New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle

"Bizarre Love Triangle" is one of those cool songs where the title does not appear in the lyrics, something that New Order did a lot.  It was the second single from the band's 1986 Brotherhood LP and was one of a relatively small number of songs that the famously reclusive (aloof?) band turned into a video.  The main video (the first one below) was directed by the American painter Robert Longo of Men in the Cities fame.

New Order was formed from the remains of Joy Division, following the tragic suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis.  While the band started out as stylistically similar to Joy Division, they gradually incorporated more dance and synth pop elements into their songs.  The result was a new wave dance sound that was trendsetting, and laid the groundwork for many bands to follow.

While they became huge stars in their native Britain, New Order had only modest mainstream success in the U.S.  "Bizarre Love Triangle" did not chart in 1986, although it was re-released and did hit #98 in 1995.  The Brotherhood album was also not a huge hit; it peaked at #161.

Of course New Order continued to have success (particularly in the UK and Europe) and they remain active as of this writing, although they have had at least two breakups/long hiatuses through the years.

In classic ERV style, we found a second video of the song, recorded in the famous Strawberry Studios in London.  (Sorry for the abrupt ending.)

Cool trivia fact:  New Order is not a U.S. one hit wonder.  They actually had two top 40 hits -- 1987's "True Faith (#32) and 1990's "Regret (#28).