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New Order

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

New Order is an English band from Manchester, founded in 1980. The singer and guitarist Bernard Sumner, the bassist Peter Hook and the drummer Stephen Morris had previously played in Joy Division. They had agreed not to use that name any more if one of them dropped out. After the suicide of the singer Ian Curtis they therefore continued under a new name. Shortly afterwards the keyboardist Gillian Gilbert joined. Sumner became the new singer, although he found singing and playing guitar at the same time difficult. The band became the figurehead of the label Factory Records and its associated club The Haçienda, and Peter Saville designed their sleeves.

Music and breakthrough

The debut album Movement (1981) still sounded dark, like Joy Division. During visits to New York the band discovered the club music of the time: electro, freestyle and Italian disco. Morris taught himself to program drum machines. In 1983 came Blue Monday, a fully electronically programmed track with a four-on-the-floor beat, inspired by disco. It became the best-selling independent twelve-inch single in Britain. That same year Power, Corruption & Lies was released, on which guitars, bass and synthesizers came together. Low-Life (1985), Brotherhood (1986) and Technique (1989) followed.

Influence

New Order brought post-punk and electronic dance music together and so became a forerunner of alternative dance music. Hook's melodic bass guitar, the sequencers and Sumner's cool vocals were imitated by other bands well into the 1990s. After a break in the 1990s the group carried on, in 2007 without Hook. In 2026 Joy Division and New Order were inducted together into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Blue Monday. Notice the drum machine at the beginning with its stuttering bass drum, and how after that synthesizers and a melodic bass guitar come in layer by layer.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsPostpunk