But they are not warm, unless you are not listening to the lyrics.

Shall we remember that New Order is Joy Division after Ian Curtis killed himself? The music is happier but the lyrics are still dark.

And I still find it so hard
To say what I need to say
But I’m quite sure that you’ll tell me
Just how I should feel today

Tell me how does it feel
When your heart’s grown cold?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3041kBbxGM

Love that New Orleans sound, and I’d like to take this opportunity to point out for your notice Fats’ “secret weapon”: the sax playing of David Bartholomew For more on this under-appreciated musician, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Bartholomew

And as to Mr Bartholomew’s his lack of recognition: ain’t that a shame?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcaEpyita58

Paul Morley‘s Words and Music is a _fantastic_ read, if you like either of the title’s subject matter. Descriptions of Kylie Minogue riding shotgun with Kraftwerk down the Autobahn to a golden dildo city…can’t be beat, really. He claims that the Blue Monday/Kylie Minogue mashup Can’t Get Blue Monday Out of My Head is the pinnacle of pop music…and he may just be right.

The music lists he makes are unrivalled (including 5 different “100 greatest albums of all time”, “88 Albums – If You Think Radiohead’s Kid A is Weird, Then You Should Really Hunt This Music Down” and “110 Other Albums to Think About if you Think That Radiohead’s Kid A is Really Weird”, “121 Songs That Explain Why Kraftwerk are Kraftwerk & Just How & Where & When Their Influence Spread & Turned (The order is precise but mysterious. This is probably more than 121 songs, but who’s counting?)”, “Greatest Pop Single of All Time (210)” and that’s just a start)…and if you need to buy it…

The book first came to my attention via DJ Food‘s Raiding the 20th Century, which is only equalled by Soda Jerk‘s Pixel Pirates II in remixing lore

for the record — I like the Fats Domino Blue Monday a lot too …

*runs*

So…

- Soft Cell didn’t detail the loneliness of bedsit land and tainted love
- Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark didn’t sing about the longing of Joan of Arc
- The Human League weren’t a wicked mix of humour and tremendous sci-fi imagination
- Kraftwerk’s Neon Lights isn’t a paean to industrial beauty and Man Machine doesn’t refer to post-McLuhan humanity
- Depeche Mode’s Couldn’t Get Enough, etc was about the monophonic synths, not love and/or sex
- The Normal, John Foxx and Gary Numan had nothing to do with Burroughs or Ballard…

These artists and many more influenced generations of music thereafter from techno to Junior Boys, Goldfrapp, Tricky, etc, etc.

What a dumb, ill-informed thing to say.

Blue Monday how I hate Blue Monday
Got to work like a slave all day
Here come Tuesday, oh hard Tuesday
I’m so tired got no time to play
Here come Wednesday, I’m beat to my socks
My gal calls, got to tell her that I’m out
‘Cause Thursday is a hard workin’ day
And Friday I get my pay
Saturday mornin’, oh Saturday mornin’
All my tiredness has gone away
Got my money and my honey
And I’m out on the stand to play

Sunday mornin’ I’m feelin’ bad
But it’s worth it for the time that I had
But I’ve got to get my rest
‘Cause Monday is a mess

But for me, I prefer Flunk’s version better. It has more soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbRWxd6Cx6g&feature=related

A little bit of Toots dies everytime you watch it.