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

|| || | || | || | n e gat iv e 1

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.

I have gotten tired of the song. Too many remixes too. But, John Digweed/Bedrock's own edit of the track (based on the Hardfloor mix), which is not commercially released, is fantastic if you're ever lucky to hear him drop it in one of his sets.

BTW - reading some of the replies on this thread is another age-confronting situation---some of you are just children (being born in the 80s)!

Heh - I remember actually buying my copy of Blue Monday pretty near to the day it came out.

I was on a school outing to some old buildings or other in London (I seem to remember the Old Bailey was involved somewhere), but then the teachers gave us an hour after the last visit to chill out.

I got straight on the tube with some mates, shot off to Virgin Megastore at Tottenham Court Road and bought it there and then.

Just made it back to the coach in time, with my Virgin bag clutched tightly to my side.

The sleeve is completely shagged now (lots of house moves) and, idiosyncratically, the record always jumped in the same place, right from day one (I wasn't too good at looking after records at age 16, so I guess the thing was stuffed in an overhead space above the seats with several coats, bags and jumpers on top of it).

I never wanted to swap it tho' - this slab of vinyl has so many memories for me, to have taken it back all the way to London (in those days, the Megastores were very few and far between) to swap it would have been sacrilege.

I never actually got to hear the un-jumping version on my stereo until Substance came out four years later.

Man - I played that record to death : luckily my mega-cool Mum absolutely adored it too, so no hassle from the folks !

Happy Birthday old friend - here's to the next 20 years

I'm only 15 but I had my first kiss while listening to blue monday when I was 13.It's the best new order song

I was thrilled beyond belief when FACTUS10 showed up in the bins of the local department store in the spring of 83, meaning that I didn't have to drive an hour to get it. It was played a lot on the local college radio station, and I don't ever mind hearing it, though if I heard it as much as , say, Benny, then I might have grown weary of it.

Still hear it from time to time on the radio, and I still play the single quite a bit, though I prefer the original mix over everything else.

Well this ancient relic was in the San Francisco Rough Trade shop the day this single was released and I remember being distinctly unimpressed by it... it was warmed over Sylvester/Patric Cowley done by white boys and it didnt really add anything or innovate in any serious way... it really worked best as an introduction and bookend for the work of genius that was PCL... as far as "starting new wave", thats a joke; New Wave was already pretty much done by the time... and BM didnt get much play in clubs initially either... I dont recall hearing it very much at all in 83... it seemed to get more play in the mid to late 80s... but it has stood the test of time... it is the millstone around the bands neck and dont they love it ;)

The sleeve is the real statement of this single... the innovation, beauty, perversity and financial suicide of its cost sum up that period perfectly... I do feel lucky to have lived through a time in which anything seemed possible and life could be redefined by each individual on their own terms... thats how I remember the 80s; not the bad haircuts and Regan

hmmmmm... it was 1985 (age 14) when i heard BM for the first time.... it was on a tape that my friend loaned me (low-life on one side, various NO singles on the other)...i have to say, it was mesmerizing. never heard anything like it before. sonically, it was so frigging interesting. i discovered new things about it everytime i listened. i mean, there are so many things to appreciate, don't you think? needless to say, i fell in love with Blue Monday. i'll admit that there was an 8 year period in the '90's where i just couldn't bring myself to listen to it..... yeah... well,i'm over it now.

Today (04/03/03) I bought the 12" of Blue Monday, and was just looking for information about it (as you do) when I came across this coincidental fact. Happy Birthday Blue Monday, and I'm proud to be an owner of the biggest selling 12" of all time!

Roly, Adelaide Australia

i heard it first on the radio in 1983 as it was a big hit in the listeners´ choice charts at that time. I was 13 years old and thought ´what a long record, much too boring´ because I never heard a 7 minute song before and certainly not on the radio! but when it became a big hit in the charts and went on to be the smash in the following summer, I loved it and everywhere you were going, in school, baths or parties they were playing this song. I think the song grows stronger the more listen you it and never lost its strength until today, where it is one of the most influencing and groundbreaking songs for electronic music ever, may it be house, techno, trance or whatever you call it today.

it is alwiz cool. I neva feel old with this song. I like the intro.

I don't have a completely accurate recollection of when did I first hear it, it must have been circa 1986. I was into Joy Division first, actually, I taped New Order out of sense of duty, because I knew they were connected, but Joy Division were my no 1 band,I still have my first tape with LWTUA on it from November 1986. I found New Order "not serious enough" in an early-teenage-goth-sort of way. It was only when I got a little older that I started to understand them. By that time the 1988 version had reached our shores, and I actually remember seeing the video. I liked the dog instantly (however, up to very recently I've thought that was the video for the 1983 version as well). It's hard to understand how influential Blue Monday was from my perspective, it certainly wasn't very influental where I live. But, since we didn't have a period when it was playd over and over again, I've not grown tired of it. I'd love to see them play it live, but hey, I'd love to see them play anything live...

Don't remember when I first heard it either, but do remember seeing them play it on TOTP and thinking "this is crap".

I found out what the song was the third or fourth time I heard it. I was listening to DLT on Radio 1 and it sent a shiver down my spine and the hairs on my neck stood up.

A truly outstanding song which completely transformed my musical direction. I remember also going to Woolworths to buy it but of course they didn't stock 12" singles back then so I had to find a real record shop and felt really intimidated.

I am always astounded that a lot of you guys say that you don't really like BM.

[Content deleted by Larsson 7 on 3/10/2003 8:01:21 PM EDT]

For me Blue Monday was a forerunner of what I like to call Battle Techno. Simulated machine gun fire and battle sounds for the energetic young man with some excess energy to burn. Front 242's " Special Forces" especially the Demo version is pure Power-Rave. A little well done machine gun fire may also be heard on Duran Duran's " Notorious- Latin Rascals Mix ". So as Blue Peter may say " Take Me To War ". Have a nice day. IRS007

I don't really remember it in the 80s, although in the back of my mind (perhaps a case of delusion) I vaguely recall it (or maybe it's wishful thinking, I don't know). When I first heard (or "re-heard" it, take your pick) like in the mid-90s I didn't see what the big deal was. It was no "True Faith" or "Bizarre Love Triangle". But a few years later I slowly got into it and realized it was a masterpiece. Forget the '88 version and the mixes, those are fine, but pale in comparison to the original. Now I love it more than ever. Do I get sick of it? Sure. But ít's still a timeless classic and will be always be remembered in the future.

Long live

I was 18 when Blue Monday came out. I think "Images From Heaven" by Peter Godwin was my favorite electronic based song. That changed when Blue Monday came out. It was far superior then what any of the electronic based groups of that period (Depeche Mode, Yaz, and Cabaret Voltaire) was putting out. Blue Monday was so different in many ways.

20 Years!!! I am getting Old!

The first timewas great, it was Blue Monday-88 from The best of NO...

Listening to Vini Reilly fact244 currently, oops, sorry! Congratulations Blue Monday; not my favourite NO song however. I like it for dancing; not so much to just listen too. Must have heard it on the radio first at the age of 23.

Well this just evokes memories of NEW ORDER on TOTPs.Friends said to me...MICK weren't NEW ORDER brilliant singing live.I just smiled and thought...Another cool thing they have done...then replied "yeah ...not bad!" Still have the MOST MINTY MINT VINYL 12 inch record.And no excuses about housemoves and damaged covers.Treat all your records with respect...just like FINE CHINA.Future generations must see these in their PRIME.God knows what my local CATTERY will make of the ROCKET COLLECTION that i give them in my will!:D

Well, I was only 13 years old when I listened to it in 1988.Ideal moment cause it was a party at my cousin´s house where I was introduced to my first girlfriend (broken heart romance to make it pay !!!).

You can thank Adam Sandler and his 1998 flick "The Wedding Singer", more specifically the soundtrack. Could not stop playing this after I heard it, have NEVER gotten tired of it. Nothing else like it by New Order or anyone else.

I discovered that my dad still has his Harmon/Kardon turntable, so I was thinking of investing in some vinyl from our Manucian electronic pioneers.

I'm just proud to share a birthday with one of the best songs ever.

when i first heard it i was 9 years old … too young to buy records in my small town so bm played in my head u till i was 16 and found my first copy of bm (now stolen…grrrrr) i was so happy when i played it for the first time so to me it reminds me of my childhood

First intro o New Order........ sitting in my Mum and dads living room with some tea and toast and marmalade on the go..... Top of the Pops on the box and there they were. Loved it.

Mate of mine, Matt raved about them. Lent me some Joy Division at that time and said they beat the bollocks out of their new stuff. Heard Joy Division on tape in my room and it made me remember when I had squatters in the flat above. I would inadvertantly go to sleep to tracks I didn't know but loved it....... It was The Eternal and Decades. Night after nighet about a uear prevuious to that date, someone upstairs was playing it at about 10pm at night. I would drift off to sleep noy knowing who or what I was listening to. But then I knew from the day matt gave me the tape and it started from there.

Whew!

Dont ask me about the tea and toast eating in the evening....never understood it

Dont ask me about the tea and toast eating in the evening....never understood it

Dont ask me about the tea and toast eating in the evening....never understood it

I have to admit that when I first heard Blue Monday(I can't remember when that was), I didn't like it that much. But it soon grew on me, and now I have over 14 different versions of the song in my collection.

i remember exactly when i heard this song for the first time (i'm sure i've mentioned this on this site before). i was in 7th grade (age 12 or so) and it was at the end of the year talent show. these three 8th grade girls did a dance to this incredibly cool song. i had no idea what it was, but i couldn't get it out of my head. several months later, when 'true faith' came out, i bought 'substance' and, lo and behold, the talent show song was on the album--'blue monday'!

i loved the song for years, but in the past 3 or 4 i've tired of it somewhat and i tend to skip over it on CDs. having said that, if it comes on randomly, in a non-NO-related context (on the radio, in a store, etc.), i get very excited and must listen to the entire song as i do feel a bit possessive of the tune (it would be sacreligious to walk away from it, after all).

hard to believe it's almost old enough to buy alcohol in the U.S.--it sounds like it could have come out yesterday. just put it next to anything recorded by journey, for heaven's sake.

Originally posted by james johnson I'm only 15 but I had my first kiss while listening toblue monday when I was 13.It's the best new order song

Ahhhhh, bless ;)

How does it feel ?

Although I haven't played the oirginal 12" for yonks now, the sight and sound of Hooky and co doing a Kylie Frankenstein's monster rendition of said song recently has put me off so much I don't think I'll ever play the record again....

Thanks a bunch, you fat old bastards.

Amazing song in its day.

But now it should die. :headoff: All good things must come to an end and this thing should now be burnt alive to stop it reappearing (soon) on Heart with Emma and that twat Johno.

i was replying to a message about new order mixes (subculture)..

so i wrote this about 'blue monday'..

is 'blue monday' disco?

wasn't it the discos that ushered in the success of 'blue monday? (at least here in the united states)..

and in the UK they may have played it on the radio a few times..so maybe thats how it gained its impact there..

isn't the purpose of releasing the single in a 12" format, meant to promote the music in a 'club' setting?

i think it would be fair to assess that the early mixes were much more influential in their success and impact in the club setting...

'blue monday' redefined the prototype of rock/electro dance hybrids...(along with many other groups that were coming out)...

by the time 'technique' was out, 'new orders' mixes were practically indistinguishable from other groups since they were employing the same remixers/producers and 'techniques' that other groups were using (no pun intended)...

thats why the early singles are so much more impressive, they didn't need the same hooks, they used inventive sounds, and retained the vision that the music had..

none of the latter singles held up to their earlier standard..

the irony in this, is that the 'sub-culture' remixes are actually perfect for discos/clubs...the vocals, the back-up singers, and the beat would probably be great dance tunes...

however, 'blue monday' has retained its place in the history of music, and especially dance music..

later

| | || | || ||| ne g ativ e 1

The first time I listen Blue Monday, and I was eleven years old, it was a surprise. I didnt felt that sensation since I have heard the strabge kraftwerk songs. The drums were hipnotic, strong, you couldnt understand, and you couldnt ignore the expression. The voice and its melody were cold, like steel, like a slice. The sad guitar line,... It will always be singular, eternally new, its not for distraction, but for attention. To understand, not to only hear. Far away from only "music", it´s something else.

BM was one of those songs I only heard about once when it was released. I was 13 when it came out and was into Madness and Ska stuff. My mate's brother had BM and Confusion on 12" and when I went round his house it was a constant feed of these two. Although I liked BM at the time I really got into NO when Bizarre Love Triange came out - I was 16 and bought it without hearing it just cos the 12" cover was wierd, and it still rates as one of their best singles. Then TF and Substance arrived and I was hooked. I then spent the next year buying all the back catalogue stuff on 12" and the LPs and anything else I could find in record fairs (including a crap live disc from Tokyo of 'Do the Ostrich' which cost about £20) and got quite a collection (all in the loft now sadly!). Best concerts were The Roxy in Sheffied in '87 (I think) - first live performance of Touched by the hand of God I went to - and the GMEX gig with Happy Mondays and ACR.

Lets all look forward to the next 20 years, eh!

I first heard Blue Monday in early March 1983 when my favourite DJ, Dr Rock, played an advance copy on the ZM All-Nighter, a nationally syndicated New Zealand radio show.

I had actually first heard it when New Order played in Wellington in December of 1982 although it was more 586 than BM.

It seemed in another league to Temptation and I can still clearly recall the freshness of the sound and the killer intro seeming to sweep all other pretenders before it. It was unlike anything else I had heard, as the contemporary dance or electronic music of early 1983 just didn’t have the coherence or oomph of BM.

I taped it on the Friday night and took the tape to a punk party on the Saturday night: what a debut! It was played over and over, maybe 7 or 8 times and filled the dancefloor with happy punters who just couldn’t get enough.

Still an awesome track IMHO.

First of all, let me just say that I am happy to hear that there are so many others out there who love this song as much as I do! (well maybe not quite as much!!!) :) I was about 10 when the song came out, I never knew it existed or heard it that I can recall, until I was maybe 15 or 16 with a friend while listening to the old school type mixes on the weekends.. Never thought much about it, just knew I loved it and never heard it again... Then, about 10 years later, I heard it again on the radio, I had to know what it was, I called and sure enough, the DJ told me, although I was really surprised to hear it had once been a popular club song in the early 80's as I never heard it that much... well not long after I got my own copy and to say the least, I cannot count how many times I have listened to it since then, lets just put it this way, my fiance, not being a big dance music person anyway, hates it! But I think that there is just something about the song, I am not sure what, but it definately has meaning... thats all for now

Ahh..Blue Monday. I was 10 or 11 when I first heard it. Growing up in Florida USA, rollerskating was huge back then. It was playing in a skating rink in Lighthouse Point, FL when I first heard it. Back then, I was totally getting into the standards of the era: "Don't You Want Me", "Rockit", etc. All the electro classics were ringing in my ears because of a roller skating rink! Being a snotty little kid, I asked the DJ what it was. I searched it out at the local shop called Uncle Sam's, which was a very "alternative" shop for that era. They had the import 12" on Factory, which I bought and still own today. It was at least a year before Quest/WB reissued it Stateside. This record started my love for New Order and is the reason I think they are the greatest band ever in recorded history. You can be a snotty little kid, a hooligan, a geek, an urban dweller or a country hick and still find something in New Order that moves you to no limits.

One person asked in the thread "why it is so influential"? Well, long story short, this record spearheaded/enhanced/influenced hip hop, electro, synthpop, acid house, big beat, trance, top 40 pop, new wave, postpunk, etc. etc. There are few records in history that have done as much as Blue Monday. It is 20 years old and does not sound dated whatsoever. Anyone who has picked up a synthesizer, drum machine, or started DJing (like me) was influenced by this song. If they tell you otherwise, they are full of crap.

I was 30 when this came out! I'd been a JD fan, and had seen the fledgling New Order in Brighton - I wasn't particularly impressed. Blue Monday was a revelation, a great club track, and I've still got my original copy (but nothing to play it on anymore). I recently got back into New Order - after Get Ready and through all the remixes of the old stuff. Blue Monday was the last track I downloaded remixes of - I just thought it was of it's time, and didn't think it would work - how wrong can you be -there are some great remixes. Might be interesting to see which people think are the best, personally Rob Searle, or ZF, but I even like the Moby remix (has anybody heard the Gregorian chant remix - hilarious)

I didn't discover BM ti aorund 88/89. I didn't care for it then and to an extent, still don't care for it now. I've actually grown to love the beach more and think it's a much much more entertaining track that the original. It emphasizes on the Hookey's base and makes little tweaks in the arrangements that are for the better. I like the Beach's intro much more...the fast tempo beat just blasts you in the face and just let up. Don't get me wrong, Barney's lyrics are great ont the original, it's just that there are key changes in the beach especially at the end that makes a world of difference imho.

That being said, The Hardfloor mix wipes the floor with all of them imo. I could listen to it ALL DAY!!

Originally posted by Martin Fenner I was 30 when this came out! I'd been a JD fan, and had seen the fledgling New Order in Brighton - I wasn't particularly impressed. Blue Monday was a revelation, a great club track, and I've still got my original copy (but nothing to play it on anymore). I recently got back into New Order - after Get Ready and through all the remixes of the old stuff. Blue Monday was the last track I downloaded remixes of - I just thought it was of it's time, and didn't think it would work - how wrong can you be -there are some great remixes. Might be interesting to see which people think are the best, personally Rob Searle, or ZF, but I even like the Moby remix (has anybody heard the Gregorian chant remix - hilarious)

Brilliant Martin, just brilliant. I am so pleased with this post of yours because I have just found someone older than me posting on this website. 30 years old when BM came out makes you.... 50! Even the passing of time doesn't diminish the mental faculties. You're older than New Order and even I'm not that old. How do you take your Werthers?