Nearly every thirty days or so I tend to talk about vintage Electronic hits from the past, but this time I want to take it a notch higher. For this written piece, we will be revisiting the iconic and nearly four-decade old production, one that played a significant part in driving Dance music to peaks never seen before. May I present to you “Blue Monday”, a techno-pop gem from the dramatic and flamboyant decades of eighties. Pieced together to life by the UK-based ensemble New Order (also formerly known as the punk band Joy Division), this instrumental single-handedly set records in every aspect.
As the 80s dawned, came in the quintessential part of contemporary music: synths. They had become widely popular in late 70s, as more and more musicians quickly embraced eccentricity of the said machines. This also resulted in the second round of British invasion in American pop industry (former one, as you may have guessed it, brought by the likes of The Beatles), which brought a slew of acts from the misty isles to near apex stardom. Manchester based New Order was one of them, as they reeled the curtains in the spring of 1983 to one of their most known production ever. There are few other interesting and quirky facts associated with this song, one being how the said group lost money on their album cover initially, among others.
“Blue Monday” translates the meaning of its title into an energetic, machine-like paced instrumental about melancholy. Its intro is notoriously well-known, a simple sequence of drum-beat programmed on a Oberheim drum machine and aided by the step-sequenced and gnarly low-end from a moog. The simplicity aces here, as the rhythm maintains its robot-like chugging throughout. Gillian Gilbert, who was a part of the crew and responsible for putting together the synths, admitted on how they were somewhat out of rhythm on those (remember, this was before MIDIs and computer recording even came into existence). The arrangements are minimal throughout, with a cold and steely vocal reflecting the somber mood, unlike most other New-wave records which often demonstrated heightened emotions. The inspiration cited on this creation was notably Donna Summer’s disco masterstroke “Our Love” (produced by one Giorgio Moroder) and other albums from Kraftwerk.
Even if easily re-creatable in this day and age, “Blue Monday” pushed the boundaries of technologically crafted music (which would inevitably lead to formation of House and Techno in coming years) and stands still as a megalith that galvanizes many EDM creators and curious audience alike till date.
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