well but the complicated pattern is distracting. The whole song seems programmed to within an inch of it’s life (I bet that computer was red hot)…I bet it was re-programmed for weeks or months even, with everyone kept waiting until had every possible overdub had been exhausted, driving everyone mad in the process. It’s a bit lifeless, much like the group.

I feel sorry for the fans… waiting 10 years for some material with our name on it and getting presented with this? It really feels to me like just going through the motions (exactly why I split the group up in 2007). ‘The Emperor’s new clothes’ springs to mind.

Now the poor bastards have to do the promotion and pretend how much they enjoyed making it and how fulfilling it was etc etc., how everyone was fully involved blah blah blah…how were all getting on great, so much better than before. It’s like them soap actresses that appear on Lorraine and the first thing they say is, ‘Oh yeh! We’re just one big happy family on the set.’

Oh the deceit, just like we did on ‘Get Ready’ and ‘Siren’s’… god forgive me. I must admit that is one thing I don’t miss is the lying, the pretence, the myth/pantomime that all group’s peddle.

I was reading his MOJO Interview, which I will answer for you soon. I am sick and tired of that bastard lying about what happened with the Hacienda Name, I really am. The guy is a fucking moron as well as a liar (allegedly;) it’s time you knew the truth and I will write to MOJO and provide the proof.

My wife keeps telling me off, telling me to stop, to focus on how much I enjoy what I do now and not take any notice of the others. I know she’s right. But until the case is settled I cannot let up, not until justice is done. What they did to me is disgusting, stealing what was rightly mine from behind my back while I was in tour in China without ANY involvement with me, and expecting me to just lump it. NO CHANCE! After 31 years blood sweat and tears. What would you do?

Using the excuse of me playing Joy Division and taking The Hacienda name as justification to you, the fans, that they were right to come back as New Order without me. This is simply not true.

As I said before Bad Lieutenant were playing both Joy Division and New Order songs long before I did, and the Hacienda name was bought by Rob Gretton in 1997 at a public auction held by The Liquidator after The Hac went bankrupt. I get sick of repeating it, sometimes it feels like an ant kicking an elephant…but I’ll keep kicking until you all see sense.

They should be boycotted by every New Order Fan…they do not deserve your support. They are Thieves…’Thieves like them’ hee hee;)

LOL

If you read the comments from people on the New Order Restless Youtube audio video, you will see that the response to Restless is overwhelmingly positive. They are some nasayers, but most seem to dig the track.

Also, the synth work, strings, and guitars in the song are intricate and nicely arranged. Steve's drumming is jazzy and intricate. Nice tune.

Hooky needs to listen to his wife. You quit the band, Hooky. Just move on and play the music that makes you happy. I saw the Closer show a few years ago here in NYC (Jack was even kind enough to put me on the guest list so I could give a fair criticism of the Light) and I did enjoy it, though not as much as I did the 2012-2013 New Order gigs.

This is sad to read, it really is. He is obsessed. A jealous ex lover. It's sad.

Of course, what do I know? I LOVED Jetstream.

J-E-T

This is eating Hooky up big time and for all concerned I wish he would just "let it go".

Hooky, fuck up.

You. Left. The. Band.

Get over it, sunshine. You really have become an utter cunt, and it's a shame as you're still one of my musical heroes.

Wow - he's really all over the place here. I think he needs to get some help, and quickly.

Not sure how useful it is to his legal case by calling them 'thieves', a 'lying bastard' and a 'fucking moron' in a published blog. He's welcome to an opinion, but it really is just his opinion, and as he left the band, it's no more valid than my own. In fact, less so - after listening to his solo/side project output, I trust my ears over Hooky's on what sounds good and what doesn't. (Big hint: Freebass was really not good)

Hooky - you were the first of the NO side projects to play both NO and JD tracks live, you did both DNE and Failures with Revenge. Electronic never did either JD or NO, and the OT never performed live. Your argument is weak. The rest of what you have to say is character assassination or incoherent rambling that often contradicts itself. Get help and for goodness sake, get yourself a press agent, or at least someone to proofread your blog before you publish.

Ugh

Jozek wrote:

Oh the deceit, just like we did on ‘Get Ready’ and ‘Siren’s’… god forgive me. I must admit that is one thing I don’t miss is the lying, the pretence, the myth/pantomime that all group’s peddle.

It's obvious he still would like to be in the group, he's the creepy jealous ex lover. Hooky, it was your decision to leave, admit to yourself what a bad decision it was, musically and financially. Everything he moans about, he writes in his blogs, it's all about not coming to terms that HE made this false decision, not Barney, Steve or Gillian. It's like quitting your job and and then complaining about why the company is not going under without you, as you were the most important associate, of course - in your opinion.

I wished they didn't fight or argue about everything, it makes me so sad, they made so much good music together and wished that they continued doing this. All of this fighting ruins it especially with the release of the new album coming out.

The guy needs to think about what all this childish bitching and anger is doing to his health.

"The drums are too complicated!" "The singer sounds bored!" "The album took too long!" "I can't keep my VCR from flashing 12:00!" "It's too cold in here!"

He is regretting every single moment of leaving.

Reminds me of a mate who left his missus for the greener side of the fence, only to change his mind when his ex began to date a VERY rich man and his own new relationship broke down within a year or so. This new man absolutely doted on her and treated her well (he still does all these years later), but my mate is now convinced that he stole her off him with his money - that they had been seeing each other before he dumped her.

This is blatantly untrue because the girl was in bits at the time and only met this bloke much later on. In truth, my mate was an absolute shit to her and has now revised history in order to save face.

Hook is doing the same thing. Every drop of bitter poison that spews off his ugly tongue convicts him of his envy and will do nothing in the long run except to make him ill (as said above).

Get Ready wrote: He is regretting every single moment of leaving.

Reminds me of a mate who left his missus for the greener side of the fence, only to change his mind when his ex began to date a VERY rich man and his own new relationship broke down within a year or so. This new man absolutely doted on her and treated her well (he still does all these years later), but my mate is now convinced that he stole her off him with his money - that they had been seeing each other before he dumped her.

This is blatantly untrue because the girl was in bits at the time and only met this bloke much later on. In truth, my mate was an absolute shit to her and has now revised history in order to save face.

Hook is doing the same thing. Every drop of bitter poison that spews off his ugly tongue convicts him of his envy and will do nothing in the long run except to make him ill (as said above).

I agree. and the sad part is every one of these outbursts pushes back the timeline for ever reconciling, if it still exists. I long held out hope that if he came to his senses and apologized the others would meet him halfway. Now I don't think that's ever happening.

To adapt an old Chinese proverb (Mark Twain actually), It's better to keep your big mouth shut and appear a twot than to open it and remove all doubt. Mind you, what did you expect? That he'd maintain his usual dignified silence or be jolly nice about it? At least he's found one nice thing to say about Bernard, which is eight more than usual. I agree that the music was (is) the most important thing. There was so much going on around NO - the Hassie, Dry Bar, Factory, Tony Wilson, Peter Saville, collaborations etc - quite honestly I always wished they'd just shut up about it and make Technique 2. Yes, the no-singles-off-albums line went out the window 30 years ago. And given the paltry number of tracks per album, the single output was a fairly high percentage. Hardly The White Album. A lot of the hype around the band isn't borne out historically, notably the idea of ALWAYS doing live-but-shite TOTP performances that did chart placings more harm than good. It sounds awesome but is only true for BM. He has a point about it going pear-shaped circa Republic. However at the time he insisted to both NME and John Peel that Hague'd turned it into a classic NO LP... And if he felt that bad about it all, why not get off yer fat arse and make new music instead of cashing royalty cheques and boning Mrs Merton? As for new material - I'd love a Light album because they kick serious butt, but I can't see it happening. Hooky loves touring and he was never the greatest singer-songwriter. Revenge, anyone? PS Why the Freebass hatred? The EP was awful but the album was fine for me - on a par with Monaco 2 and far better than the laughable One True Passion. PPS Melanie C.

these latest posts from hooky just cross the line for me --- growing up, he was easily the most influential artist that i followed, i even learned to play bass and loaded up the chorus effects and slung the guitar low when playing live, raced out to get an NME or whatnot to read any new order interview curious what he would say ----

but this is really the last straw. i sort of understood the past few years remarks, knew he was hurtin, knew he might just be lashing out like anyone might --- even went to see him in boston a few years ago, and it was a great show

but enough is enough for fucks sake

i really have no respect for him anymore. i won't go see him play again. i won't buy his next book, which will be difficult, because i enjoyed his last two.

his behavior is worse now that he is sober than when he was all loaded

it is just sad.

I could maybe support his comments about how New Order lost something when Factory folded and Rob Gretton died, but his 'none more punk than me' comments come across as bollocks in the light of the fact that all he's done in the last 10 years is try to repackage nostalgia at whatever the cost without giving a monkeys about anything that might resemble 'artistic integrity'

If he'd just quit the band and disappeared in silent dignity, rather than buying up odds and sods from the Hacienda and trying to flog them at ridiculously over inflated prices to purveyors of crap, doing his crappy DJ turns at every dodgy Indie disco that will fling a few bob his way (and getting caught in the act pretend DJing too) and doing show after show of cover versions for years on end without recording anything original, then he might have a point, as it is, he's becoming more of a sad echo of a once valid musical artiste with each of these interviews that are published.

Bill Wyman quit the Rolling Stones, and has got on with his life since, he hasn't spent the last 25 years crowing away everytime Mick Jagger or Keith Richards do something, time for Peter to either fade into obscurity, or release something new, vital and interesting that will show people he still has something worth listening to other than 'Bernard is a cunt' I am not expecting the new N.O. album to re-invent the wheel or have people buying it in droves, but at least they will be new songs, regardless of whether some of them were written with the intention of being released as Bad Lieutenant.

Ooof that blog post is dreadful. Can it get any worse? His spite and vitriol has turned him into a caricature. It's like he's drinking from the same water as Courtney Love and Donald Trump. How low can you go indeed :-(