Who is New Order

Pioneers of dance music in the 1980s, New Order hailed from Salford and Macclesfield, England, and are noted as being one of the first bands to bridge the gap between post punk and dancefloor. They were Factory Records' highest selling artist; they funded Factory's famous Manchester club, The Hacienda. They recorded with legendary hip-hop producer Arthur Baker (on 1983's single Confusion and 1984's Thieves Like Us), and they embraced Ibizan club culture on the album, Technique.

Formed in 1980 by the three surviving members ( Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris) of Joy Division after the lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide. Gillian Gilbert joined in October 1980 on keyboards and occasional guitar. Their early music followed in the same vein as Joy Division, most notably on debut album Movement. This is mostly seen now as a 'transitional' album where the new 4-piece band were trying to find a new identity.

They continued to develop their music and their identity with tracks such as Procession and Temptation until 1983 when they released Blue Monday, arguably their most famous song and the biggest-selling 12" single of all time. This came in such a detailed Peter Saville-designed sleeve (replicating a floppy disc) that it is claimed by some that the band's record company, Factory, lost money on every copy sold. The release of "Blue Monday" coincided with the album Power, Corruption & Lies which further developed their rock/electro crossover. (read more)