E is for Elegia

I've been a big fan of 80s-era New Order since first hearing "True Faith" on 120 Minutes. If you happen to listen to some of the songs I recorded alone or with head58 between 1988 and 1992 for the Flying Bohemians, you'll definitely hear their influence in terms of melody. A sort of repetitive phrase down below, with a solo melody up top, with the whole thing starting quiet and building up to something much bigger...only to fade back down to normal at the end.

Peter Hook was also a big influence on my bass playing...once I saw their video for "Perfect Kiss" it occured to me that I too could use the bass not just as a rhythm instrument to hold down the low end, but I could also play it as a solo instrument as well.


This is the full version of a track that's on their Low Life album (that version is just shy of five minutes), and was finally released a while back, first as a track on the bonus cd of their Retro box set from 2002, and then later on the Low Life remaster in 2008.

You might remember it from the scene from Pretty in Pink as well, when Duckie has to face some harsh truths about love and friendship.