“You know I’ve met a lot of cool chicks, but I’ve never met a girl with all her own teeth”.

A recent report in The Times quoted a survey, stating that the most common cause of embarrassment among teenagers is the sight of their dad dancing at a disco. I hope then that none of Bernard Sumner’s children have caught glimpse of his performance of “Fine Time” on Top of the Pops. At that time, New Order meant everything to me. Sure, I liked other bands, even loved a couple; but I anticipated the release of Technique like no other. But even I saw Sumner’s gurning face, seemingly patting the heads of invisible goblins that only he could see, and felt slightly uncomfortable. This was a move I was unlikely to replicate at the sixth form disco. But then the album came out, and it all made sense. I knew why Sumner was dancing. This was music to dance to. Continue Reading

“I’m not grown up and I am not a boy, I feel no pain and I feel no joy”.

A little tip. Whilst the tennis racquet might be considered the weapon of choice for air-guitar, if you wish to emulate your favourite bass player may I recommend the humble hockey stick. Its extra length helps you feel that you are playing something weightier, whilst its ribbed neck provides a rough approximation of frets. And it’s got a nice curved head to rest on the knee for the low-slung look. On many occasions as a teenager I would grab my school hockey stick, slap on my cassette of “Brotherhood”, lolloping around the living room as if I were Hooky himself. Once, my mother came home unexpectedly, and I had to quickly hide the stick behind the settee before she caught me. Upon entering the room she found me red-faced and furtive looking, probably assuming I had been engaging in the other favourite hobby of teenage boys. Great days. Continue Reading

“To buy a drink that is so much more reasonable, I think Ill go there when it gets seasonable”.

Things were so different in the 1980’s. Nowadays, websites like this one will inform you that your favourite band is going on tour or releasing an album within minutes of the press release hitting the editor’s inbox. When I was teenager, I had to wait until Wednesday for the weekly music papers for any news. It seems hard to believe but my school library used to take delivery of the NME every week, and so me and others used to spend morning break pouring over its inky pages. I heard about the break-up of The Smiths after double Geography. I read reviews of Level 42 singles (I had some crap tastes in those days). And scoured the pages for news of my favourite band at that time, the only band name to adorn my homework diary - New Order. Continue Reading

“On a thousand islands in the sea, I see a thousand people just like me”

Like lots of people, much of my early musical tutelage came from the record collection of my brother. He was quite a bit older than me, at work, and so after school I would invade his stereo and play his vinyl. He was a big ska fan, and I would bounce on his bed listening to Madness and their kind. One day though, there was a new record in his collection, housed in a highly unusual sleeve, black with hints of color, blocks cut away to resemble a floppy-disk. It looked too exquisite not to be played, and so I gave it a spin. And then I listened to it again, but much, much louder. I scoured the sleeve for information on the band, but there was nothing, no pictures, just this object of beauty. Continue Reading

Note: these reviews are not about the sound quality of the re-mastered albums - they are solely concerned with the quality of the music. If you want information on the re-mastering, www.neworderonline.com have a number of threads on their forum.

“Each way I turn, I know I’ll always try, to break this circle that’s been placed around me.”

You have to admire the original three members of New Order. Leaving the cashing in duties to their record label, the decision (based on a long standing pact made before Curtis’s death) to re-name and reform shows great boldness and tenacity. Another bold decision was to carry on with all new material, taking just two songs (written with Curtis but not yet recorded) into their new incarnation. The shutters came down, the band retreating into near media silence, angered by the same old questions. But to be honest, what else were they going to do? The day-jobs were long since behind them, and let’s remember one thing - this was always Hook and Sumner’s band. They were there at the beginning. Curtis was recruited as a vocalist. Morris also came later. This was their group, and with that comes their right to do whatever the hell they pleased. Continue Reading

The Guardian are reporting this morning that Joy Division and New Order manager, Rob Gretton, is to have his personal notes published by his widow.

Some of the intriguing details to be revealled are that New Order almost called themselves the Radical Jesuits before settling on New Order. In fact a whole host of different names were considered.

There’s also debate over what to call Joy Division’s debut album, Unknown Pleasures. Among the titles considered were Kinetic Outtake, The Aura, and Convulsive Therapy.

1 Top Class Manager is to be released on October 7 is a full-colour, 220-page paperback which compiles diary entries, letters, to-do lists, posters and excerpts from 20 notebooks kept by Rob Gretton between 1978 and 1980.

Look out for a special set of reviews of the recent New Order re-issues on TLOBF soon