The Lies We Told Of Youth

New Order are playing a big gig tonight at Heaton Park, North Manchester. I made a fairly late decision a week ago to take up the offer of a ticket from a friend. I was in two minds about going from the moment it was announced, firstly because I came to the conclusion a while ago that standing in a field is rarely the best way to see a band and secondly because I decided also some time ago that I'm not sure it's even New Order without Peter Hook on bass. I understand the argument and split means that he can't be in the band anymore but his playing, presence and sound are such an integral part of the New Order story, especially the glory years of 1981 through to 1990, that without him it sometimes seems more like the Bernard Sumner Experience or Bad Lieutenant plus Gillian Gilbert. But maybe that's just me. 

Why did I change my mind? Firstly because their songs from the 1980s are among the most cherished music I own. Secondly because we've all been starved of gigs and live music recently and we've had to take the decision to avoid indoor events- Isaac, our eldest, is extremely vulnerable and he's at as much risk from Covid now as he was in March 2020. 'Avoid indoor and unventilated spaces, avoid crowds' is the advice we've been given. While we've all been double vaccinated we could still transmit it back to him and being in pubs, restaurants and indoor gigs are about as good a breeding ground Covid as any space as I can think of (excepting schools maybe but I have far less choice about going to one of those every day). I missed Sonic Boom at Yes last week, Will Sergeant in conversation with Dave Haslam a few nights ago and will miss ALFOS at the Golden Lion in Todmorden tomorrow night (an event a small group of us, me included, have been offered an afternoon DJ slot. Gutted does not begin to cover it). So it dawned on me that going to see New Order at Heaton Park could well be the sum total of gigs I'm able to attend between now and next summer. Standing at the edge/ near the back, away from the massed throng, should be fairly safe. And also re: Hooky etc, I thought maybe I should just lighten up.

In April 1984 New Order released a perfect 12" single, the masterpiece that is Thieves Like Us, from the heyday of Factory Records and packaged in typically obtuse but beautiful Peter Saville sleeve. On the B-side is one of the true lost gems in their back catalogue- Lonesome Tonight. Hooky's bass intro snags you immediately, instantly recognisable as him. The guitars are bright and brittle, the drumming understated but spot on- listen to that snare drum snap- and the synths are majestic and soar. Bernard sings something that sounds like he really means it, single tracked and intimate. A happy/ sad mini- epic. The lengthy instrumental end section is where Joy Division were heading (possibly) and where New Order found a way out of the hole they found themselves in in May 1980- the lyrics suggest, a loss of youth, an end of innocence. It is one of the finest things they ever released. 

Lonesome Tonight

The History Of All Truth

Stephen  Morris is about to put his view of life in Joy Division and New Order into the public domain to put alongside Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook's versions (for the record Barney's was pretty disappointing, his account of his younger life growing up in Salford was interesting but after that it became a boring read. He skipped most of the 1980s because he thought people would find him describing how they made their greatest records dull and then spent the last two chapters detailing the collapse of relations with Hooky. Hooky's books were scurrilous, entertaining and full of the sort of details that I did want to read but his frequent references to Bernard as Twatto show how big the distance between them is and put downs of Gillian were unnecessary).

Stephen Morris' drumming is a massive part of the sound of his two bands. His travails with Hannett while recording Unknown Pleasures are well documented but clearly paid off. His synth drums on She's Lost Control are wonderful and the drum sound and drumming on Transmission b-side Novelty are among the best I've ever heard. Early New Order singles and albums are full of brilliantly recorded drum parts, as much part of the NO sound as Hooky's bass, the homemade kit keyboards and Barney's vocals- all of which are perfectly demonstrated on this 12" single from April 1984, a high point for the band, the record label and the 1980s as a whole.

Thieves Like Us

As if giving their fans a magnificent standalone single wasn't enough they coupled it with a gem of a b-side too, opening with Hooky's brilliant bass and some spikey guitar playing from Barney and another of his fragile vocals. Then the wall of synths come in. Lonesome Tonight, with it's pisstake title, is a masterpiece.

Lonesome Tonight

The lyrics of Lonesome Tonight are classic early New Order, that mixture of written to rhyme with personal point of view suddenly switching into something portentous- check the change here in the first verse from 'you turned your back on me' to two lines later 'the history of all truth'

I walk along the street
I look into your eyes
I'm pleasant when we meet
I'm there when you go home
How many times before
Could you tell I didn't care?
When you turned your back on me
I knew we'd get nowhere
Do you believe in youth
The history of all truth
A heart that's left at home
Becomes a heart of stone

Stephen's take on events should be interesting. He often comes across as the most thoughtful and considered of the surviving members of Joy Division. He's doing a short book tour to promote it with a Q and A session conducted by Dave Haslam starting at the Dancehouse in Manchester next Thursday and then going to Liverpool, Hebden Bridge and Newcastle (which looks a bit like a New Order world tour itinerary from 1985). Tickets for the Manchester event are here if you fancy it. See you there.

Dave Haslam is a Manchester mainstay since arriving in the city in the early 80s- DJ at the Hacienda and the Boardwalk, gig promoter, journalist and author, record label boss (Play Hard) and cultural commentator. From 1980 onwards, if something was happening in the Manchester area, the chances are he was involved or present. His latest book Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor is out now in paperback. Well worth reading if you want to peek inside Manchester's music scene as seen and lived by Dave from 1980 to the present. Someone described it as 'the literary equivalent of a brilliant chat with your best mate' which is a good take on it and it's refreshingly ant-nostalgic too. 

New Order 'Lonesome Tonight'

New Order are among the greatest musical combo's ever to walk the land. I could probably write thousands of words about them, but I don't have the time and you'd probably get bored reading it. In the early to mid-80s they regularly produced magic, at the drop of a hat. Listen to Everything's Gone Green and hear the exact moment rock met dance and got off with each other. Listen to Temptation and hear it perfected. Listen to Thieves Like Us and hear Bernard's musings on the nature of love over the crispest of drums and washes of synths. Listen to True Faith and hear big-selling chart music with soul and passion. Etc etc etc. True greatness. Lasted up until Regret I reckon. By that time they'd fallen out and were making a record to help Factory stay afloat. They've had a few moments since then, and the live shows in the last few years have been good, despite Gillian's absence. Anyway, this is Lonesome Tonight, the b-side to Thieves Like Us. New Order's b-sides were better than most bands a-sides.

Random fact-when I was a kid growing up in Withington, M20, I used to deliver Peter Hook's newspaper. Didn't know who he was at the time. Can't remember what paper he took either. Nothing like a good anecdote is there?

13 Lonesome Tonight.wma