13. New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies
Around 1981, friends at school who were super-cool guys would wear badges that said FAC 33 and write ‘Ceremony’ on their books, so I was aware of New Order, but I was still into second-generation punk. The first thing I heard by them was ‘Temptation’. My dad had this youth club, and some guy brought it down and played it, and I thought it was fantastic, and I loved the embossed FAC 63 on the sleeve.
Then in 1983, my world was changed by ‘Blue Monday’. I was listening out for it on Top Of The Pops, on the Sunday, the chart rundown, and I heard this track – and that was it really. I went to buy the album from Woolworths – except that ‘Blue Monday’ wasn’t on it! Fortunately, I had the 12” anyway, but it was the reason for getting the album. Just seeing how beautiful it looked as a record, the sleeve, was an incredible bonus to the material that was actually inside it. When I first got it, I didn’t change the record for about six months. I was devouring it, just getting as much information out of it as possible. It was futuristic at the time, and it still sounds modern today.
New Order had this thing that they were always the coolest band anyway. Stephen did a Power, Corruption & Lies listening party, and all the synths were old, but they all still looked so tasteful, and so well-chosen. They’re just a very cool, very tasteful band. It’s timeless – even their old stuff is futuristic, and present.
