"Regret" is a song by British

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band New Order. It was released on 5 April 1993, by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from their sixth studio album, ''

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

'' (1993).

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

is credited as both the producer and as a co-writer. It was the band's first single released on CentreDate Co Ltd (through

) following the collapse of

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, A Certain Ra ...

. The song was a critical and commercial success, reaching the top 10 in Canada, Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. It peaked at number 28 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

—New Order's highest placement on that chart—and reached number one on two other ''Billboard'' charts.

Peter Care Peter Alan Care (born 28 April 1953) is an English director of music videos, commercials and film. He has directed music videos for Cabaret Voltaire, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Depeche Mode and New Order, amongst others. Biograp ...

directed a music video for the song; the video appears on the "Regret" promotional

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

, as well as a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

collection.

Release

The single was released worldwide in a variety of formats. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of the single differed in the various releases, but all were remixes of the A-side, including the "

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy once again divided Fire Island into two islands. Together, these two isl ...

Mix", and "Junior Dub" by

Pete Heller Pete Heller is an English electronic and house music producer from Brighton, England. Biography He is recognised in the dance community for his solo work, and his remixes with frequent collaborator Terry Farley. As a duo, they have released ...

and

Terry Farley Terry Farley is a British DJ, remixer and producer from London, active since the mid-1980s. Career Farley started out going to clubs in the late 1970s and first visited Ibiza in 1982. He then started working as a DJ, performing at the same clubs ...

, and two Sabres of Paradise mixes.

Critical reception

In 2010

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

included the song at number 34 on their ''Top 200 Tracks of the 90s''. Tom Ewing of ''

Freaky Trigger ''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2 ...

'' also named it his 37th favourite single of the 1990s. John Bush of

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 ...

described it "as sublime a balance of obtuse lyrics, just barely emoted vocals, vague club leanings, and grooving synth melodics as their classic material."

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born 13 February 1956) is an English musician. He was the bassist and co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division and its successor New Order. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

has said that "Regret" was the "last good New Order song".MTV Hive: Peter Hook on Life After Joy Division and Why "Regret" Was the Last Good New Order Song
/ref>

Chart performance

The song reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, the last time the band had a top five hit. "Regret" also peaked at number 28 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, thus becoming the band's highest-charting single in the United States. The song also appeared on several other charts in the US, including two terms at number one 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 (now the Alternative Songs chart). During its second term at number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, "Regret" also topped the

Hot Dance Music/Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart on the strength of its remixes. At the end of 1993, the song came in at number one on the Modern Rock Tracks' year-end chart. On Canada's ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart, the song debuted at number 80 on 15 May 1993 and climbed to its peak of number six on 3 July, staying there for two weeks and spending six weeks in the top 10. It also reached number five on the ''RPM''

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

chart on 17 July.

Live performances

In 1993 New Order filmed a live performance of the song for ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' in Venice Beach, California as part of an episode of the hit TV series ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz ...

'', featuring

David Hasselhoff David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on the soap ...

and various background actors and bikini-clad actresses dancing and playing on the beach. The band's performance was directed by music video and feature film director

Thomas Mignone Thomas Mignone is an American feature film, streaming media, commercial, and music video director, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing and writing the dark dramas '' On the Doll'' and ''Queen Of Manhattan'' and for directing concep ...

and was broadcast via satellite to the United Kingdom.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Regret (Song) 1992 songs 1993 singles London Records singles Music videos directed by Peter Care New Order (band) songs Qwest Records singles Song recordings produced by Stephen Hague Songs written by Bernard Sumner Songs written by Gillian Gilbert Songs written by Peter Hook Songs written by Stephen Hague Songs written by Stephen Morris (musician) British alternative rock songs