Bizarre Love Triangle

"Bizarre Love Triangle"
Single by New Order
from the album Brotherhood
Released	3 November 1986 (1986-11-03)[1]
Genre	Synth-pop[2][3] alternative dance[4] new wave[5][6] disco[7]
Length	4:21 (album version) 3:43 (7-inch version) 6:43 (extended mix)
Label	Factory
Songwriter(s)	Gillian Gilbert Peter Hook Stephen Morris Bernard Sumner[8]^[permanent dead link‍]
Producer(s)	New Order
New Order singles chronology
"State of the Nation" (1986) "Bizarre Love Triangle" (1986) "True Faith" (1987)
Music video
"Bizarre Love Triangle‬” on YouTube

"Bizarre Love Triangle" is a song by English rock band New Order, released as a single in November 1986 from their fourth studio album, Brotherhood (1986), which reached the top five on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart,^[9] and No. 5 on the Australian ARIA Charts in March 1987. It failed to enter the top 40 of both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100; however, a new mix included on The Best of New Order was released in 1994 and charted at No. 98 on the Hot 100. In 2004, the song was ranked No. 204 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."^[10]

Releases

The 12-inch version, remixed by Shep Pettibone, also appears on the compilation Substance and a second remix by Stephen Hague features on their Best Of album. The original album version appears on the 2005 compilation Singles, the 7-inch version appears on the 2016 reissue of this compilation. New Order's live versions since 1998 are based on the Shep Pettibone remix.^[11]

The single mix features more electronics than the album version, with the Fairlight CMI music workstation used to provide sounds such as the orchestral hits, and to sequence the song. All instruments except vocals and Peter Hook's melodic bass were sequenced (the song also prominently features synthesised bass and synth choir parts).^[12]

Reception

"Bizarre Love Triangle" has been critically acclaimed since its release. In a 30th anniversary retrospective citing the song as one of the greatest of all time, Billboard described it as a "synth-pop masterpiece" and "an incandescent jewel of mid-'80s computer love."^[13] NME praised the song as New Order's "finest pop moment" and credited its simplicity in comparison to previous singles such as "Blue Monday".^[14] In 2004, the song was ranked No. 204 in Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."^[10] In 2013, Stereogum ranked the song No. 2 on their list of the 10 greatest New Order songs,^[15] and in 2021, The Guardian ranked the song No. 7 on their list of the 30 greatest New Order songs.^[16]

Music video

The music video, which was released in November 1986, was directed by American artists Robert Longo and Gretchen Bender. It prominently featured shots of a man and a woman in business suits flying through the air as though propelled by trampolines; this is based directly on Longo's "Men in the Cities" series of lithographs.^[17] The video has a black and white cut-scene where Jodi Long and E. Max Frye are arguing about reincarnation, in which Long emphatically declares "I don't believe in reincarnation because I refuse to come back as a bug or as a rabbit!" Frye responds, "You know, you're a real 'up' person," before the song resumes.^[18] It also features clips that Gretchen would later use for her next project "Total Recall".

Track listings

All tracks are written by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner

7-inch: FAC 163 (UK)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bizarre Love Triangle"	3:43
2.	"Bizarre Dub Triangle"	3:23

7-inch: Qwest 7-28421 (US)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bizarre Love Triangle" (edit)	3:36
2.	"Every Little Counts"	4:29

7-inch: FAC-26 (Canada)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bizarre Love Triangle"	3:36
2.	"Every Little Counts"	4:29

• Initial pressings (matrix FAC-26-A) were the UK 7-inch mix; later pressings (matrix FAC-26-A2) were the Canadian 7-inch mix

7-inch: FAC-163153 (Australia)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bizarre Love Triangle"	3:36
2.	"State of the Nation"	3:27

12-inch: FAC 163 (UK)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bizarre Love Triangle"	6:44
2.	"Bizarre Dub Triangle"	7:02

12-inch: Qwest 0-20546 (US)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bizarre Love Triangle"	6:41
2.	"I Don't Care" (Actually "Bizarre Dub Triangle")	7:02
3.	"State of the Nation"	6:31
4.	"Bizarre Love Triangle"	3:43

• US editions mis-credit "Bizarre Dub Triangle" as "I Don't Care", reputedly due to a record company person contacting New Order's Manager Rob Gretton to ask what to name the mix as, Gretton is claimed to have said "I don't care"^[19]

CD: Qwest 9 20546-2 (US) – released in 1994

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bizarre Love Triangle" (album version)	4:20
2.	"Bizarre Love Triangle" (Extended Dance Mix)	6:44
3.	"I Don't Care" (actually "Bizarre Dub Triangle")	7:02
4.	"State of the Nation"	6:31
5.	"Bizarre Love Triangle" (single remix)	3:43

Personnel

• Bernard Sumner – lead and backing vocals, synthesizers and programming
• Peter Hook – bass, electronic percussion, programming
• Stephen Morris – drums, synthesizers and programming
• Gillian Gilbert – synthesizers and programming

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1986–1987) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[20] 5 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[21] 51 Ireland (IRMA)[22] 25 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[23] 19 UK Singles (OCC)[24] 56 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[25] remix—with "State of the Nation" 4 US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[26] remix—with "State of the Nation" 8 Chart (1994) Peak position Canada Top Singles (RPM)[27] 53 Chart (1995) Peak position US Billboard Hot 100[28] 98

Year-end charts Chart (1987) Position Australia (Kent Music Report)[29] 28

Cover versions and remixes

• Australian band Frente! released an acoustic cover version of the song in 1994, re-imagining it as a folk ballad. Issued as part of the Lonely EP in their home country, the cover peaked at No. 7 on the ARIA Singles Chart^[30] and became a hit overseas, reaching No. 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100,^[31] No. 53 in Canada,^[32] and No. 76 in the United Kingdom.^[33] In Australia, it came in at No. 63 on the 1994 year-end chart and was certified gold for shipments of over 35,000.^[34]
• The song was remixed in 2005 by the Crystal Method (for their album Community Service II) and by Richard X (for the New Order single "Waiting for the Sirens' Call").^{[citation needed]}

References

1. Hook, Peter (6 October 2016). Substance: Inside New Order. Simon & Schuster UK. ISBN 9781471132438. Retrieved 19 July 2017 – via Google Books.
2. Proefrock, Stacia. "Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order". AllMusic.
3. Lindsay, Cam (8 September 2015). "An Essential Guide to New Order". Exclaim!. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
4. Andy Kellman. "Arthur Baker Presents Dance Masters: Shep Pettibone - The Classic 12" Master-Mixes". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
5. "Scarlett Johansson's band Sugar for Sugar covers New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" -- listen". 22 September 2016.
6. "80 best love songs of the 1980s". Cleveland. 31 August 2018.
7. "Dreams Never End". Uncut. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
8. "ASCAP entry".
9. Ankeny, Jason. "New Order - Music Biography, Streaming Radio and Discography - AllMusic". AllMusic.
10. "New Order, 'Bizarre Love Triangle'". Rolling Stone. 11 December 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
11. Flint, Tom (April 2004). "Recreating New Order's 'Blue Monday' Live". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
12. Fortner, Stephen (September 2005). "New Order. New Album. Old School. All Good". Keyboard. Archived from the original on 18 December 2005.
13. Unterberger, Andrew. "10 Reasons Why New Order's 'Bizarre Love Triangle' Is One of the Greatest Songs of All Time". Billboard. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
14. Elan, Priya (29 November 2017). "Why 'Bizarre Love Triangle' is New Order's finest pop moment". NME. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
15. Lariviere, Aaron (25 January 2013). "The 10 Best New Order Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
16. Petridis, Alexis (7 January 2021). "New Order's 30 greatest tracks – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
17. Shamberg, Michael. "Bizarre Love Triangle". kinoteca.net. Archived from the original on 15 January 2006.
18. "Gretchen Bender, Tracking The Thrill", Page 62, "Music Video's",2013.
19. "Recycle 13: Bizarre Love Triangle". neworder-recycle.blogspot. 5 September 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.
20. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, New South Wales, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 215. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
21. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0796." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
22. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Bizarre Love Triangle". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
23. "New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
25. "New Order Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
26. "New Order Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
27. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2508." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
28. "New Order Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
29. "Kent Music Report No 701 – 28 December 1987 > National Top 100 Singles for 1987". Kent Music Report, via Imgur.com. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
30. "Australian-charts.com – Frente! – Lonely". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
31. "Frente! Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
32. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2505". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
33. "FRENTE Chart History". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
34. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1994". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 25 October 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2019.