New Order

Few in the music industry suspected that there was any future for the remaining three members of Joy Division when frontman Ian Curtis died in May 1980. They did carry on and the release of the last song Ian Curtis wrote 'Ceremony' carried on the name of Ian but it didn't quite feel the same.

Bernard Sumner, Pete Hook, Stephen Morris reformed and added Gillian Gilbert to the ranks and a trip to America a year after the proposed tour with Joy Division was aborted reinvigorated the band.

On a trip to New York the band were introduced to the sounds of electro-dance and New Order found the perfect balance with a dance feel to there existing dark sound. Two more singles followed with 'Everything's gone green' and 'Temptation' were a more electro dance feel to it, something the likes of Cabaret Voltaire and Human League were trying to do.

However 1983 saw a huge shift when the classic 'Blue Monday' was released and the legend was born. Initially issued on 12 inch only and the song clocking in at over 7 minutes long, it bought a combination of Sumner deadpan vocals backed with a upbeat electro beat and marked a moment in the indie dance genre which would peak with the Madchester scene in the late 1980s.

In fact Blue Monday went on to be the best selling 12 inch of all time in the UK and the band were the flagship act with Factory Records who also owned with New Order the Hacienda club and there music was played here along with the new electro dance sounds and soon the club would become a Mecca for all young groups and DJ's.

In 1983 they released the album 'Power Corruption and Lies' and this led the band to put a warning on the album stating that 'Blue Monday' was not included on the album (something carried on from Joy Division days). The album showed a powerful use of how electronic music could be mixed with Guitar and Bass and the band had found there niche. Further singles followed with 'Confusion' a heavy dance sound and the synthesised single 'Thieves like us' was also a huge success.

In 1985 saw the release of the album 'Low Life' was possibly there finest work with the heavy use of synthesiser and sampling combined with the Rock overtures. The album featured singles 'sub-culture' and 'The perfect kiss' and this cemented them as the premier dance rock band in the world. The following year the album 'Brotherhood' was released and again was similar in sound to 'Low Life' It did however see the release of one of the best well known songs 'Bizarre love triangle' but bizarrely did not make the top 40 in the UK.

The band then toured America extensively and when they came back they released a compilation album of all there 12 inches and the B sides. It was called 'Substance' and also it featured a new track called 'True Faith' with '1963' as the B side but in a twist Factory Records persuaded them to release 'True Faith' and the video promo became a huge hit on MTV and '1963' being released as a single at a later date.

Towards the end of the 1980s 'Technique' was released and by this time they were being influenced by the Balearic Acid sound from Ibiza. The album enjoyed huge success with the band getting there first number one album in the UK and the single 'fine time' just reaching the outside of the top 10. Further singles followed with 'Run' and 'Round and round'.

The 1980s saw the band release 5 albums with 'Technique' earning a number one slot, they also released 19 singles with 3 top 10 entries Blue Monday twice in 1983 and 1988 and True faith in 1987.

From the despair of losing there singer/songwriter in 1980 to 1989 the band had turned around and were now a major influence on the music industry culminating in the Madchester Movement and the second summer of love. True Legends.