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Wednesday 21 January 2015

Shot Right Through With A Bolt Of Blue


While we're doing Joy Division and New Order let's have Frente!'s much loved cover version of NO's Bizarre Love Triangle (from 1994). It's good sometimes to hear familiar songs done differently- this is very sweetly sung with an acoustic guitar picking away. You could call it twee if you wanted to. I think I would.

Bizarre Love Triangle

The hole in the ground in the photograph was The Hacienda, Whitworth Street. What other city in the world would have allowed one of the most important parts of its cultural history to be demolished? The view at the time was 'we are not sentimentalists, tear it down'. Now there's a pretty nasty apartment block on the site called- yes, you guessed it- Hacienda Apartments.

Here's the 1986 original of Bizarre Love Triangle. Epic in every way.

9 comments:

Brian said...

Just lovely, Adam. I guess the New Order version is kind of OK too. Relax! I'm kidding. This song is probably in my New Order top 5.

drew said...

BLT is my favourite New Order song and every time I listen to it I'm transported back to the Mudd Club in Aberdeen on dreich Monday nights in 1987/88.

Simon said...

Big fave here too.

London's lost a lot of it's 20th century cultural history too, hardly a venue left from my teens anywhere across the capital, central London around by Oxford Street/Soho going under the demolition process to make way for the new Crossrail stuff or expensive flats or clean,shiny,clean. It's no wonder I left. There's nothing of My London here anymore.

Webbie - FootieAndMusic said...

For some reason I've never been a fan of NO cover versions, but this one I liked.

I think I first heard it on an NME cassette or a CD given away with one of the magazines...? Or was it on a compilation album ?

Anyway I discovered more from Frente because of this cover.

Gentle Ben said...

Both great versions!
Sarah Records band Even As We Speak also did a fantastic version - if you don't know it you can find it on Youtube...

Swiss Adam said...

I don't know it Ben, I'll have a look

Hazard said...

My life is full of these.

Bovril said...

There was a programme on GMR sometime in December about Northern Soul. Russ Winstanley was listening and called in. He spoke about his pain when the council closed down Wigan Casino, then didn't do anything with it for months. Even after they bulldozed it they didn't build on the site for years. They say councils don't realise what they have, but the dollar signs flash bright in their eyes and the Hac was a massive burden on theresources of Machester Council and on the Councillors political careers. There was no way they could be seen (in their eyes) to allow it to stay open. A real shame.

Scott said...

New Order in their prime, brings back so many great memories.