I Feel So Extraordinary: New Order in Mallorca

In the back half of 1980 and into 1981, I was not infrequently in Manchester. There were two distinct groups of people I knew. One was centred on the Virgin Megastore in the city. The girlfriend of a very good friend who worked there was the subject of The Freshies (aka Frank Sidebottom) single, "I'm In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout". Her name was Valerie, if you must know. The other group was based near Moss Side and frequented cramped flats where they sat around and looked generally miserable.

These two groups represented different styles in Manchester at the time. One was decidedly upbeat, the other utterly morose. Though both were heavily influenced by the Manchester music of the time, the livelier Virgin crowd found Joy Division somewhat, well, morose. The moroseness of the Moss Side contingent, for whom Joy Division had become spiritual leaders, was confirmed and internalised even more when Ian Curtis committed suicide.

The Manchester of the time was a downtrodden place. Around somewhere like Piccadilly station were roads of almost derelict buildings, interspersed by shops that were all but boarded up but which somehow operated. Joy Division, in some ways, symbolised the depression of the city. It was claimed, and still is, that the band weren't as depressing as all that, but Curtis' suicide, though nothing to do with the state of the city, seemed sadly apt.

The point about these two groups of people is that they eventually came together. From the roots of Joy Division's morbid music came New Order. To have believed that Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris would have gone on to be at the vanguard of Manchester and British dance music would have seemed impossible. But this is exactly what happened. The morose crowd, or at least its successor, threw off its introspection and sullenness, discovered ecstasy and formed a Manchester united around New Order and then the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses. This united Manchester managed to lose its depressing demeanour. From within its youth sub-culture, it was reborn - physically, psychologically and socially.

The transformation of New Order and their elevation to the status of dance champions was unlikely, as the members of the group were so very ordinary both as people and as musicians. A make-do punk mentality of never quite mastering their instruments (and voice in the case of Bernard Sumner) seemed to remain even when they were at the height of their popularity and achievement. It was this undercurrent of amateurishness that made them so endearing. They combined the simplicity and unpretentiousness of a punk background with technology and dance rhythms and made some of the best music in the history of popular British culture.

New Order's return to Ibiza and their appearance at Magalluf's Mallorca Rocks in September this year have revived the memories of the role that Ibiza and the Balearic dance sound had on the group. In truth, the dance influences were numerous and had kicked in before the release of "Blue Monday" in 1983, well before Ibiza. It is fair to say, though, that the Ibiza effect and how it affected the group helped to propel the Balearic dance sound into the mainstream of British music culture, though it is also fair to say that the process was already underway.

The band was at its peak into the first part of the 1990s. A run that started with "World In Motion" and went through "Regret", "The Price of Love" and the re-issues of "True Faith" and (for the third time) "Blue Monday" couldn't be maintained. The band, though, has never ceased to be, despite what Peter Hook claimed when he had his falling-out and quit. It's not the New Order of 1982 or 1992, but the 2012 model will still be looked forward to with enormous anticipation, Mallorca Rocks having pulled off another coup in engaging them for this season's series of concerts.

The band has never ceased to be and has never ceased to be hugely influential. It was an influence that went beyond their own music and contributed to a change in culture in a wider musical context and in their home city. An extraordinary group and extraordinary as they seemed so ordinary.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.