Movement 2019

New Order have announced a bumper re-issue package for their 1981 debut album Movement. A series of replica 12" singles from the same period, characteristically not included on the original album, will also be issued in the run-up to the Movement box-set date, 5th April 2019.
The 12" re-issues are:

1. Ceremony (version 1) / In A Lonely Place  
2. Ceremony (version 2) / In A Lonely Place 
3. Everything's Gone Green / Cries And Whispers, Mesh
4. Temptation / Hurt

The Movement "definitive" four disc box set contains the original album both on 180 gr. vinyl and on CD (remastered?), a second CD of 18 previously unreleased tracks (demos, rehearsals etc.), and a DVD of live concerts, TV performances of Movement tracks. The box is currently available to order with a price tag of around £110.00.

More details here and here

Happy Birthdays

Happy 35th Birthday this week to two seminal early 1980s albums:

Architecture & Morality 

by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

and

Tin Drum by Japan 

also a Happy 30th Birthday to

Brotherhood - New Order 

and

Electric Café - Kraftwerk

Compilation albums which were also released in early November 1986:

Kate Bush - The Whole Story 
The Police - Every Breath You Take

FAC73 - 7/3/83>7/3/13

I Feel Donna Summer Love

Was pretty gutted to hear last night that singer Donna Summer had passed away aged just 63. She died of lung cancer which she blamed on toxic dust inhaled after 9/11 in New York. A tragedy within a tragedy.
Although still very active as a recording artist Donna was best known for her work in the 70s, practically inventing disco music as a genre and certainly breaking new ground with her more electronic based work with Giorgio Moroder. The epic Moog-fuelled I Feel Love is probably one of her best known songs, but let's not forget other gems such as Love To Love You Baby, I Remember Yesterday, the somewhat bizarre McArthur Park ("someone left the cake out in the rain..") and the classic disco-stomper Hot Stuff

Her raunchy, sexy style in the 70s disco phase under the Casablanca label, was somewhat offset with her becoming a 'born-again Christian' in the 80s. Although Summer spent much of the decade in musical obscurity, save for her collaboration with Anderson/Vangelis on State of Independence, she returned to the charts in 1989 under the Stock, Aitkin & Waterman umbrella with This Time I Know It's For Real and an album Another Place and Tim.

1991's Mistaken Identity album saw Donna try out a more urban style but with little success. The single Work That Magic failed to do just that. The rest of the nineties saw just greatest hits compilations and a live album, with Donna living on her legacy.

Crayons, an album of original material, was released in May 2008 with modest succes in the US although shifting very few digital units in Europe. An undeserving demise to one of our best female vocal artists and songwriters.

Ironic then that it was 30 years ago almost to the week that New Order issued their first electronic-dance orientated single Temptation which borrows heavily from the Summer / Moroder song Our Love from the ground-breaking Bad Girls album, as does their subsequent Blue Monday released in 1983 which started the electronic Hi-NRG dance and house music trends.

full playlist below

Just how I should feel today

Well as most will have heard, today is moreorless officially classified as 'Blue Monday', ie. the most depressing day of the year when all the holiday festivities are over, the weather's crap and you've got not a lot to look forward to. All a load of rubbish of course, mostly as it takes the mickey out of people who suffer from real depression, plus Monday's are always a downner anyway.

But to many of us 'Blue Monday' only really means one thing and that's the seminal New Order track which effectively made it cool to get up and do your thang on the dancefloor from 1983 onwards. And just to take the depressive edge of those who are feeling it on this particular Monday, here's a somewhat ramshackle performance of said song from New Order themselves, which I remember watching on the telly one warm summer Saturday afternoon in 1984.
The whole day's programmes were broadcast live on BBC2 and Radio One on a special music-themed day, although apart from this New Order bit I can't remember much about it. Much like Barney I was probably off my head on one too many cans of lager.

out with the old...

..and in with the old, but newer, New Order. Mojo magazine dedicate their most recent edition (that's February 2012 to them) to the band and a CD of cover versions of their classic 1983 album Power, Corruption & Lies.
As usual with these things there are some hits and misses, although here at LiM we're enjoying in particular S.C.U.M.'s version of 586 and Walls' rendition of Ecstasy.

The CD contains covers of other NO PCL-era classics such as Blue Monday and Cries and Whispers, the latter being done rather well by Manchester's very own Lonelady,


MOJO preview all tracks here on Soundcloud:
Power, Corruption & Lies Covered + Blue Monday 12" Revisited - MOJO CD Preview (January 2012)

Full tracklist:

01 The Golden Filter – “Age of Consent”

02 Tarwater – “We All Stand”

03 Errors – “The Village”

04 S.C.U.M. – “586″

05 Fujiya & Miyagi – “Your Silent Face”

06 Seekae – “Ultraviolence”

07 Walls – “Ecstasy”

08 Destroyer – “Leave Me Alone”

09 Biosphere – “Blue Monday”

10 Zombie Zombie – “The Beach”

11 Lonelady – “Cries & Whispers”

12 Anothers Blood – “Lonesome Tonight”

13 K-X-P – “Murder”

 - a big thanks to gaztronix for his cooperation in making this blog post possible. Happy new (order) year guv! Here's one I just came across..

Singles round-up

I Love 1981 - pt. 23
With so many great albums out this time in 1981, let's have a quick look at some of the better singles of the time which may otherwise have escaped our avid attention:

Soft Cell - Bedsitter
an excellent follow-up to Tainted Love this was Cell's preview of the new album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, and a taste their rather seedy view of the early 80's society. More synth-pop greatness and  the 12" was even better.

New Order - Everything's Gone Green
The low-profile band's second single  was released in November and, typically, not included on their debut album Movement released around the same time. Gritty electronics mix with trademark bass-guitar riffs and electro-steady drumming, plus the usual enigmatic lyric (and title). A blueprint for their later electro-dance numbers to follow. Again , there was an excellent 12" extended version.

Scritti Politti - The "Sweetest Girl"
More from the indie scene, as championed by John Peel, but also making it onto other radio shows although sadly not onto the telly or into the charts.

ABC - Tears Are Not Enough
One band who did make it out of indie-obscurity into the big time were this erstwhile electronic experimental outfit from Sheffield (Vice Versa), now the glitzy and funky Treveor Horn-produced ABC. They would go to make one of the biggest albums of the 80s and this was their debut which got to number 19:

Laurie Anderson - O Superman
And here's the weirdest of them all: an experimental eight-minute long experimental semi-electronic minimalist piece that made it to Number 2  in October (held off my the only slightly less batty "It's My Party" by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin). Proof that in those days you could still experiment and be successful. Again championed by Peel it was perhaps understandably shunned by other national DJs. Contains the line ""Cause when love is gone, there's always justice / And when justice is gone, there's always force / And when force is gone, there's always Mom" . .still don't know what she was on about.

New Divisions

pic: soundunwound.com

Well the good news is that Gillian Gilbert (pic. left) is getting back together with her old band New Order to play a couple of live gigs on the continent in October. Hooray!
Bad news, however, is that bass player Peter Hook will not be joining the band. Instead he's announced he'll be playing Joy Division albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer in their entirety live with his own band The Light in November. Pah!

New Order sans Hooky will play  Brussels Ancienne Belgique on October 17th and Paris La Bataclan the following night. Both are benefit gigs to help with medical expenses for ailing friend Michael Shamberg.
Peter Hook's The Light will on the other hand play at The Lowry Theatre in rather less glamourous Salford, Manchester on 18th and 19th November next.


Well let's just hope they can all get back together again soon and make a proper New Order album : Barney, Gillian, Hooky and Steve. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the band in that classic line-up for this special perfomance of True Faith (amongst many other songs) at reading Festival in 1998.

Happy 18th..

My lovely daughter will be 18 this week, and although she won't care for this much I just wanted to post a track from New Order's Republic album, also 18 this year, which I was listening to quite a lot at the time as my wife had given it to me for our anniversary a few weeks earlier.

I would've chosen either 'Regret' or 'Young Offender' as favourites but the titles hardly seemed appropriate for the occasion. I would also have liked 'Times Change' too if only because it features the line "life will never be the same" which is kind of appropriate after the birth of your first child... although I think the song is about something rather more foreboding. So here's World (aka The Price of Love) which is fittingly summer-y and you can dance to it at your party... perhaps.

Happy Birthday..

Total joy and order

As if Substance, the best of, the rest of, International, Singles and God knows what else weren't enough, New Order are publishing another 'greatest hits' package next month.
This time (oh let's make it a bit more original this time) they've also chucked in a few Joy Division tracks too just to get back to their roots...yeah. Total takes us from the very wonderful Transmission to 2005's Krafty in 17 easy moves and then (note subtle marketing ploy) tags a previously unreleased track Hellbent on at the end. Crafty.

All the better known tracks are included of course: Love Will Tear Us Apart, Blue Monday, True Faith, etc. etc., although of course punters will miss out on finer JD/NO moments such as Shadowplay, Your Silent Face and Everything's Gone Green. Tough.

Best thing about it would seem to be the Peter Saville sleeve design which makes good use of the letter 'O' (as in jOy and Order) making ghood use of primary colours which seem to be very fashionable these days. Total is available from June 6th - the kind of thing you might like to get your 17 year old nephew as a present, just to show hime how ace music used to be.

Here's the new track anyway:
New Order - Hellbent (Previously Unreleased) by Rhino UK

New Order: just havin' a laff

New Order - Ceremony

I Love 1981 - pt. 10
Arising from the ashes of Joy Division after lead singer had Ian Curtis topped himself, New Order released their debut single Ceremony in March 1981. Written when they were still JD with a Curtis half-finished lyric and a full on guitar sound (not a keyboard or drum machine in sight), it remains one of their best and most striking songs and fitting tribute to the late lead singer.
True to form, the title is not featured at all in the lyrics and the Peter Saville's bronze embossed sleeve was a stylish affair further fuelling the Factory-band enigma with more than a touch of class. There were of course no proper band photos or any such conformist nonsense and even the lyrics published in Smash Hits were 'unofficial' as the bandstaed they were open to interpretation. A cracking single which Joy Division fans religiously purchased, and were not disappointed.

That said, New Order were still struggling to find their own musical identity, trying to shake off Curtis' legacy while at the same time keeping their indie-miserablist appeal. Ceremony's gloom-laden B side "In A Lonely Place" was their own homage to Curtis, visiting his grave, lamenting his passing and still wishing "you were here with me now". You can almost feel the driving rain dripping down the collars of their trench coats.

The band would go in to re-record Ceremony later in the year having taken on board drummer Stephen Morris's girlfriend Gillian Gilbert on guitar. The ensuing album Movement was still a pretty miserable affair, although an interest by band members in electronic instruments and new computer technology - albeit still rather cumbersome - meant that they would go on to develop their cross-over sound in future single releases. A couple of years later, Blue Monday was invented, the indie-dance divide finally broken down, no mercy shown...

FAC Finder

Factory records collector Colin Gibbins (pic. left) his to hold an exhibition of his FAC collection in a Manchester pub. Colin, 44, has been collecting the legendary FActory Records artefacts for the past 30 years and now that his collection is complete he will be showing it all off at the Ducie Bridge pub on Corporation Street, Manchester, on May 7th and 8th 2011. "I expect Factory fans from all over the world may take the pilgrimage to see this one off exhibition. It is going to be a really special event," says our Colin.

For those who don't know Manchester's independent Factory label, founded in 1978 by by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, was home to the likes of local bands Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, and later Happy Mondays. The label distinguished itself from the other independents not only with its unique FAC + number catalogue system but also with a special eye for design usually through friend and loclal lad Peter Saville.
The serial numbers also referred not only to records recorded by their bands but also artefacts such as posters, badges, T Shirts and famously the Factory nughtclub The Haçienda (FAC 51) which opened in MAy 1982. Famous FAC records include OMITD's Electricity (FAC 6), Joy Division's debut album Unknown Pleasures (FAC 10) and New Order's 12" only single Blue Monday (FAC 73).

Colin's exhibition (still to be FAC-ed?) will raise money for the Christie Hospital and is backed by Joy Division bassist Peter Hook and relatives of the band’s late singer Ian Curtis. Good on yer Colin.

Colin pic & source Oldham Advertiser
www.factoryrecords.net

Bad Faith

Much as Lost In Music appreciates George Michael's contribution to popular music, we sort of got the shivers hearing that our George has for some reason gone and done a cover version of New Order's untouchable opus True Faith. According to a gruniad.blog thing it's pretty damn awful too, which can only confirm what we thought it would be like...but worse.

Whatever next? Although we've already had Paul Young covering Love Will Tear Us Apart (not without its merits), will we soon be hearing Simon LeBon tackle Bizarre Love Triangle, or Limahl doing his rendition of Blue Monday? Heaven forbid.

So we're not even going to post Mr. Michael's auto-tuned effort here, but instead we'll take the opportunity to enjoy the New Order original, featuring the face-slapping high-jumping surrealist clown things... they make you feel so extraordinary...

Dazzle shirts

Well while Chelsea get the garish Dolce & Gabbana in to do their new clobber (see Italo-British post), I was pleasantly surprised to learn that England and Umbro have had a bit more taste and got graphic art guru Peter Saville in to design the new home shirt (detail left).

Turning over a new-ish leaf from the 2010 World Cup disappointment the shirt - and rest of kit - will be adorned by England this Friday when they play Bulgaria in a Euro 2012 qualifying group match.




Famous for his record cover designs this is actually Saville's second brush with the England team having designed the cover for England's official World Cup song 'World in Motion' in 1990.


See Saville talk about it here: umbro on youtube





Listen: England/NewOrder - World in Motion

First day (album) covers

Royal Mail will be issuing a set of stamps on January 7th 2010 featuring classic British album covers, including New Order / Peter Saville's 'Power Corruption & Lies' (after Henri Fantin Latour) and the original 'Tubular Bells' LP covers. Other covers featured include Blur's Parklife and Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head. As well as the cover image each stamp features a vinyl disc which appears outside the die-cut of the stamp. As I gave up collecting FDC's with the Beatles' album covers a couple of years ago these might be worth getting.

source: norphil.co.uk

Power, corruption and bells .. two of Royal Mail's classic album covers series

A Bad video

News from Bad Lieutenant, the new band featuring ex New Order members. Bad Lieutenant are: Bernard Sumner (vocals/guitar), Stephen Morris (drums), Phil Cunningham (guitar/keyboards/vocals), Jake Evans (vocals/guitar), Tom Chapman (bass).

The video for "Sink Or Swim" is now premiering on Yahoo Video. - seems to be a very 'back to basics' approacH with much guitar thrashing, Morris playing an acoustic kit and not a synth in sight!

The debut album from Bad Lieutenant, "Never Cry Another Tear" is also available to order exclusively at the Bad Lieutenant online store .

A limited edition, Deluxe Box Set is available to pre-order. This includes the "Never Cry Another Tear" CD album including two bonus tracks, double vinyl album, exclusive 7", a deluxe booklet and a numbered Art Print. The band have also designed a Limited Edition T-Shirt that can only be ordered with the Super Deluxe Box Set.

"Never Cry Another Tear" is also available on Limited Edition Digipack CD (featuring Two Bonus Tracks), Vinyl LP, standard CD, and Digital Download.


















Bad Lieutenant watch their own video in nice new trainers.

Cargo plaque for Joy Division

Joy Division are to be honoured by Rochdale Council with a commemorative "blue plaque" at the Kenion Street Music Building, formerely Cargo Studios where the band among others recorded many of their songs. The building was also home to Peter Hook's Suite 16 Studios until closure in 2001. The blue plaque on the building has been the subject of a campaign by Chris Hewitt who has also managed to get a blue plaque for the Tractor Sound Studios in Heywood in memory of John Peel who financed the studios.
Says Hook of Cargo Studios "the effect it had on Rochdale and the North West music scene is immeasurable, much the same that Ian Curtis had on Macclesfield".
Both plaques will be unveiled on September 23rd with Hook and other northern musical celebs, such as OMD's Andy McCluskey, attending.




a fine example of a "blue plaque", pictured earlier.

Sink or swim for Barney and pals

Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris's new project Bad Lieutenant will release its first single 'Sink Or Swim' on September 21st with an album, 'Never Cry Another Tear' to follow on October 5th.
Typically there would seem to be some confusion about the band members with some sources citing Sumner and fellow New Order member Phil Cunningham as mainmen together with new vocalist/guitarist/Jake Evans of Rambo and Leroy, with Stephen Morris and Blur bassist Alex James not being "official members".
In a statement, Sumner praised his band-mates, saying, “We've worked hard on it [the album] and I'm proud of it.” A tour is also expected to be announced, with Morris and bassist Tom Chapman joining Bad Lieutenant’s live line-up.




Bernard Sumner: he's bad.

Gripes and Whingers

..that's a pun on 'Cries & Whispers' one of the many tracks on the 5 x 2 NewOrder remastered 'factory years' albums issued a few weeks back. Much griping and whingeing in fact by the punters who have shelled out loadsa cash for these artefacts which quite frankly, at least going on their various complaints, are just not up to scratch, oops no sorry , standard, many apparently having been remastered from vinyl records!
Perhaps your passing common-or-garden NewOrder fan like myself would never have noticed the missing initial beats on Blue Monday or Senses (this one still to be confirmed..) or even traces of 'rumble' 'pops' and 'crackles' at various points, but I can well understand these hard-core fans being annoyed at "300 confirmed errors..and counting.." and not just in sound but also poor sleeve notes, missing information in CD text info and overall shoddy workmanship by the record company Warner - for it is they of course to blame for all of this...

Says bassist Peter Hook:

“They don’t have half the staff they used to have so everything becomes quite a trial...you get a lot of masters of old songs - they are mastered from the record because nobody can find the tape.” (source BBC)

Warner have 'responded' to complaints saying that if any of the fans want to contact them about the quality of the New Order re-issues, then they can email this address:
Neworder.d2c@warnermusic.com .... Pah!

I don't think any fans of Ultravox and John Foxx will be experiencing the same kind of disappointment as their recent remasters were the fruits of the hard labours of hard core fans liaising with the artists and the record compay in order to ensure a first class product that will not disappoint.
Power to the people!







NewOrder's Peter Hook..."this has nothing to do with us.."



Thanks to RadioBeach for the info sources and for prompting me to write this post.

Transmission / Control

Well nothing ever happens by chance, as someone once said, although it is only this morning that I read that on 17th November 1979 Joy Division released their still amazing debut single 'Transmission', and it was on 17th November 2008 (last night) that I finally got to see Control the Anton Corbijn film on the brief life of Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis.
The film itself holds no surprises - we know the story: strange Manchester lad meets mates, forms a band, sign to Factory, issue two albums, become a cult in their own time and then in May 1980, on the eve of a US tour Curtis hangs himself and becomes even more cult.
Perhaps we do learn more about the non-musical aspects of the man - the early marriage, the jos in the Employmen Exchange the birth of daughter Natalie and affair with Belgian 'bird' Aneke (Alexandra Maria Lara), the epilepsy and panic attacks all of which contribute to Curtis' demise and ultimate suicide.
Corbijn's photography is, of course, pretty much perfect all in black and white with quite a few 'moody' shots although perhaps could've been a bit more 'grainy' in places. Excellent Sam Riley as Curtis, and full marks to the rest of the band not only for looking like the other three (see pic) but also playing a crackin' version of Transmission, among others. Very convincing also Samantha Morton as wife Deborah, whose book Touching From a Distance forms the basis of the film itself.
The best lines go of course to Rob Gretton witty, sarky band manager played by Toby Kebbel who I see won an award for best supporting actor, quite right too. The occasional reference to The Buzzcocks throughout is a nice touch and a wonderful cameo by John Cooper Clarke who looks like he was beamed straight in from 1978.
My only criticism is that Curtis' final agonising months were a little too drawn out and tend to slow down the pace of the film well before the end...you keep wondering when he is actually going to top himself....but no matter I suppose in this way we get to share Curtis' agony in part.
Excellent soundtrack of course with various JD tracks reproduced by the acting band throughout plus nice little 'incidental' period pieces, e.g. Autobahn, Jean Genie, slotted in here and there. Pity they leave The Killers version of Shadowplay till well into the closing credits when everybody has up and left...

Nice touch at the end when the surving members are sat round a pub table and they are joined by Gillian...... the rest is history.

Control's Joy Division:
l-r: James Pearson (Barney), Sam Riley (Ian Curtis), Joe Anderson (Hooky), Harry Treadaway (Steve Morris).

"shurrup Hooky and look at the camera will ya.."