new order – new sixer!

i hate using the term, but “back in the day” albums used to come out on tuesdays…

…why, you might ask?

because back in the day “albums” were “tangible goods”, i.e. things you could actually hold and touch and burn if you felt your version of a deity told you to because said artist said they were more popular than said deity:

Posters, albums and other memorabilia of the Beatles are burned in a bon fire protesting John Lennon's statement that the Beatles were now more popular than Jesus, in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Aug. 12, 1966.  (AP Photo)

Posters, albums and other memorabilia of the Beatles are burned in a bon fire protesting John Lennon’s statement that the Beatles were now more popular than Jesus, in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Aug. 12, 1966. (AP Photo)

of course, if they knew then what they knew now…

beat 2

moving on…

i was surprised that this past friday marked the release of a new new order – not because they haven’t stood the test of time and aren’t great and all that shit…nor because they were releasing the first album without founding member peter hook. no, i was surprised because it was coming out on a FRIDAY. but the ufc told be that’s the new thing, so now i know. in celebration of that release, i present:

four old memories and two new ones (six total) about new order

1. in the beginning – “bitching about the internet, part i” here: new order rose from the ashes of joy division after their lead singer hung himself. they just added the drummers girlfriend and there we were. but back to ian curtis, former lead singer…when i was growing up i was told he hung himself by affixing the noose, standing on a block of ice, and waiting for the ice to melt. that is fucking EPIC. i had no reason NOT to believe it given their melancholy lyrics…but now, thanks to instant internet information access i know that not to be true. stupid internet.

2. in the beginning, part 2 – i first heard about new order from a kid named erik fortman. his high school sweetheart and i would become great friends in high school, which i think he kinda resented (in all honesty, to this day, nothing’s ever happened (or ever will happen) between us) but a few years before they met he popped by my place with some records he said i just HAD to tape off for him and i could have copies, too – they were “so in love” by orchestral maneuvers in the dark, “the perfect kiss” by new order, and “stripped/but not tonight” by depeche mode. all great records and all shaped my musical taste for the next several years. in fact, in the four years that followed i got to see all three bands perform all three songs live. not bad…

3, and so they begat… – i got so into this i went to camelot records and tapes in barton creek mall (it’s now the “build-a-bear”, for all curious) and went to buy the new order tape with “…kiss” on it (low life, still one of my faves), and black celebration by depeche mode, which had both songs he had me tape on it…but they wewre out of the latter. i had fifteen bucks on me, and back then i had a pretty solid tradition of NOT walking out of a record store with change, so i had to find a second tape. based purely on thinking a poster advertising a single off it was cool, i bought “the head on the door” by the cure…and thus began THAT love affair with my big three – new order and the cure and depeche mode (i already had a few depeche tapes, this just got the other two rolling as well).

4. it’s really them! – on 4/20 1989 (back then said date had ZERO significance to me…still really doesn’t, to be honest) i got to see new order for the one and probably only time. i’m a purist who really prefers bands with the original lineups, and that’s not around with them any more. but this bit took a pause when i tried to find pics of the show online (this is one of few ticket stubs to survive the duke onslaught of 1999 and i now have a vip pass from the show courtesy of my time at star tickets, but no pics) and instead stumbled over the setlist so i made a playlist in beats. and speaking of playlists and the like…

5. you kids today… – echoing back to that “tangible goods” thing from earlier…in a way i miss having to trek to a record store to actually BUY shit on days it comes out. the anticipation on the way there – the listen to on the way home. circling the block so the album could finish if i got it from sundance ’cause that was only fifteen minutes away. now it’s just point, click, done. convenient as all fuck – shit, this latest one i didn’t even directly pay for; i just put it in my beats library and my ten bucks a month gives me access to all of my shit…although most of the stuff in their i also actually own the real product. such is the case with all the new order shit, save for the latest, which brings us to…

6. a brief review – i went and saw peter hook life a while back when he came through playing “movement” and “power, corruption, and lies” (the first two new order albums) all the way through in their entirety. i’m getting to be a real sucker for these “whole vintage album” tours and am contemplating seeing koRn in october when they play the whole first album at stubb’s (the $62 price tag has me wavering, though) but i was surprised how much hookie and his kid (and the rest of the band he put together) sounded like new order. i guess with one of the founding members at the helm it makes sense – likewise, i was surprised how much the rest of the band can sound like new order WITHOUT him. it’s a good, poppy, electronic album. a few more listens and i’ll decide which of the multiple vinyl versions i’ll go after – if i’m gonna do it, might as well do it right.

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