Tag Archives: Stephen Morris

4Ever Songs: New Order ‘Blue Monday’

On 7 March 1983, New Ordefinally ditched the comparisons with their previous incarnation Joy Division with the biggest selling 12” single of all time.

Released three years after the death of Joy Division singer Ian CurtisBlue Monday was influenced by the flood of new music technology and a lot of time spent sampling the early 80s nightlife of New York.

Featured a jackhammer drum machine beat and octave-leaping bassline, the record was a huge hit in clubs across Europe that summer, prompting people to buy it in their droves when they returned home.

The tittle was inspired by a book that New Order drummer Stephen Morris was reading at the time: Breakfast Of Champions or Goodbye Blue Monday by the noted science fiction author Kurt Vonnegut.