New Order "Blue Monday (1988 Quincy Jones Remix)" Review

NEW ORDER: Blue Monday (Factory)

NOT KIA-ORA but Sunkist, Quincy Jones gets to grips with the biggest-selling twelve-inch single that has shifted more copies than most of indiedom put together. It goes straight into the charts and New Order emerge re-freshed with a backing track for a bloody orange drink advert. Yep, it's a strange old world. Rumour has it that the lyrics for the ad have been adapted to run "How does it feel to drink Sunkist!"

There is a fine irony at work here considering the frozen sense of alienated love that permeates the original. Whereas the former was ultimately as percussive as pistons on a Ferrari - a prototype hip-hop thingy - Quincy Jones has via his production filled in all the spaces with electronic gurgling, burbling, shouts, grunts and incantations.

Some here at NME Towers believe that this is the ghost of Ian Curtis injected into the song via tape loops. Others believe that the death of the singer made room for New Order to develop their totally shivery music of celestial spheres. Me, I just think it's one of the all time Desert Island Discs classics.

it would be hard to ruin such a strong piece of music. Quincy Jones hasn't, no matter how hard he has tried. The Sunkist version could wipe all that out forever though. I hope New Order got paid well because as a microprocessor mashed voice in the mix says "Why does this still matter?"

Because it does. To many people.