"Video 5 8 6", originally titled "Prime 5 8 6",Johnson, Mark. ''An Ideal For Living: An History of Joy Division.'' London: Bobcat Books, 1984. Pg. 103. is an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

piece and twenty-fourth single written and produced in 1982 by the British group New Order. In December 1982, the track was initially released in two sections in

Touch Music Touch (sometimes mistakenly written 'Touch Records' and sometimes written Touch Music, which is technically the publishing side of the company) is a British audio-visual organisation, operating the Touch label. Touch was founded in 1982 by Jon ...

's first cassette magazine, ''Feature Mist''. Touch re-released the entire track as a CD single in 1997. Composed primarily by

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English musician. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, Electronic, and Bad Lieutenant. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post-punk, synth-pop, and ...

and Stephen Morris, "Prime 5 8 6"/"Video 5 8 6" was an early version of "5 8 6" (from ''

Power, Corruption & Lies ''Power, Corruption & Lies'' is the second studio album by the English rock band New Order, released on 2 May 1983 by Factory Records. The album features more electronic tracks than their debut studio album '' Movement'' (1981), with heavier use ...

''), which contained rhythm elements that would later surface on "Ultraviolence" and the 1983 hit " Blue Monday". After

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 ...

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager and impresario, and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder ...

asked New Order for twenty minutes of "pap", it was first played in public during the opening of

The Haçienda The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, England, which became famous during the Madchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was run by the record label Factory Records. The club opened in 1982, eventually fosteri ...

on 21 May 1982. On release it reached #86 on the main British singles chart and #19 on the British indie chart.

Bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

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 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 Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

structure. A video was released for the song called 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 ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', including "Video 5 8 6" in a list of ten of New Order's best tracks, called it a "

motorik Motorik is the 4/4 beat often used by, and heavily associated with, krautrock bands. Coined by music journalists, the term is German for "motor skill". The motorik beat was pioneered by Jaki Liebezeit, drummer with German experimental rock b ...

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

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control New Order (band) songs 1997 singles 1982 songs Songs written by Bernard Sumner Songs written by Stephen Morris (musician) Experimental music songs Experimental music compositions Electronic compositions