New Order

After Ian Curtis' suicide, the remaining Joy Division members recruited keyboardist Gillian Gilbert and mixed their post-punk aesthetic with a love of Kraftwerk and New York disco, transforming it into the textured, heartfelt electronic dance music which became the soundtrack for the '80s and early '90s club scenes and created a template for every electro/rock crossover act since. As part-owners of the legendary Hacienda nightclub with flamboyant Factory Records boss Tony Wilson, they oversaw the birth of acid house and rave culture while providing a platform for bands like The Smiths, M People and Happy Mondays. Breakthrough track Blue Monday remains the world's biggest selling 12-inch single while they scored their only UK No 1 single with the 1990 England football team World Cup song World In Motion and Technique (1989) and Republic (1993) were both No 1 albums. Going into hiatus in 1993, they reformed in 1998 to release albums Get Ready (2001) and Waiting For The Sirens' Call (2005).

Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.