CONFUSION

Sorry it's a bit late....

THIS WEEK'S SONG IS: CONFUSION (ORIGINAL 12") (1. Best Bit, 2. Worst Bit, 3. Why you love / hate it, 4. A percentage rating 5. Your earliest memory)

Originally posted by Major Tarantino Sorry it's a bit late.... THIS WEEK'S SONG IS: CONFUSION (ORIGINAL 12") (1. Best Bit, 2. Worst Bit, 3. Why you love / hate it, 4. A percentage rating 5. Your earliest memory)

1. the breakdown is nice and lush
2. the fretwank guitar work and "rock the charts, this a chart survey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey"(I've lost count)lyrics.
3. Love it because of the history it oozes something you can't just replicate in this day and age, and because of the forward thinking attitude decamping to America to hook up with Robie, Benitez and Baker/hate it cos of Blue Monday factor, heard it 27001 times. 4.77%
4. The birth of 'our kid' I was (imagine I'm now looking concerned a la Joey Tribiani) 2 years 5 months and 3 days old, I was at my great uncles house playing with my new toy car on his landing, it had a mechanism that meant it razzed of forwards when you pulled it back, quite somethig in 1970, well I rememberred it anyway.

1. Best bit - it was fairly groundbreaking at the time. Failing that, the sleeve.

2. Worst bit - it's a bit too long to my ears.

3. Like/hate - used to hate it live, but as Jarvo says, it was a welcome reappearance in 98.

4. Percentage - now 70%, would have been 10% in about 1987

5. Being told my Grandmother had died. I was 5. Honestly can't remember anything before that.

1. The "future is mine" bit
2. It's too long (not the first time i've heard that)
3. Its not very new order.. not enough hooky bass...
4. 80%
5. Racing against a kid who lived across the road from me on our raleigh bumper bike's... I was only 4 and he always bloody won!

1.) have to agree. "the future is mine." 2.) it feels...wrong. and i can't really elaborate further. 3.) same as #2. 4.) eh. 60% 5.) being 4 years old and living with my grandparents and my aunt, cos my mom needed to get her head together (heh). my grandparents watched a LOT of TV, and it was as a result always on, as i can recall. i took to parrotting things once i was able to talk...and thusly, one day i walked up to my grandmother and (complete with elaborate hand gestures as seen in the commercial) went, "Do I have wrinkles on my age spots? No, of course not! I use Porcelana!"

a story my aunt loves to tell still...to the point where i'm honestly not sure how much of it i remember and how much of it was told to me after the fact. but i *think* i remember it.

I love this song and used to have the 12" sleeve hanging on my wall in homage to it!

an important record in the dance scene. :)

nuff said!

1. The slightly off-key vocals

2. The video version cuts it short

3. The opening beat

4.100 %

5. Being wheeled into a hospital (can't for the life of me think why!)

1..PUMP PANEL MIX IN THE MOVIE BLADE 2...NOT A GOOD LIVE TRACK 3..SO EARLY (LOVE)....TOO MANY REMIXES (HATE) 4..65.2% 5..CHIPPING MY FRONT TEETH ON THE BOG!!

Originally posted by ShugZV > Originally posted by PAUL TROWELL> > 5..CHIPPING MY FRONT TEETH ON THE BOG!!

I'm not even gonna ask mate ITS NOT WHAT YOU THINK....I HAVE STILL GOT ARMITAGE SHANKS IMPRINTED ON MY TOP LIP!!!

Paul, just looked at your profile, what are your dogs favourite songs then? My dogs love Love Will Tear Every Pair of Shoes You Own Apart! :)

Give you my latest memory right off the top...my turntable broke down today.

Best bits: guitar solo, lyrics, and Barney's voice.

Worst bit: nothing really bad, just the ratatatatattaHEY! vox are merely mildy annoying.

Love it cause it was produced under pressure if I remember right, and as it came out stateside on Streetwise, it was the first NO single I could buy at a regular store instead of having to drive to a specialty import shop.

Rating 85%

Earliest memory: musically, it would have to be watching A Hard Day's Night on TV when I was about 5. Otherwise, I can readily recall the moment I was yanked by the collar by the kindergarten teacher for leading a class disturbance when she was gone, and her reaction to it upon her surprise return. :o

Originally posted by Cheeky Monkey Paul, just looked at your profile, what are your dogs favourite songs then? My dogs love Love Will Tear Every Pair of Shoes You Own Apart! :)

I HAVE A GREYHOUND WHOS FAVOURITE SONG IS RUN AND A MAD LURCHER WHOS FAV SONG IS WEIRDO...HES A CROSS BETWEEN A GREYHOUND AND A STAFFIE..YOU CANT GET ANY WEIRDER THAN THAT!!!

I can't really listen to this these days.

1. I always liked the '87 version, and the video.
2. The original mix seems too muddy.
3. I remember dancing to this in a club last year, and it was just a good memory.
4. 80%
5. Seeing a sewer rat in my kindergarten classroom.

1. Best bit: The Substance cut kicking the original's ass, the breakbeat
2. Worst bit: The silly "W-W-WRL" bit in the intro of the Sub version; what was that all about?
3. Why I like it: You can't help but dance to it
4. Percentage: 80%
5. Earliest memory: Someone at the table trying to take something off my plate and me saying "Don't you dare!" I was about two or three at the time

1. the guitar alternating with the word "confusion"
2. the video's pretty terrible, but at least Gillian's in it, and I get a good laugh at the band as young'uns.
3. too dated now....never really liked it too much to begin with...i may even like the instrumental version better than the others. too repetitive.
4. 30%
5. if Freud and Lacan were right, I'd probably have repressed my earlier memories.

1. Catchy drumming and sequencing, Hooky's bass during the last minute or so
2. Barney's vocals, I feel like I have a cold by just hearing him! The ending "Why can't?" "Why can't?" "Why can't" chants. Is that Stephen?
3. Not their best dance record, but still an important one
4. 80%
5. Being scared to death of our toilet plunger. I shit you not.

1. Best bit: Ra ta ta ta ta ta - hey!
2. The 87 re-recording. The vocals are not as good as the original ones.
3. Love it/hate it? It has grown in my eyes as the years pass. I never liked it at all (based on having the Substance version only). For years though, I didn't like the idea of dance music/disco/house/whatever you want to call it anyway.
4. 74%
5. On the beach, aged two.

I just realised that my answers to 1 and 2 are the exact opposite of Alejo's. Oh well...

The intro drum beat,New York electro in manchester. oh my god,incredible 21 years ago-incredible today.

Okay, Apollo 98, I was certain thev'd fuck it up, was glad they didn't and happy they went for it and won I got to be in the right place for this,never play it at home for some reason nowadays see above ditto At 42 the earliest memory I have today is probably not the same as next weeks or last weeks, what was the question ? I'll get me coat

Best bit of 87 mix is the WWRL sample.

Probably one of NO's best songs if you ask me. I first heard the '87 version then heard the original which is a lot better.

It has like an atmosphere to it reminding you of going out at night with your pals clubbing and stuff. I think that was because of the video.

I'm not that keen on the original a-side song, but the b-side 12" instrumental, credited on the 'Substance' compilation as 'Confused Instrumental', is brilliant.

It is my favourite New Order track, because it has a fantastic electronic vibe, pushing melodic boundaries as well as technological ones.

I heard this track first on the 'Substance' cassette compilation (that I borrowed from my brother and never gave back!), and though I didn't notice it at first, it was something I'm glad I found out when I was fourteen; it instinctively taught me to look in as many different musical directions as a listener as possible.

Originally posted by Major Tarantino Sorry it's a bit late.... THIS WEEK'S SONG IS: CONFUSION (ORIGINAL 12") (1. Best Bit, 2. Worst Bit, 3. Why you love / hate it, 4. A percentage rating 5. Your earliest memory)

1. That drum beat, the original released again on Retro
2. Find Bernard's vocals to be a bit weak, don't like the Substance version
3. Rat-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-hey!
4. 90% for the original
5. Clicking on this thread

As with Temptation,its one of those songs that is excellent in its original form,yet is still excellent in remixed/re-recorded versions.

Best--that synth loop bridge when everything else is silent

Worst--all the chantin' and rantin' toward the end

rating--85%

Why love/hate--Interesting tune, really pushing the envelope technically and structurally for the time. A bit rushed as the vocalsindicate. Barney had the flu and they had something like 3 hhours in the studio with baker before the flight out of NYC. Hence, he sounds like Sting when he sings "you caused me some problems you taken my place." Song is nearly a disaster almost everytime they paly it live. Even so, it may start out as if the train is going to wreck but often they pull it out brillantly as if it was their best tune ever.

Earliest Memory--Standing at the window with my dad the day they brought my sister home from the hospital. I was almost 3.

I love the song. My favourite version is the original 12" one. The 1987 version lacks alot in comparison and it's way too messy.

It's also a good memory: it was one of first New Order songs I ever heard: on the European MTV "Greatest Hits" show back in 1994 together with "True Faith". And I remember how I was disappointed to find the 1987 version on "Substance", my first New Order CD. So years went by and by, and only in 2001 I managed to buy the original vinyl single from a Amazon.com seller. I couldn't stop listening to it for days and nights on my turntable.

Now I made it into CD just for the convenience's sake.:D

BUT IT's NOT A NEW ORDER SONG. They may have written it and so forth, but the RHYTHM is not theirs, the whole production is not NewOrder-ish... It's Arthur Baker's job. And I've heard somewhere that Baker actually took that breakbeat rhythm from a demo he made with some New York black band. I know that New Order had performed the song live before going to NYC, and that's what I would like to listen to - to see how it was originally written and performed. From this point of view the 1987 version is a genuine New Order production, that's how they perfomed the song live. And the Apollo 98 live version is a better one than that of 1987.:p

Best Bit : Bass-tastic ending (I know I just used the word bass-tastic, I'm perfectly happy with that)

Worst element : It's not played live every show ever.

rating : 99.9% just because it's brilliant fun.

Best bit: 4 long songs on 1 12" - value for money(!) Worst bit: the percussion always seemed weedy after Blue Monday.

Listning to it these days it seems like a far better tune than it used to.

78%

Earliest memory: moving house - sitting on the fireplace of our new gaf - I was 11 months - after that nothing for about 3 years. Come to that years 18 to 21 are missing also . .

1. Best Bit -- the whole instrumentation (good beat and bassline, nice melody, too)
2. Worst Bit -- I always get a little thrown off by the way the breakdown is a little out of sync with the beat immediately prior 3a. Why you love it -- For obscure reasons related to '80s childhood nostalgia 3b. Why you hate it -- On a few occasions I've set my computer to play this song (as an MP3) to wake me, but it's just such a consistent groove that it doesn't wake me
3. A percentage rating -- 85% (I think I might actually like "Confusion Instrumental" a bit more--and "Confusion" '87 is not that bad)
4. Your earliest memory -- At a day care center around the block from my childhood home--I remember fingerpainting and having bitten another child--I was brutal

Michael Patrick wrote:

5. Your earliest memory -- At a day care center around the block from my childhood home--I remember fingerpainting and having bitten another child--I was brutal

Brutal?

Did NO do a song about you?

1. Best bit - Gosh...there's so many. The synth bass sound, the electro drum machine, the crazy percolating synth line, the edits - my GOD! THE EDITS! Fantastic! The keyboard line that glistens overtop the chorus, Hook's bass strumming, the chanting, the ending...love it all.

2. Worst bit - That godawful abortion they substituted for the original mix on Substance. Why?

3. Love/hate - When I first got the single, I wasn't sure what the Hell was going on. Is this really New Order? On Streetwise records? Doing a hip-hop track? No guitars? Man, they had balls.

Great video, too.

4. Rating - 100%

5. My earliest memory - Two or three years-old, my parents had friends over. While they were chatting in the living room, I went out to the backyard, toddled over to the neighbors' rose bushes. I wanted to get a flower for them, but I pricked my finger on a thorn and drew blood. Instead of crying, I went to the upstairs bathroom, pulled the toilet seat down, climbed up on the toilet, climbed up on the sink, opened the medicine cabinet and put Bactine and a Band-Aid on my finger. I remember wanting to tell them that I'd done that all by myself, but didn't want to be a show-off, so I didn't. Weird.

I always thought they ripped of Le Freak by CHIC

sigh confusion,i remember this being played at the haceinda for the 1st time and the dance floor was packed out,in fact many of the dancers was waving their hands in the air like they just dont care et al. top tune,was glad to see this after the debacle that was bm. there again thats just my opinion,and for me proved once and for all that they didnt have a fucking clue about having a career in pop,odly enough they still dont but that aint stopped em has it

1. The catchiness of it.
2. Kinda cheesy nowadays.
3. Can't get it out of yer head (right, Kylie?).
4. Original: 80% Substance '87 version: 75%
5. Hmm.. age 4 possibly. Or age 5 in hospital. The rest is all a blur these days.

1. the music
2. none of it i hate so cant comment
3. just brings back all the memories of school thats the reasons i love it
4. 80%
5. this is the reason why i like New Order above any other band.

i used to hate the pump panel reconstruction mix but i love it now

1. Best Bit; The bass is ace.

2. Worst Bit; Ra ta ta ta ta (etc..) Hey! (although I still like it - it's the least best bit...)

3. Why you love / hate it; "FOOking hell Martin..."

4. A percentage rating; 90%

5. Your earliest memory; Eating liquorice allsorts in the back of an ambulance on my way to hospital with a bleeding head aged 6 (oh what happy memories of youth!).

Suprising for me, as a fan of the manual stuff they`ve done over the years, I love Confusion! It just screams 1983! When this was played in clubs, it rocked the house. Prefer this to Blue Monday. The WW..W...RL thing is probably a secret code. The ratatatatat Hey! over the bass is class New Order. The sleeve is a Saville masterpiece,I used to polish mine as much as the Unknown Pleasures sleeve.

The WWRL thing is supposed to be a NY dance station call-sign so the story goes in NOOL's FAQ section. Plus if I remember very vaguely, the initials on the Streetwise release of Confusion are actually SWRL so those probably explain why W-WRL appeared on the Substance remake-as backhanded compliments to both Baker's help on Confusion & Thieves & WWRL(Among other dance-oriented stations) for helping Confusion's performance in the US Dance/R&B charts which brought them more to Quincey Jones's attention and led to their subsequent distribution deal Stateside with Qwest.

BTW I tend to like both the original mixes plus the subsequent ones that came out on the Minimal Records 12" in 1990 in preference to the 87 version.

1. There are two bass bits in the song
2. Substance version
3. Danceable.
4. 93%
5. Lying in a crib and being tokd to go to sleep

(1. Best Bit, 2. Worst Bit, 3. Why you love / hate it, 4. A percentage rating 5. Your earliest memory)

1. A unique beat for New Order.
2. It has the most number of remixes, but its not their best/better songs. It should be proportional.
3. It's repetitiveness matches the title. I don't hate the song
4. B-
5. Can't remember. Just an ordinary song back in the late 80s.

Indeed!

1 The whole song 2. Tad to long, but it was in the era of hip hop emerging, and New Order only doing 12" records

3 Rating, erm, say 85% Would of loved inbetween an 7" and a 12"

I love the instrumental, and Pump panel reconstruction mix, that to this current day is still my favourite remix of any song

8/10

9/10 Pump panel reconstruction mix