Introduction
After purchasing my first New Order 12-inch Blue Monday in 1983 it lasted almost 2 years before the next classic presented itself. On May 13, 1985, New Order released the 12-inch The Perfect Kiss. The story of a ridiculously good successor.
New Order
The release of Blue Monday often resulted in discussion, disappointment and even disgust. Disco stemming from the remains of post-punk darlings Joy Division? Outrageous.
The 1983 album Power, Corruption & Lies (which didn’t contain Blue Monday by the way) eased the pain somewhat with songs like Age Of Consent, Your Silent Face and Leave Me Alone, which (kind of) resembled the debut album Movement, but obviously the genie was out of the bottle. The other 5 songs were electronic and referred to the likes of Kraftwerk, Can, Neu!, Afrika Bambaataa, Gary Numan and Bian Eno, and basically were house music avant-la-lettre.
After the singles Confusion and Murder in 1984 it was time for a new album: Low-Life, by many regarded as the highlight in New Order’s body of work. The second song off the album was released as the lead single on the same day the album was released.
New Order – The Perfect Kiss – Clockwise, starting upper left: Seq Circuits Pro One, Octave Plateau Voyetra, Powertran Seq & ARP Omni
Equipment
As was the case with Blue Monday, The Perfect Kiss mainly utilizes digital instruments:
- Seq Circuits Pro One
- Powertran Transcendent 2000 w/ Powertran 1024 Seq
- ARP Omni
- ARP 2600 w/ ARP Seq
- Simmons SDS2
- ARP Quadra
- Moog Source
- Boss Dr Rhythm
- Prophet 5 w/ Seq Circuits PolySequencer
- Oberheim DMX
- Emu Emulator
- Octave Plateau Voyetra
(source: Electronics & Music Maker magazine, March 1985
New Order – The Perfect Kiss
The Perfect Kiss
On May 13, 1985, the single and 12-inch The Perfect Kiss was released, the first New Order single that was also part of a regular album. The edit version on the album is inferior to the genius 12-inch version, which lasts 8:49 minutes. I bought the 12-inch around June 1985 in a record store in my home town of Heerhugowaard. I don’t remember hearing the song anywhere before (it might have been played at my favorite hangout ‘t Stamcafe), but I distinctly remember having to have it.
In 2012 Bernard Sumner tells of the song’s origin:
“Perfect Kiss” was written in a mad session in the studio. It was written, recorded and mixed in 72 hours without any sleep whatsoever. I’d already done a bit of synth at home, the bassline and we did the rest in Britannia Row – by the end of it we were out of our minds. We did it in such a compressed time because we had a tour of Australia straight after. So we did “The Perfect Kiss” in 72 hours, no sleep, finished it, drove across London from our flat near Harrods that we’d rented, packed everything away, this was 6am, drove back up to Manchester, and the next day flew to Australia and had 24 hours on a plane. The very next day, we started in Australia. So it was pretty hectic, pretty full-on.
GQ magazine interview, 03/29/2012
A precursor to the song debuted on May 14, 1984, when New Order played at a Music for Miner’s concert. Sumner introduced the song as I’ve Got A Cock As Long As The M1. This version contained different lyrics.
New Order – The Perfect Kiss – Video stills
Video
New Order released a video for The Perfect Kiss. The video’s catalog number was FAC 321, where the (maxi)single had catalog number FAC 123.
The band members were previously shown in the video for Confusion, but for me the The Perfect Kiss video was the first time I saw the band play. The video is a true work of art, the band plays live in the studio. Utmost concentration, tight performance, intimately filmed; New Order plays their greatest song in a blistering way, which deviated from the 12-inch (notice the guitar and cowbell).
None of the band members face the camera directly, a gimmick that was also used in the Prince And The Revolution video for Raspberry Beret (coming off the Around The World In A Day album), also shot in 1985. We follow the faces up close, fingers playing chords and melodies on synthesizers, bass, guitar and the abuse of the drum pads.
When the song is over, the band comes across as relieved, more than anything else. Maybe they were, as their performances at the time were regularly marred by not working or unpredictable computers and synthesizers.
N.B
The none-watching into the camera stance is broken only two short times, both by bassist Peter Hook. At 05:17 minutes and towards the end of the video (09:23) when the band has just finished the song’s performance.
New Order 1985
Review
As stated in the article on the classic Blue Monday, I personally like The Perfect Kiss even better. The way the song is constructed is perfect, the melodies on the bass are beautiful and moving. The song itself is steeped in melancholy. The frog sounds (!) in the break-down are strange, yet they do actually add to the song. By the song’s end the band seem to turn the volume up even further. The finale is truly orgasmic. This song isn’t just recommended, this is required listening!
Success?
Unbelievable but true, The Perfect Kiss wasn’t a huge hit for New Order. It was recognized as an indie classic, in The Netherlands as well, but it failed to enter most of the regular charts, even in homeland England.
New Order – The Perfect Kiss – Video ad
Lyrics
Factory label owner Tony Wilson once stated that The Perfect Kiss was about AIDS. Bernard Sumner denies this:
It’s not about AIDS! We were in one guy’s house in America and he was pulling guns out from under his bed – his personal arsenal. And then we went out and had a great night!
GQ magazine interview, 03/29/2012
In that same 2012 Bernard Sumner said: “I haven’t a clue what this is about.” However, it’s rather obvious that love is placed opposite of death, on the 12-inch version at least. The final verse of the lyrics is not part of the album version of the song, therefore making the (album) song title less obvious.
I stood there beside myself,
Thinking hard about the weather
Then came by a friend of mine
Suggested we go out together
Then I knew it from the start:
This friend of mine would fall apart
Pretending not to see his gun,
I said “let’s go out and have some fun”I know, you know, we believe in a land of love
I know, you know, we believe in a land of loveI have always thought about
Staying here and going out
Tonight I should have stayed at home,
Playing with my pleasure zone
He has always been so strange,
I’d often thought he was deranged
Pretending not to see his gun,
I said “let’s go out and have some fun”I know, you know, we believe in a land of love
I know, you know, we believe in a land of loveWhen you are alone at night
You search yourself for all the things
That you believe are right
If you give it all away
You throw away your only chance to be here today
Then a fight breaks out on your street
You lose another broken heart in a land of meat
My friend, he took his final breath
Now I know the perfect kiss is the kiss of deathWritten by Bernard Sumner, Gillian Lesley Gilbert, Peter Hook and Stephen Paul David Morris
New Order – The Perfect Kiss – Notes (rhythm and bass)
In closing
What’s your opinion on The Perfect Kiss? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: New Order’s second classic 12-inch: The Perfect Kiss. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
