A Wonderful Old-Timey Cover Of New Order's 'Blue Monday' Only Featuring Instruments Available In 1933

Mar 02, 2020 by apost team

The single "Blue Monday" was originally released by New Order on 7 March 1983. It remains one of the most important pieces of pop music until today. In a special production back in 2016, using only instruments available in the 1930s, including a theremin and musical saw accompanied by the harmonium and piano, the BBC tasked Orkestra Obsolete to present this classic as it was never heard before.

New Order is a British punk-rock and synthpop band that formed in 1980. In 1983, a mere three years after the band's founding, they released the international hit "Blue Monday". The song made the charts in several countries, rising to the Top 10 in many of them. The song has been covered several times by different bands and was remixed by New Order themselves as well. In 1988 and 1995, the British band even re-released the popular song, with great success.

All in all, it has sold 1.16 million times in the UK alone and remains the best-selling 12-inch single of all time. Acclaimed Music even goes so far as to rank the song the 38th best song of all time.

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In 2016, BBC Arts and Orkestra Obsolete worked together to film a completely new take on the classic pop song. The band, wearing matching tuxedos and face masks, use a variety of vintage music instruments to give the track a haunting, special quality. The original music video of the performance was released on the original release date of "Blue Monday", March 7. The cover shows what the classic song might have sounded, if it had been released 50 years earlier during the 1930s.

In order to make the cover as authentic as possible, BBC Arts looked for original instruments of the time or remade classis 1930 instruments as closely to their original plans as possible. The result is absolutely stunning but also a bit bewildering for a modern audience.

Some of the featured instruments seem far out of place today. After all, how many people have seen a theremin used before? This special instrument, invented by and named after Léon Theremin in 1928, remains the only known instrument that is played without being touched by the musician using it. It is one of the earliest electronic instruments. The user controls the sound and volume the theremin produces by waving their hands between the instrument's two antenna. It is still considered a favorite instrument for eerie or tense background music in films.

Other notable, not often seen instruments include a handsaw, singing glasses, a diddley bow and a zither, among others. The result is a very special recording of a true classic that gives a unique experience to the listener.

What did you think about this special performance of Blue Monday? Did you like the sound of the instruments and could you identify them all? Pass this story along to see what your friends think!