Hi,
I have only seen bits of 24hr party people but it was a good laugh. Might get a copy, I'm sure Fopp had it in for £7.
Blue Monday still gets them going at various retro gigs I do. It's not the biggest tune or the most requested but it's still does the job.
I still find it hard to believe he didn't see the Blue Monday/12 inch selling thing coming
The record came out just after a time when the disco backlash had happened. Dance records were fairly underground & niche selling. They sold to mainly people into the scene. This started to open up around the 82 onwards with rise of early hip hop electro & very early house & US Garage.
New Order had seen & heard this so they used this as a influence. I remember when the record came out & some of the indie kids at the time turning their noses up at it before they heard it was by New Order. The song did gather momentum over a long period of time.
that track was soooo far ahead of its time, yet OF it, that it defies belief; computer music was just coming out around this time and let's face it - even though 12 inch records had been around for a few years, most of the tracks were just louder pressings of 7 inch versions, or just crappily extended (thus boring) versions - maybe Blue Monday could almost be a precursor to modern trance - it is after all 8 minutes long!
In a way it wasn't that ahead of it's time. Too be truthful it's is just a disco track with New Order stamp on it. There were electronic disco records well before this one.
For a ground breaking stuff check out Giorgio Moroder stuff. He helped laid down the disco blue print for electronic house based dance music. If you listen to the 12" version of 'I free love' by Donna Summer. This is IMO more ground breaking track which still stands the test of time today.
Also check out Cerrone & Space (not the Liverpool band) for more electronic based disco dance.
You do have to give New Order credit as they did help to make popular this indie/ dance style which decame most bigger in future years & helped some people get into dance music.
As for 12" singles, I partly agree with you Dom. The 12" came out around 1976 and did offer a better cut of the record. Some of the early ones weren't much longer than the 7" version but were cut better & had special remixes & dance versions.
A number of disco dance 12" of the 70's were full version with the 7" being an edited version. As 12" singles got more popular, all styles of music & type of artists put stuff out on them. At first they were limited editions, sometime with different coloured vinyl & picture sleeves.
Collectors & fans would go out & buy the different versions. I have loads of 12" singles & some of the pop ones are in some case pointless extensions of a 7" song. The dance based stuff are not & can be epics going on for 15 minutes plus. Here the mixer/remixer can apply his or hers art.
BTW the good thing about djing is that you usually get your drinks for free.
SCIDB
Told you you were really pi$$ed on Saturday night, reckon I've probably only ever seen you more hammered than that about 2 or 3 other times previously! 
