New Order

About New Order

The band formed when Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris regrouped following Ian Curtis's death in 1980, with Gillian Gilbert joining on keyboards that October. Their early work, particularly Movement, followed Joy Division's dark post-punk template, but tracks like Procession and Temptation signaled a shift toward dance music. By 1983, that transformation crystallized with Blue Monday, a single so elaborately designed by Peter Saville (mimicking a floppy disc) that Factory Records reportedly lost money on each copy sold. The 12-inch became the biggest-selling single of its format ever released.

Power, Corruption & Lies arrived the same year as Blue Monday, cementing their dance-rock hybrid across albums like Low-Life (1985), Brotherhood (1986), and Technique (1989), the latter drawing heavy influence from acid house and Ibiza's club culture. The band's sole number-one hit came in 1990 with World in Motion, co-written by Keith Allen for the England World Cup campaign. After Republic in 1993, the band split for solo projects, reformed in 1998, and endured a series of lineup changes: Gilbert left in 2001 for family reasons, Phil Cunningham stepped in, and Peter Hook departed acrimoniously in 2007. The remaining members attempted to continue before officially disbanding in 2009, though they reunited for charity shows in 2011 with Gilbert's return and Tom Chapman on bass. The Groove Hunter currently tracks 18 editions of New Order releases, including Substance, The Rest of New Order 2025, Movement, and Republic Remastered.