Video 5 8 6

"Video 5 8 6"
Single by New Order
B-side"As You Said"
Released22 September 1997
Recorded1982
Genre
Length22:23
LabelTouch
ProducerNew Order
New Order singles chronology
"Blue Monday-95"
(1995)		 "Video 5 8 6"
(1997)		 "Crystal"
(2001)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar

"Video 5 8 6", originally titled "Prime 5 8 6", is an electronic instrumental piece written and produced by the British group New Order. The track was initially released in two sections in Touch Music's first cassette magazine, Feature Mist, in December 1982. Touch re-released the entire track as a CD single in 1997, making it New Order's twenty-fourth single.

Composed primarily by Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris, "Prime 5 8 6"/"Video 5 8 6" was an early version of "5 8 6" (from Power, Corruption & Lies), which contained rhythm elements that would later surface on "Ultraviolence" and the 1983 hit "Blue Monday". After Factory Records' Tony Wilson asked New Order for twenty minutes of "pap", it was first played in public during the opening of The Haçienda on 21 May 1982.

On release in 1997 it reached #86 on the main British singles chart and #19 on the British indie chart. Bassist Peter Hook has said the key to the title "5 8 6" can be found in another of the group's songs, "Ecstasy"; 5, 8 then 6 is the song's bar structure.[citation needed]

A video was released for the song, "Primitive 586", on the FACT 56, IKON 3 VHS and BETA tape A Factory Video, the footage is mostly primitive 80s computer graphics.

Legacy

Dave Simpson of The Guardian, including "Video 5 8 6" in a list of ten of New Order's best tracks, called it a "motorik electronic odyssey" and added: "Eventually released as a CD single in 1997, this combination of endlessly repetitive groove and electro bassline is as hypnotic as anything they recorded."

Track listing

CD: TONE 7 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Video 5-8-6" (Performed by New Order)22:25
2."As You Said" (Performed by Joy Division - only included on 12" versions TONE 7.1)2:01

Chart positions

Chart (1997) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 86
UK Indie Singles 19

References

  1. ↑ Simpson, Dave (6 August 2014). "New Order: 10 of the best". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  2. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (7 January 2021). "New Order's 30 greatest tracks – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  3. ↑ Bush, John. "Review: Video 586 – New Order". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Johnson, Mark. An Ideal For Living: An History of Joy Division. London: Bobcat Books, 1984. Pg. 103.
  5. ↑ Flowers, Claude. New Order + Joy Division: Dreams Never End. London: Omnibus Press, 1995. Pg. 51.
  6. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. 1 2 "UK Chartlog". zobbel.de. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  9. ↑ Simpson, Dave (6 August 2014). "New Order: 10 of the best". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 May 2025.