Synopses & Reviews
The distinctive synth beat of Blue Monday” shudders through the studio. From amidst a past of grime and smoke, the future was arriving . . . The fastest selling 12” single ever, Blue Monday is an infectious dance anthem that will never date. Released by New Order in 1983, it helped cement the bands identity like no other track. In the wake of Ian Curtis loss the maudlin, magnetic personality who once fronted them in the guise of Joy Division it provided exactly the creative spark needed to ignite the bands fledgling career.
Three decades on, author Michael Butterworth a close friend invited by New Order to document a string of notoriously intense sessions at Londons Britannia Row Studios breaks the silence to reveal exactly what went into the recording of this classic track, as well as the Power, Corruption and Lies album. Committed to creating a minute-by-minute record of the bands arduous creative process without the aid of a tape recorder Butterworth devoted three weeks to living and working alongside his friends. From beneath a perpetual fug of dope smoke, speed and alcohol, within the confines of the bands minuscule rented flat, he acted as New Orders designated scribe, censoring not a single detail in their schedule.
Written with the blessing of the band, the results are reproduced here in full. Obsessively detailed, mundane and illicit by turns, Blue Monday provides a uniquely intimate insight into the personalities and processes of the band that no New Order fan should be without.
Synopsis
The fastest selling 12" single ever recorded, 'Blue Monday' is an infectious dance anthem that will never age. Released by New Order in 1983, it helped cement the band's identity like no other track. Three decades on, author Michael Butterworth a close friend invited by New Order to document a string of thrilling studio sessions breaks the silence to reveal exactly what went into the recording of this classic track, as well as the Power, Corruption and Lies album. Drawn from Butterworth's meticulous journal entries, Blue Monday provides a uniquely personal insight into the creative personalities and processes of the band that no New Order fan should be without.
About the Author
Michael Butterworth is the author, editor and publisher of a plethora of short stories, poems and novels. In the late sixties, his regular contributions to
New Worlds a literary magazine at the very forefront of the New Wave of British sci-fi talent earned him a cult following. In 1976, he went on to found the innovative, Manchester-based publishing house, Savoy Books.
A fixture on the Madchester party scene, he knew New Order from the very beginning of their career. A trusted friend, he was welcomed into the intense fortnight-long studio sessions for Power, Corruption and Lies to document the bands progress throughout. For the next two decades, his notes remained unpublished until now.
In 2006 he founded the Michael Butterworth imprint, an off-shoot of Savoy Books, and in 2009 launched the annual contemporary visual arts and writing journal, Corridor8. His fiction and poetry has appeared in various Emanations anthologies. He is the author of three further books and six novelizations. He lives in Manchester, UK.