Is New Order’s Blue Monday a classic?
New Order’s Blue Monday was a landmark record for the generation I am part of. Sitting in a small self important deluded city on the edge of Europe, it was difficult if not impossible to decipher where this music was coming from.
Hearing it for the first time was like a door opening, with the light gently warming through the gloomy dark you were locked in.
I heard the song recently after along absence and it got me thinking. One it is a great song to me, but how would an ear of today interpret it. Is it still a classic sound?
It was also the first time a 12 inch 45rpm single entered the popular consciousness. An oddity today but important then as it cost more than a regular single and you weren’t getting an album. In the cash strapped 1980s, this was an important consideration.
And I still don’t know how they dreamt it up. Not sure if I really want to either.
You can listen to it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyoDbX1EkPQ
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I was buying 12″ singles long before this came out, as were most people I knew. Club-goers were familiar with them for decades (they started with disco in the 70’s) as all DJ’s used them, and various versions of singles could be obtained (I remember Master & Servant having at least a dozen remixes in the local bins).
As far as how it sounds to the modern ear, I think the relative success of the Orgy version (which is fairly true to the original in most important ways) during the late 90’s shows that the track remains compelling.