80s Timeworn Twelves: 'Blue Monday'

"Blue Monday" by New Order (1983)

New Order's "Blue Monday" is the best selling 12" record of all time. Regarded by many as one of the most important Synthpop songs, it peaked at #9 on the UK charts and #5 on the US Hot Dance Club chart in 1983. The 12" version of Blue Monday was actually the version that was played on the radio, even though it was 7 minutes and 29 seconds. At that length, it is also one of the longest songs ever to chart. The B side is a track called "The Beach", which is a reworked instrumental of "Blue Monday." The main reason that the 12" single sold very well was that neither song appeared on New Order's next album Power, Corruption, & Lies.

In 1988, producer Quincy Jones remixed the song, titled "Blue Monday 88," and is the version most oftened heard in the US. It featured a shortened 4:07 radio version & a 7:10 version, the first of which charted at #3 in the UK and at #1 on the US Dance chart. In 1995, another remixed version "Blue Monday-95" was released and charted in the UK. American electronic rock band Orgy covered "Blue Monday" and charted in the top 5 on the US Alternative and Dance charts in 1999. Hear my opinion of the Orgy cover along with other recent alternative 80s covers in my recent column on Under Scoop FIRE.

Click below to hear the original "Blue Monday" 12" version.

Thanks to Discogs.Com and Wikipedia for art and record info