Today is the last day of November. Thanksgiving is behind us a few days and December starts tomorrow so it seemed like a good time to start my daily sharing of a holiday song I love. Some are old favorites and some are new discoveries. Feel free to check follow here on this site or follow on Facebook @musicalternativereality to see what I am up to each day.
This particular PG-13 song is irreverent, hilarious, honest, and heartwarming all at once as it lays out of the headaches of family that are really the reason they are great. The video is awesome too. Enjoy!
The The had made inroads with Soul Mining but had not found widespread success. Three years later The The returned (still with Matt Johnson as the only permanent member) with the album Infected. The Infected album continued with the stylistic fusions of the earlier records, this time finding Johnson bringing in more dance textures and light industrial elements to the musical mix. Lyrically, Johnson tries to tackle political and social issues head on. This can be heard on the lead single “Heartland”, which Johnson took eighteen months to write because he “knew it was the most important song I was writing”. “Heartland” does address the economic malaise of Thatcher’s Britain and its close military/political ties to the United States directly and ends with the repeated refrain “this is the 51st state of the U.S.A.”. The time and effort spent on “Heartland” paid off for The The however as the song became the group’s first UK Top 30 hit, peaking at #29. “Heartland”, while still drawing on a variety of musical influences, is a relatively straightforward song that hints at the anthemic political scope of 80’s U2 or Simple Minds without ever losing the eclecticism of The The. This focus on political and social issues runs throughout the album. “Sweet Bird Of Truth” addresses American military intervention in the Middle East while Johnson creates a dark vibe somewhere in between Nick Cave and Public Image Ltd. Johnson had originally planned to release “Sweet Bird Of Truth” as the lead single from Infected but the timing of its release coincided with the American bombing of Libya and the record label refused to promote it as a single. Elsewhere, The The looks at the personal with the same critical eye. “Slow Train To Dawn” is a sultry, smart duet with Neneh Cherry about infidelity and sexual power that should have been more successful than it was and the title track is a propulsive dance rocker that was a minor success on the American club scene. Infected found The The continuing to expand their sound and themes in challenging new ways that earned the band an increasingly devoted fan base even while keeping mainstream success at bay, in spite of the commercial promise suggested by “Heartland”.
The The finally released Soul Mining in October of 1983, a full year after the first single “Uncertain Smile” was released. A second single titled “Perfect” had been released after “Uncertain Smile” but it had not had much success or impact outside of those already aware of The The. However, as the record label prepared to release Soul Mining in the fall of 1983, they decided to release another single just ahead of the record’s release to help promote it. This third single (although really the first to be released to directly promote Soul Mining) was “This Is The Day”. “This Is The Day” is a slightly melancholy pop song that has a warm, positive undercurrent that gives it depth. While the song is built on a bed of synths and percussion, “This Is The Day” also has accordion and fiddle used quite prominently and this gives the song an organic feel that is rooted in more traditional music (I personally always think of sitting at a cafe on an early spring day in a rustic corner of France when I hear the song). “This Is The Day” did not crossover to mainstream success the way that the record label had hoped it would, peaking in the UK at #71. However, over the years “This Is The Day” has become a first wave alternative music classic and one of The The’s best known and most beloved songs. Acknowledging the eventual importance of the song in the band’s history The The released a re-recorded and retitled version of the song – “That Was The Day” – as the lead single from 1993’s Dis-Infected EP.
Matt Johnson, who would work and record with a rotating cast of musicians and collaborators as The The, began to write music and release music as far back as the late 1970’s. Johnson however was never able to form a consistent band line-up around himself and so ultimately signed to the 4AD label as a solo artist, releasing the album Burning Blue Soul in 1981 under his own name. After the release of Burning Blue Soul Matt Johnson decided to once again use the name The The for his future music projects and began to work on what would be his next album (and first released as The The) Soul Mining. Soul Mining was released in 1983 and featured Johnson working with a variety of musicians and the album, while not a massive hit (it reached #27 on the UK album charts), did earn a positive reputation in the alternative music scene for its unusual mixture of post-punk, synthpop, and Velvet Underground styled decadent noir. The first single from Soul Mining was “Uncertain Smile”, a reworked version of an earlier song titled “Cold Spell Ahead” that had been included on the influential Some Bizarre compilation. “Uncertain Smile” would actually be released as a stand-alone single a year prior to the release of Soul Mining and reach a modest #68 on the UK charts. “Uncertain Smile” is a beautiful, if unusual, song. The track begins with an aural hook provided by a toy xylorimba before transforming into a moody, post-punk song that sounds something like The Smiths played over top of New Order. The song then transforms itself again when flute and horns add an element of jazz to the mix. That hint of jazz is extended for the album version of “Uncertain Smile” which was redone in a different, longer arrangement that adds a lengthy jazz piano section to the end of the song. The version included here though is the original single version of “Uncertain Smile”. Just to note it, Matt Johnson did later rebrand his previous solo album Burning Blue Soul as an album by The The which had made knowing which album to consider the debut album somewhat tricky since both were basically made by Johnson with a rotating cast of sidemen and, now, both are considered The The albums. However, initially Soul Mining was the first to be released under that moniker.
Due to my home country of the United States celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday this week I am taking the week off. See you next week. Please go back and reread some of the articles and tell someone you are grateful for them.
Shortly after the release of Technique, New Order wrote “World In Motion”, the official song for England’s 1990 World Cup campaign. “World In Motion”, which is a rather happy and upbeat anthem co-written by a comedian and featuring a guest rap by one of the players, John Barnes, went on to become New Order’s only UK #1 hit (although that should probably be credited to national spirit and love of football more than the quality of the song). Indeed, New Order’s own Bernard Sumner said the song was “the last straw for Joy Division fans”. Deserved or not (and it isn’t a completely terrible song) “World In Motion” kicked off the 1990’s on a high note for New Order. Sadly, things would soon go in a more negative direction for the band as Factory Records, their long-time record label and business partners in the Hacienda dance club had to declare bankruptcy. This led to the eventual closure of the Hacienda as well, which proved to be a massive financial hit to the band as they were heavily invested as financial partners in the club. On top of financial disaster, New Order was also dealing with tension within the band as well. Long simmering disagreements over musical direction began to come to a head, especially between Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, when the band went back into the studio to record their sixth album Republic. Republic became another big hit for New Order, peaking at #11 in the US (the best showing for a New Order album) and hitting #1 in Britain. Much of the success of Republic came from the success of the lead single “Regret” which was New Order’s biggest hit in America. “Regret” went to #4 in the UK and #28 in the US while also hitting #1 on the American alternative charts, making it one of New Order’s most successful songs. Following the release of Republic New Order went on hiatus and the band members worked on various side projects. The most high profile of these was Bernard Sumner’s collaboration with The Smith’s Johnny Marr (and occasionally the Pet Shop Boys) as Electronic. Peter Hook formed a new band called Revenge and then later another new group called Monaco. Both Electronic and Monaco had hit singles. Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris released an album as The Other Two and also began working in film music. These side projects and in-band tensions kept New Order sidelined for most of the 90’s but the band reunited for some concert performances in 1998 and from there began to make music together again. This reunion led to the 2001 release of their seventh album Get Ready, which was a more guitar-oriented affair than anything they had recorded since at least the mid 1980’s. Get Ready reestablished New Order as a working band rather than just a legacy act and spun off the UK (and American alternative chart) hit singles “Crystal” and “Sixty Miles An Hour”. Get Ready also saw the first line-up change for the band as Gillian Gilbert chose to stay home and raise her and Stephen Morris’ children. She would be replaced by Phil Cunningham. New Order followed up Get Ready four years later with Waiting For The Sirens Call, a return to the dance meets rock sound of their early work. The album also gave the band another hit with “Krafty”. This era also found New Order receiving several awards honoring their career as both trendsetters and hitmakers. All was not well within the band though as old tensions rose again, especially between Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, and Hook once again left the group. Hook’s exit however did not stop New Order from continuing though and the band released Lost Sirens, a collection of outtakes from their previous album Waiting For The Sirens Call, in 2013. The band continued to tour with Tom Chapman replacing Peter Hook on bass and it would be Chapman who would replace Hook on 2015’s Music Complete. Music Complete however would see the return of Gillian Gilbert (although Phil Cunningham would also remain with the band). This era also saw continued legal issues between Hook and the rest of the band that were ultimately settled out of court. Since that time New Order has continued to tour and in 2020 released the single “Be A Rebel”. Peter Hook has also been touring with his own band Peter Hook and the Light which performs songs by both New Order and Joy Division.
By the end of the 1980’s music trends were quickly changing, especially in the alternative rock and dance music worlds that New Order worked in. Indeed, as partial owners and “house band” of the infamous Hacienda dance club in Manchester, New Order had a vested interest in staying on top of the hot club trends in particular. In this case that meant being aware of and relevant to the rising Acid House and Balearic sounds, as well as the more rock-oriented Baggy/Madchester sound that was rooted in some of those same rhythms. Rather than cede the spotlight to younger bands New Order moved to the island of Ibiza in Spain (a popular center for the rising dance culture) and began work on their next album Technique. Like most New Order records Technique balanced the band’s dance and alt-rock elements, but the most creative and innovative moments on the record found New Order merging the current dance trends into their sound. It is a trick they had done before with “Blue Monday” and other early hits, but New Order was no longer a new, rising band looking to define their sound, they were established veterans who had created the scene they were now competing in. The impressive thing is how effective they still were at incorporating these new trends into their classic sound. In fact, they often better their younger peers at their own game. Several songs on the record are notable for this – “Round & Round”, “Vanishing Point”, “Mr Disco” – but the song that best reshapes New Order for a new scene and sound (without making them sound or feel like carpetbaggers) is the opening track and first single “Fine Time”. “Fine Time” is an Acid-House influenced dance song that features a wicked beat and vocals that were more upbeat and humorous than the often dour New Order tended to be. It was a club hit that crossed over to the mainstream, hitting #11 in the UK and going to #3 on the American alternative charts (while also being a pop or club hit in many other international territories). “Fine Time” is the most innovative song on the record but it’s not the only strong one. All of the other dance-oriented tracks mentioned above are also quite strong, while “Dream Attack” has a sense of dark mystery, “Run” is a pop masterpiece, and “All The Way” sounds like the best Cure song not written by The Cure. Technique proved New Order were not only still relevant, but that they were still masters of the scene.
1987 saw New Order trying to build on their recent success in the USA by touring America with Echo & The Bunnymen, another English alternative group that had begun to see increased American success in recent years. This tour also coincided with the release of New Order’s compilation album Substance, a collection of the band’s 12 inch singles and their B-sides that showcased New Order as a electronic/synth dance group. Substance also served as an introductory sampler of sorts for American fans who may have come to the band more recently. Substance was a success and much of that success was built off the back of the album’s new song and hit single “True Faith”. Like “Bizarre Love Triangle” before it, “True Faith” was a pop-oriented synth/dance track that became a sizable hit on both sides of the Atlantic. “True Faith”, in part due to its surreal and unusual video which received heavy airplay on MTV, became New Order’s first American Top 40 when the song peaked at #32 on the Billboard charts. “True Faith” also was a hit in Britain and became New Order’s first UK Top 10 since “Blue Monday” four years earlier. The global success of both “True Faith” and Substance helped make New Order one of the most successful groups to ever emerge from the alternative rock world; fitting heirs to the legacy of Joy Division even while following a different path.
New Order continued to develop their unique sound with their third album Low-Life. Low-Life was another hit for the group and continued to refine the band’s melding of post-punk and dance music on UK hit songs like “The Perfect Kiss” and “Sub-Culture”. Low-Life also featured the excellent “Love Vigilantes”, a folk meets post-punk experiment that is lovely, melancholic, and strange. “Love Vigilantes” shows the band continuing to experiment within their sound and proved the group cound still write an excellent song without any dance elements. Low-Life was followed quickly by the inclusion of “Shellshock” on the soundtrack for the film Pretty In Pink. The inclusion of “Shellshock” on the soundtrack was a positive move for New Order as “Shellshock” became another UK Top 30 hit. It was also key in bringing New Order more attention in the USA as the Pretty In Pink soundtrack was successful enough to help bring new wave, synthpop, and college rock more into the American mainstream. Later in 1986 New Order released their fourth album Brotherhood. On Brotherhood New Order divided the album between a more traditional rock half and an electronic, dance-oriented half. Opening up the more electronic second half of Brotherhood was the record’s second single “Bizarre Love Triangle”. While rooted in synths and club beats, “Bizarre Love Triangle” is less cold and robotic feeling than earlier New Order club hits like “Temptation” and “Blue Monday”. Indeed, “Bizarre Love Triangle”, while still a great song to dance to, is warm and lush in tone and feels like a pop song as much as a dance club hit. The pop tone helped “Bizarre Love Triangle” hit the Top 10 in Australia, Top 20 in New Zealand, and #1 on the US Indie charts (while peaking at #4 on the American dance charts). This placement in the US helped “Bizarre Love Triangle” become New Order’s most successful song to date in America. Strangely, in spite of its success in several other territories “Bizarre Love Triangle” did poorly in the band’s native UK, only peaking at #56. Nonetheless, “Bizarre Love Triangle” built up momentum for the band in many markets including the United States, momentum that would soon pay off even bigger for the band.
New Order had begun to explore the fusion of post-punk and dance music with their singles “Everything’s Gone Green” and “Temptation” and in the process carved out their own unique sound and vision. However, it was with their next single “Blue Monday” – originally released as a stand-alone single and then included on the American version (and ultimately all versions) of the Power, Corruption & Lies album – that New Order finally completely came into their own. “Blue Monday” exists in two worlds and does so perfectly. On one side “Blue Monday” is cold textures, driving bass guitar, and emotional detachment. On the other side “Blue Monday” rides a hard beat that relentlessly pulses and features a rhythmic punch that is undeniable. “Blue Monday” not only became a hit (going Top 10 in many territories including #9 in the UK), but became the best selling 12 inch single of all time (making it the top dance club hit ever in terms of sales). The band would release another mix of the song in 1988 that would do even better, peaking in the UK at #3 and hitting #1 on the dance charts in the US (while also being widely played on American college rock and modern rock radio). The story behind the song is almost as incredible as the song itself. New Order had begun to experiment with sequencers, synthesizers, and dance textures after a visit to New York City and these explorations had already resulted in the hit single “Temptation” a year before. However, New Order originally worked on what would become “Blue Monday” as something of a joke (or musical middle finger) to their fans. Early in their career New Order refused to do encores at their shows which often upset fans. The band originally worked on creating a fully electronic “Blue Monday” with the plan to walk back out on stage at the end of a show, push a button, and let the encore play without them. However, as they continued to work on the track “Blue Monday” took on a life of its own and, ultimately, New Order created one of the greatest tracks of all time. New Order would then use all of the disparate elements they had used on “Blue Monday” – post-punk, synthpop, electronic and dance music – when creating their next album Power, Corruption & Lies; an album which would boast excellent tracks like “Age of Consent”, “The Village” and “Your Silent Face” among others.
Alternative Reality: An Alternative Music Blog 