Blue Monday is 20 years old

i feel young. this was released a full month before i was born and i wish i could tell ya it changed my life.

and call me stupid, but why exactly was it so influencial?

well it has been around for almost 1/2 my life...

My love and appreciation of New Order began with this song. I was 14 when this song was released. After hearing it, I wanted to know more about the group. To this day, I still love the song. It is definitely a classic...

(After finding out about NO, I discovered they were once Joy Division.)

quote from frontpage ..... "Blue Monday, the song that launched new wave"... ????????

the stereotyped blanket term "new wave" had pretty much worn out by 1983... "Cars" by Gary Numan was a worldwide synthpop dance hit in 1979, a song which was most def defined as "new wave" back then.... whatever "labels" are worth anyway... the point being, not that "Cars" started "new wave", just that "new wave" was a well known, overused term by 1980. "Rock lobster" was a hit back in 1979 also, and "Whip It" by Devo was a big hit in the USA in 1980.

I remember finding it("Blue Monday 12") in the Joy Division vinyl bin at the indie record store (New Order had not quite warranted their own spot yet, but they would soon)... the record store guy had written "new" New Order/ex-Joy Divison" on the plastic cover in magic marker, so the buyer could tell that it was New Order or at least connected to Joy Division (since it sure as hell didnt say it on the cover anywhere)... I was wary, but intriged by the odd packaging with no band name, and the Factory style. I was just getting into the 1981-82 Ep (i liked Everything's Gone Green and Procession at first), and had the previous six months been obsessed with Joy Division.

I put the 12" on, but was not sure whether it was 45 or 33 rpm... i tried it first at 45 for 30 seconds and thought the beginning was really cool but could not be at the right speed, so i tried it at 33rpm and finally figured out that 45 was correct when the vocals kicked in slow... and thought "cool... that spastic beat really is suppossed to be that fast!" (which is funny because Blue Monday seemed so slow compared to music in the 90s). And each time i listened to Blue monday or the Beach, i liked them even more, and then I heavily anticipated the new record Power, Corruption, and Lies... i could not wait, and was finally rewarded with more great music and packaging. nobody had told me to like Joy Divison and New Order... i had discovered it totally by accident and on my own. and i liked them more than all those other bands that i was suppossed to like, was told to like.

Every time i put on substance or retro i hit the FFWD button when i hear this start... got to say its my least fave track by NO... RIP i say.. jeez if i hear another crapy remix of it... happy birthday BM anyway. :\party:

I was born a year after Blue Monday, so it's less of a life-changing thing and more of a starting point!

I alwalys skip past it on PCL but during Substance I still listen. I don't think I'll ever grow tired of it.

BLUE MONDAY, The greatest selling 12" single in musics history. What else needs to be said?. How does it feel 20 years later?, It still feels good.

It came out when I was about 10 or 11 years of age, but I'm not quite sure when I first heard it. I think my cousin Dale or Cherryl first played it for me circa 85-86(ish), though I do recall hearing "Confusion" quite some time before that. That was when I was really getting into "electronic" music for the first time, so I'm sure that it was definately influential for me...they're still my favorite band after all these years without a doubt!

These days...depends on my mood. Sometimes I listen to it, sometimes I don't. I'm a "Temptation" man myself, but BM will always have that one place in my heart...almost a first love if you will.

That's the gist!

I was 13 when it was first released. Still distinctly remember hearing it on the radio in bed at night and thinking 'wow'. I was too young to really be into music at that stage, but that started my interest because I had never heard anything like it before. I think many of us now can take or leave BM, but when it was released, it really was ground breaking. I remeber Hooky saying in an interview many moons ago, people were walking around going 'aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr' at the time. It was that and the unlikely drums that were so different.

Did not buy it until the next year - pocket money you see. I remember doing a school project on the table at home when I was 14 and I had the BM 12" playing (I kid you not) for three hours straight on my parents turntable (yes kids - that black vinyl player). When it got to the end I'd flip it over for The Beach. Consequently my parents (& brother)dislike New Order, they don't understand why I like them and think it all sounds a bit dull. But hey, I don't need to convince you people.

I think it sounds pretty crappy live (especially the lack-lustre thunderclap that sounds like they ripped off the first sample they could find). I do recall one excellent live version (can't remember when), but Barney plays unusally heavy guitar in it which made it sound excellent.

Oh shit - 20 years ago, I'm feeling older. Keep up the great work New Order.

When it first came out I was 19 and had just left the safety of home to start a new life in swinging London. I used to play it endlessly until quite suddenly I got so fed up with it I never wanted to hear it again. However, when it was played at Reading 98 I fell in love with it all over again. In any case, I will always associate BM with the brilliant time I had in London.

I was 14 in 1983, and had a passing interest in New Order through my older brother. We always used to go for a kick-about in the evening, but I remember one night he stayed in to sit by the radio because he "wanted to record the new New Order single".

That tape got played to death, and Blue Monday became the first record I ever bought on the day of release (a habit that has stuck with me as far as New Order releases go). That was quickly followed by Power, Corruption & Lies and I was hooked.

My copy is absolutely knackered, by the way, because it spent most of the spring term on loan to half the school that wanted to record it.

Don't really bother with BM88 or the other mixes, the original is still best. I've even got it as my ringtone...

I played to it death when it first came out and you could say I OD'd on it and it actually began to annoy the cabbage out of me.

However, I have been listening to it again recently and I must agree that it is an absolute classic. Especially in view of what you consider was in the UK charts at the time in opposition.

It was of course released twice in 1983. I spent a week of that year in Ibiza and it was indeed huge in all the Brit holiday locations and everyone came home and bought it sending it right up the charts again.

Can anyone remember the first TOTP performance when Mike Reid (Not FRANK BUTCHER!) announced. "Playing live AND singing live".

20 years ago. Amazing.

DM

I was 3 years old (my current mental age) when BM came out. I wore my brother's compilation tape out by constantly rewinding it to the start of BM.

Obviously i totally hate it now. :D

I first became aware of Blue Monday and New Order with the TOTP performance, (I was actually hoping Spandau Ballet would be on that night!). The first thing that struck me was that the look of the band and the song didn't go together - found the whole thing a bit surreal and didn't particularly like the track. It probably planted a seed of NO interest that didn't develop for a few years.

I love the track now though and think it has stood the test of time.

When it came out I was spellbound - I'd seen it played live the once without realising what it was I'd heard, and I played the record (both sides) every day for six months after I bought it on the day of release. The inevitable overkill/hatred/don't ever fucking play that song again you bastards/no you don't have to play it every night reaction kicked in about 85, and lasted a very long time, until about twenty minutes before the end of the Paris show in May 2002. I wish they didn't do it every gig, or if they insist on playing it, that they play it at the start of the set. In the old days it was occasionally the opening number - at least you knew the rest of the set would be better in those days !

Now that we've grown up together, it's not about extremes of love/hate. I'd rather not have to listen to it ever again (as in I'd rather they did other stuff from the back catalogue), but will tolerate it if it is played. And yes, it is still a top track.

Ahhh Blue Monday.

First heard it in 87 after I'd gotten into TF & was blown away. Spent many a Saturday night dancing to it in the Silver Screen in Eccles (for those who remember it:D) and loved The Beach too.

I saw BM88 & Beach Buggy as an improvement (!) and for a few years this appeared on all my mix tapes.

However, there is indeed such a thing as overkill and by 93 I couldn't bear it anymore. These days, I listen to about 90 secs and then ffwd. I can just about listen to the Hardfloor mix (best of all the many attempts IMHO)

Strange thing is, unlike MANY people in here, I always enjoy BM live at a gig.

Life in the old dog yet ? Just ;)

i was a wee boy of 9 when it came out and my brother bought it. i played it to death but i thought for years it was called 'the beach' coz the labels are on the wrong way round on his copy.

i heard it last year in Sankeys in manchester and it sounded just as good as anything made today. 'nuff said.

It came out a full year before I was born, but it must have been playing while I was in the womb because I can't remember my first time listening to it.

I can't remember the last time I listened to it either but, according to my mates, I was apparently bouncing wildly around a shit club ( the limelight to those from this God forsaken hole)to it.

It's a great song and I believe it would still be just as much of a hit if it was released for the first time today. Not my favourite NO song but would definitely be in my top 5. Brilliant, timeless stuff

Originally posted by Jordan L Ahhh Blue Monday.Spent many a Saturday night dancing to it in the Silver Screen in Eccles

Oops, bit of a silent comment that. What I meant to say was Where was the Silver Screen? Was it the old Talk of the North or The old Broadway cinema? Wasn't there an old dance school in Eccles that was very popular and half of Salford would go there and you had to learn some ballroom dancing for the first part of the session and then it kicked on with modern stuff? What the hell was that called?

I was all of three years old when it came out, and I don't remember hearing it and it actually sticking with me until I bought PCL. I have the typical NO fan "love-hate-love-hate-hate-hate-love" relationship with the song, it gets tiresome one month then fresh and great-sounding another. I think if you didn't get sick of it every now and then and stop listening to it, it wouldn't sound as great as it does when you "rediscover" it a little later on.

As for the "new wave" comment....I always thought it referred to the "punk" bands that emerged after the Pistols (like XTC, Squeeze, and The Cars) who embraced some aspects of pop in the Seventies as well as the garage bands of the Sixties, and thus actually developed musical styles so divergent from the typical 3-chord orientation of punk (which, based on the Pistols' album, is a glaring stereotype of the real punk sound. Sorry, blink-182 and Avril, you got it wrong). Anyway, that's my stab at "rock criticism" for today, i expect you all to declare me a genius and fetch only the most nubile young women for my pleasure........okay, maybe I overstated myself :D

I arrived at Blue Monday taking the longest of detours. I was 14. One pretty boring Summer afternoon I was listening to a special programme on the radio about hip-hop or rap or break dance or whatever it was called back then. The presenter was introducing every semifamous group and he was talking about this one (Great master Flash? Don't know.) whose main feature was that they played electric guitar besides the usual stuff. Then the song starts and sure enough it's the start of BM (only I did not know that at the time) I was hooked but I thought it was by them rappers.

Some time later I was listening to the radio and suddenly this same song crops up. This time I phoned the station and was told that the song was Blue Monday by NEW ORDER.

Soon after she moved into my house and we've never looked back since.

I remember it like it was yesterday.... [Wibbly screen, wibbly screen]. I'd just turned 14 when Blue Monday came out. Being 14, I had very little pocket money so used to tape what I liked from the Radio 1 Chart rundown on a Sunday (and then later on I discovered Annie Nightingale's request show on afterwards).

I heard it first there and thought it really cool a) because it was 7 minutes long; b) had loads of weird noises that sounded like nothing else I'd ever heard before c) hope it stays in the charts so I can tape it next week. I didn't need to worry. I remember taping Love Will Tear Us Apart as well that year as that went back in the charts again 3 years after the first time for some bizarre reason, but I had no idea they were the same band. It wasn't until I started buying the New Musical Express in 1985 that I started piecing the story together. It's all very easy now getting knowledge with the internet but in 1985 with no publicity you had to be a detective to work it all out! I spent all of my pocket money in 1985 in buying the JD/NO back catalogue. The one great thing about the mid-80s was you could still buy 12" singles that were up to 6 years old. Maybe a lot of that was down to Factory's independent distribution. These days it's a major task tracking down a single that's only from last year nevermind past decades.

To be honest, even though I was 15 when it came out, in America I was too busy listening to Michael Jackson and The Police that year. It was only after Substance came out, when I immediately recognized about 3/4 of disc one without knowing that I'd heard these tunes before (I bought it for True Faith and have never looked back), that I connected BM with New Order. Then again, song titles have never meant anything with this band! With regards to that song, I think it is still a great song and have been enjoying the remix on Retro quite a bit. I too have somewhat tired of the original.

I always liked this song. But my most memorable moment of it was at my graduation after-party. I actually had my first dance with my current girlfriend to Blue Monday. We slow danced (odd hey?) and the DJ said over the microphone halfway through "Wake up down there", as everyone was going wild and we were all slow-like. It was great. And now, it's one of 'our' songs. So happy birthday to Blue Monday, may you live 20 more and still hold the title of #1 best selling single of all time. I have to admit, I love it.

forever!!

blue monday was the beginning of 'new order' for me..

it was the first song i heard from them.

i remember a friend telling me about it..

and back in 1983 (i was 16)..going to a music store (here in the US)...and seeing the floppy disk cover..and thinking it was cool..

of course, getting home, and listening to it was the amazing...it really transformed my thinking about eletronic/alternative music..

the lyrics/instruments were amazing, i was always transfixed by bernards vocals in that song...'the beach' was also a very cool vocoder/instrumental...

it wasn't until 1999 or so, that i actually saw the original video edit for it..

i also remember hearing the blue monday '88 versions, and getting those, the 7" edit isn't that bad actually...however the video is almost a total rip-off of the cures - 'the walk' video.. right down to the wierd objects, and standing in a pool of water...anyways...

i then remember hearing about the '95 mixes, and going..'oh no' not again...(there were some techno mixes by the group 'electroset', called 'how does it feel', that were pretty good)..

i don't like any of the other remakes by other groups for this song...however there were some interesting ones for the '95 version.. especially the 'hardfloor' mixes, which i thought were very well done..

i'll be posting some fan-mixes, in which i have combined the original 83 mixes, and the 95 hardfloor ones together, it sounds interesting..

anyways, my favorite 12" cover is the floppy disc, and while the 7" versions are almost impossible to find...the 7" polish one with the full mix isn't that hard to come by, (the one with 'thieves like us' on the b-side...

anyways, some other notable versions:

'83 top of the pops, its a funny version, with them all looking so young/bored/annoyed with bernard chewing gum, and hooky facing away...gillian quietly playing, and stephen pounding away/playing....i like it when bernard starts laughing...

'pumped full of drugs - a rather cool version, with all kinds of neat effects (and bernard cursing about the lights)..

'98 reading festival...a nice revival version, hearing it again recently.. it was nice to see them bringing it back..

'02 finsbury park ... has some of the coolest guitar parts near the second half of it....but the thing that shocked me the most, was seeing how old the group had become...it was really sad seeing that...

but the song has a lot of good memories for me...

it's too bad that 'new order' has aged so much...their time has truly passed on..

later

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I was 9 years old in music class one day in 1983 when the teacher asked us to bring in a 'favorite' song. I immediately asked my brother to help me out, since he was in college at the time and new all the cool stuff. He told me to bring in BM (as well as DM, 'Just Can't Get Enough.') Needless to say, I was the coolest kid on the playground that day as I got to introduce one of my all-time favorite NO songs to a bunch of third graders who thought Michael Jackson was the coolest thing since slice bread. The song was very instrumental in my radio days as a DJ in college years later as I spun BM every chance I could during my speciality show that focused on 'new wave European Brit-pop.' Those were the days.