The Blue Monday Diaries

‘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 band’s 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 band’s fledgling career.

Three decades on, author Michael Butterworth - a close friend invited by New Order to document a string of notoriously intense sessions at London’s 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 band’s 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 band’s miniscule rented flat, he acted as New Order’s 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.