Song Sung Blue: #2 "Blue Monday" New Order (1983)

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Arguably the greatest synthpop song of all time. Nothing else sounds quite like it. Yes, “Blue Monday” is on the verge of being overplayed (though nothing like classic rock songs) but I never tire of hearing it. The story of New Order is familiar by now. When Manchester’s Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide, surviving band members Bernard Sumner (vocals, guitar), Peter Hook (bass) and Stephen Morris (drums) were joined by keyboardist Gillian Gilbert in forming New Order. The new group went in a different direction from Joy Division and achieved far greater success. “Blue Monday” did not chart on Billboard Hot 100 but was #5 on Hot Dance. This is the biggest selling 12” single in history. “Blue Monday” was monster in clubs and New Order huge on alternative radio. Synthesizer bass and drum machine thump in hypnotic almost psychedelic manner as “Blue Monday” thunders over the dance floor.