Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Blue Monday by New Order

With the inclusion of New Order's "Blue Monday" I've got all but one of the "big" bands that'll appear many times on this blog on the scoreboard. At least, that I can think of right now. "Blue Monday" claims to be the best selling 12" single in the UK, and although that claim's not been verified (that I know of) it seems plausible to me. This was a huge, sleeper hit, that resurged in popularity not once but twice after its original release in 1983. By the time I heard it regularly in 1987 or 1988 (along with the greatest hits compilation Substance) it was a dance club anthem that nearly defined what dance clubs were supposed to sound like. Quite literally in at least one case; it featured prominantly on a local radio commercial for a dance club when I was a teenager in '88.

I didn't put up the actual music video, which is quite strange, actually (although not as strange as the video for "Bizarre Love Triangle" where there's a mid-video aside where a woman stops the music and defiantly proclaims that she doesn't believe in reincarnation because she refuses to come back as a bug or as a rabbit.) Rather, I think the long fade-in intro to this extended version is part of the iconic nature of this song.

New Order's iconic and dramatic career is an interesting story in it's own right (although I won't get into it today), but for me this song has a very personal connection. See, I actually met my wife for the first time when I asked her to dance to "Blue Monday." Or possibly it was "True Faith" I met two girls with blue dresses that night, and I never saw the other one again. I would be embarrassed that I can't remember for sure which of the two songs it was that I danced with Julie (I know for sure that it wasn't "Bizarre Love Triangle" which also played that night, because I danced that with someone else) but as it turns out, it's still much better than my wife can do, who doesn't even remember meeting me at all until nearly six months later. I also remember exactly what she wore on our first real date. And yet despite this, to this day, she still claims that she has a much better memory than I do. Whachoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

2 comments:

  1. The amount of times this song has been covered or mashed up is also a testament to the defining nature of this song and its popularity--especially like the Blue Monday/Can't Get You Oughta My Head mash.

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  2. Normally I'm not a huge fan of covers of songs I already like, because if they do it too much like the original, then why bother, and if they do it in a different musical style, that usually sucks too if I really like the original style.

    That said, this Flunk cover is pretty cool.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyjNCFje8bc

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