When I first heard it…

Second in a continuing series.

The Beach and Blue Monday by New Order

New Order’s groundbreaking and influential Blue Monday was released in March 1983. The b-side is a mostly instrumental version of the song titled The Beach.

Sometime in late 1983 or early 1984 my friend and I made our way to the long gone VVV Records, which was located on Cedar Springs in Dallas, Texas. There was on the wall a record that looked like an oversized floppy disc. It was a die-cut sleeve with no artist or track information. I immediately bought it.

I wasn’t really familiar with New Order at that point. I was vaguely aware of Joy Division. I don’t think I even asked the clerk, who would later become MC 900 Ft Jesus, who the artist was.

My friend and I made our way back to the suburban drabness of Duncanville to listen to our new found treasures.

The record label itself didn’t indicate what track was the A-side and what was the B-side. Because the title Blue Monday reminded me of that awful 1950s song, I opted to start with The Beach.

Several minutes later as the song wound down I remarked, “That was pretty cool, but really kind of slow and plodding. Also those robot voices were strange.” My friend nodded in agreement.

So I flipped the record over and with a slight amount of trepidation played Blue Monday. I remember hoping that it wasn’t some sort of cover.

Quickly I learned that it was the same song or at least a version of it. Then the vocals came in. “How does it feel..” stretched out slowly and deeply over the same plodding beat and slightly odd sounding synthesizers. It was then that I realized I’d left the turntable on 33 RPMs instead of 45.

It makes me laugh now to think about the two us dumb, white, suburban punks sitting in a bedroom in Duncanville, Texas listening to what would become the biggest selling 12-inch single of all time at the wrong speed.

Regardless of the speed with which it was played the single kicked off my longtime love affair with Factory Records.