By Geoffery Rowlands
The history of New Order reads like a television soap opera. Formed in 1976 as the post-punk quartet Joy Division, they were rocked by the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis in May 1980, just one day before the band’s first American concert tour.
After deciding to continue under their new name, the remaining trio did not recruit a new vocalist. Each member attempted to fill the void left by Ian’s death with guitarist Bernard Sumner eventually chosen as the lead singer. Their line-up was completed by the addition of keyboard player Gillian Gilbert, the girlfriend of drummer Stephen Morris.
“The guys didn’t want an intruder,” Gillian recalled. “Being with Stephen made me part of their social circle so they felt comfortable about me joining the band.”
They initially performed Joy Division songs and created more dark, melodic tracks for their first material as New Order. Still deeply affected by Ian’s suicide, they listened to Italo-disco songs in a bid to lighten their mood. This influence saw the band change their own style to the synthesizer-based dance sound which was to bring them so much success.
“Moving into dance music wasn’t really a conscious decision,” Stephen remarked. “It was just something that happened naturally, a kind of evolution within the band.”
Now enjoying significant record sales, they joined Factory Records label boss Tony Wilson in opening Manchester’s Hacienda nightclub. With the exception of one short period during its 15-year existence, the club constantly lost money. New Order co-founder Peter Hook, now deeply estranged from his former bandmates, estimated losses at around 18 million GBP, 10 GBP for every person who entered the club.
Despite their enormous chart success, the band were seen as difficult. They did not include some big hit singles on their albums and gave few interviews.
“We got sick of being asked about Ian,” Bernard revealed. “We were still grieving and had no insight to offer on why he took his life. But the questions were asked in every interview. It was easier to just not do interviews.”
1993 saw the band members go their separate ways. Bernard had already worked with Johnny Marr and the Pet Shop Boys in Electronic, Peter played with alternative rockers Revenge while Stephen and Gillian recorded a pair of albums as The Other Two.
They reformed in 1998 but Gillian left three years later under sad circumstances. She and Stephen had two daughters. The younger, Grace, was left paralyzed from the waist down when she contracted Transverse Myelitis. Gillian devoted all her time to caring for their stricken child.
Thankfully, Grace was able to make a wonderful recovery. But Gillian suffered her own health scare in 2007 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Successful treatment has left her free of the disease for the last five years.
2007 also saw New Order’s second break-up. Problems between Bernard and Peter left neither wishing to work with the other.
Four years later, with Peter having officially quit, the band reunited for a series of concerts. With her daughter doing well and having recovered her own health, Gillian rejoined the line-up though her replacement, Phil Cunningham, remained with New Order. Tom Chapman replaced Peter on bass.
They have performed numerous concerts since reforming. But ongoing legal problems with Peter meant New Order’s only output of previously unheard material was 2013’s “Lost Sirens,” an eight-track LP of songs originally recorded for possible inclusion on their 2005 album, “Waiting For The Sirens’ Call.”
This situation has finally changed with the release of their smash hit tenth studio album, “Music Complete.” But the bitter war of words between Peter and the band shows no sign of diminishing.
“He left in 2007 and has nothing to do with the new album,” Bernard stated. “We don’t want to discuss him. We’ll answer any criticism he makes about us but that’s all. He said we couldn’t do it without him. We’ve shown that we can.”
IN BRIEF
Sam Smith
Sam Smith’s new single, Writing’s On The Wall, has become the first James Bond theme song to top the official UK singles chart.
Despite earning rather less than universal acclaim, the track has given 23-year-old Sam his sixth UK chart-topper. In addition to his own songs, Money On My Mind, Stay With Me and Lay Me Down, he was the featured vocalist on Naughty Boy’s La La La and part of Band Aid 30’s vocal ensemble on the 2014 version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?
The video for Writing’s On The Wall is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jzDnsjYv9A
The song accompanies the 24th James Bond film, Spectre, which premieres in London on October 26 and is released world-wide from November 6.
Bloc Party
Indie rockers Bloc Party are back with a new line-up. Vocalist/guitarist Kele Okereke and lead guitarist Russell Lissack have recruited Louise Bartle to replace Matt Tong on drums and Menomena’s Justin Harris to succeed Gordon Moakes on bass plus various other instruments.
The band have now finished recording their forthcoming fifth studio album and debuted some of the new songs during a pair of comeback concerts in California. A live performance of new track, Exes, can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvfYw-a0Prc
Exes has been well received but the same cannot be said for Bloc Party’s new single, The Love Within. Fan comments have ranged from “it sounds like a collaboration with a seven-year-old” to “it sounds like a cry for help.” Make your own judgement by checking out the song at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe7uutnarWE
Broods
New Zealand brother and sister duo Broods have gradually built an international following. Tours and television appearances in Europe and North America ensured a growing interest in Caleb and Georgia Nott’s music.
Their debut album, “Evergreen,” topped the chart in their homeland, hit number five in Australia and reached a highly respectable number 45 on the Billboard 200. The entire album, and their self-titled debut EP, can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK2jdjE1RKU
Caleb and Georgia’s official videos for their singles, plus interviews, background and behind-the-scenes pieces, can all be seen at www.youtube.com/user/BroodsVEVO/videos
Blossoms
Stockport-based Blossoms have been hailed as the next big thing among Britain’s indie guitar bands.
Their debut single, Blow, was released last year on Skeleton Key Records, the label owned by The Coral. The accompanying video was self-created and financed by Blossoms at a cost of just 60 GBP. It is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ5TjID7Hvg
Promos for some of their other songs can be found at www.youtube.com/user/BlossomsBand/videos
The most recent posting is the official audio for their new single, Charlemagne. This is the title-track from the band’s forthcoming EP which is set for release on October 30.
More of their music is available to hear at (no www.) soundcloud.com/blossomsband.
Yo Gotti
Yo Gotti has issued a free full-length mixtape. All 22 tracks on “The Return” can be heard and downloaded at www.datpiff.com/Yo-Gotti-The-Return-mixtape.734319.html
The mixtape follows two recently released EPs which are also available for free download. One track on each EP sees Yo Gotti collaborate with an artist signed to his CMG label. Blac Youngsta features on the first and Zed Zilla on the second. Both EPs can be accessed at www.datpiff.com/profile/YoGottiMurzik
STILL IN BUSINESS: The current lineup of New Order.
