"Fine Time" is a song by English rock band New Order, released as the first single from their fifth studio album, ''

Technique Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s * Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by ...

''. The song was written and partially recorded in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

; its title was inspired by an incident in which band member Stephen Morris's car was towed, and he had to remember to pay the fine. The single, released on 28 November 1988, received widespread praise during its release and retrospectively. It was also a commercial success, reaching 11 on the UK Singles Chart and peaking inside the top 10 in Finland, Ireland, and New Zealand, as well as on three US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' genre charts.

Background

According to lead vocalist Bernard Sumner, the band first wrote "Fine Time" after a night at the Amnesia nightclub in

. Originally, Sumner wanted to record the vocals with an erotic inflection comparable to that of

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

's, but after recording the first take, he realised that the results were far from expectations and sounded as if he were "stuck on the toilet with constipation". On the naming of the track, Stephen Morris said, "my car had been towed away and I had to remind myself to go and pay the fine. I just wrote 'Fine Time' on this piece of paper to remind myself to go get it and thought, that's a good title." The end of the track features a sheep bleating, which New Order claimed was a joke about fans of

acid An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...

music "following the flock".

Critical reception

Adam D of ''Fourculture'' magazine praised the song, calling its bassline "irresistible" and referring to it as a "monster" of a song, going on to say that none of New Order's following singles were as upbeat or cheeky as "Fine Time". ''Niner Times'' writer Aaron Febre said that the song, especially its low-pitched voice sample and the synthesiser, refurbished the band and gave them a fresh start. Reviewing ''Technique'' on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, John Bush called the track one of New Order's most outgoing songs. On the same site, speaking of the song, Ned Raggett said that the band "not only had paid attention to the acid-house/Ibiza explosion but used it for its own ends, capturing the frenetic energy that the musical eruption on British shores had unleashed with strength and style". He also noted Stephen Morris's "hyperactive" rhythms and Gillian Gilbert's "squirrelly" keyboard playing.

Commercial performance

New Order's press team wanted to release "Vanishing Point" as the first single from ''Technique'', but the band instead chose "Fine Time", and it was released on 28 November 1988. It debuted at No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart on 4 December 1988, climbing to its peak position of No. 11 two weeks afterwards and logging a total of eight weeks in the UK top 100. In Ireland, the single first appeared on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

on 8 December and peaked at No. 9. On the American ''

'' charts, the record reached the top ten on three listings, rising to No. 3 on the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart in January, No. 2 on the Dance Club Play chart in February, and No. 3 on the 12-inch Singles Sales chart in March. "Fine Time" also proved to be successful elsewhere during early 1989. In January, the song reached No. 20 in Spain while making its No. 8 debut in Finland. The following month, it topped off at No. 3 on the

Finnish Singles Chart The Official Finnish Charts (; ) are national record charts in Finland compiled and published by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. The name ''Suomen virallinen lista/Finlands officiella lista'' (lit. "the Official Finnish Chart"), which is ...

. It was a moderate hit on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, stalling at No. 52. On 5 February, the single debuted at No. 46 in Australia, taking four weeks to peak at No. 20 and spending nine issue in the Australian top 50. In neighbouring New Zealand, it debuted at its highest position on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

—No. 3—in March and remained on the chart for 11 more weeks before dropping off.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1988 songs 1988 singles Acid house songs Factory Records singles New Order (band) songs Songs written by Bernard Sumner Songs written by Gillian Gilbert Songs written by Peter Hook Songs written by Stephen Morris (musician) UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles