What are New Order's biggest songs?

24 August 2024, 16:00

The legendary Manchester band play a huge homecoming show at Wythenshawe Park this weekend - but which of their many songs have been streamed the most times?

• Formed: Manchester, UK, 1980
• Current members: Bernard Sumner, Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris, Phil Cunningham, Tom Chapman
• Former members: Peter Hook
• First single: Ceremony (February 1981)
• Album discography: Movement (November 1981); Power Corruption & Lies (May 1983); Low-Life (May 1985); Brotherhood (September 1986); Technique (January 1989); Republic (May 1993); Get Ready (October 2001); Waiting For The Sirens Call (April 2005); Lost Sirens (January 2013); Music Complete (September 2015).

1. New Order - Blue Monday: release date 7th March 1983

   New Order's signature song is also their biggest hit in the digital age, with over 415 million Spotify streams and over 69 million YouTube views to date. Originally issued as a standalone single alongside the album Power Corruption & Lies in March 1983, it's claimed that Blue Monday is the biggest-selling 12" of all time, spending 74 weeks on the chart on no less than 14 different occasions.

   Read more: Did New Order really lose money on the Blue Monday sleeve?

   

   New Order - Blue Monday (Official Lyric Video)

2. New Order - Blue Monday 1988: release date 25th April 1988

   Blue Monday, again? Following the success of the Substance 1987 compilation, New Order's US record label owner Quincy Jones decided to remix the track for American ears, with producer John Potoker on hand. The new version peaked higher than the original - number 3 rather than 1983's highest score #9 - and the track has had over 149 million Spotfiy streams and over 15 million views of the excellent video, directed by photographer William Wegman and his Weimaraner dog , Fay Ray

   

   New Order - Blue Monday 88 (Official Music Video)

3. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle: release date 3rd November 1986)

   Originally included on the band's fourth studio album Brotherhood, this club favourite was remixed by producer Shep Pettibone and issued as a single in November 1986, where it went to the criminally-low position of Number 56. Since then, BLT (as it's known to the band and their fans) has had over 148 million Spotify streams and over 24 million YouTube views,

   

   New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle (Official Music Video) [HD Upgrade]

4. New Order - Age Of Consent: release date 2nd May 1983

   The stirring opening track from New Order's landmark second album Power Corruption & Lies showcases Peter Hook's distinctive sound. The new video for the 2020 remastered version of the album has enjoyed over 1.9 million views, while the track has been streamed over 134 million times.

   

   New Order - Age of Consent (2020 Remaster) [Official Music Video]

5. New Order - True Faith: release date 20th July 1987

   One of New Order's finest tracks, True Faith was released as a single alongside their first compilation, Substance 1987 and peaked at Number 4 in the UK. The startlingly original video was directed by choreographer Philippe Decouflé and has since been viewed on YouTube over 35 million times. A remixed version was included on the compilation The Best Of New Order and issued as a single on 7th November 1994; the remixed track has had over 47 million streams on Spotify.

   

   New Order - True Faith (1987) (Official Music Video) [HD REMASTERED]

6. New Order - Regret: release date 5th April 1993

   The first single to be released from the Republic album, Regret is also one of the band's biggest hits, making Number 4 in the Spring of 1993. Since then, the track has been streamed over 50 million times and the video watched over 12 million times.

   

   New Order - Regret (Official Music Video)

7. New Order - Temptation: release date 10th May 1982

   The original version of this live favourite was issued as a standalone single after the release of the band's debut Movement, where it crept to Number 29 in the charts. The song was re-recorded in May 1987 for the Substance album and it's this version that has amassed over 26 million streams on Spotify and over 17 million views on YouTube.

   

   New Order - Temptation (Official Music Video) [HD Upgrade]

8. New Order - Ceremony: released 6th March 1981

   The first single recorded by New Order after the death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis has a rather complicated history. It's one of the last two songs the band rehearsed with Curtis (the other is the b-side, In A Lonely Place) and was played live for the first time at the very last Joy Division gig in May 1980.

   When the trio of Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris reconvened, they recorded this version in New York while on their first tour of the US, which has since had over 36 million streams and over 796,000 YouTube views. A second version, featuring new member Gillian Gilbert on guitar, was also issued as a 12" and it's this take that appears on the Substance compilation.

   

   Ceremony (Version 1) (2016 Remaster)

9. New Order - Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix): release date 21st August 1995

   Originally recorded in New York with hip hop producer Arthur Baker, this electro-infused track was re-worked, as with Temptation, for the Substance 1987 compilation. In 1994, having left the ailing Factory Records for the major London, New Order's new label issued a Best Of and a "Rest Of", which was a series of remixes old and new.

   Remixed almost beyond recognition by Tim Taylor's Pump Panel production project, this version was included on the soundtrack to the 1998 film Blade and this has no doubt sparked interest in recent years, meaning there have been over 32 million Spotify streams and over 1.2 million YouTube views.

   

   Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix)

10. New Order - World In Motion (release date 21st May 1990)

    Charged with coming up with a song for the England team's World Cup campaign for Italia '90, New Order scored their first and only Number 1 hit. The song has never really gone away, with over 21 million plays on Spotify and over 12 million YouTube views.

    Read more: Why did New Order record World In Motion for the 1990 World Cup?

    

    New Order - World In Motion (Official Music Video) [HD Upgrade]