7": UK 1983 (Factory FAC 73-7) [promo]
                Blue Monday
                The Beach

    7": JP 1984 (Factory/Nippon Columbia TD-1098) [promo] **
        4:09    Blue Monday
        4:09    Confusion

    7": PL 1988 (Tonpress DS-25-A) [promo] ***
        5:05    Blue Monday

    7": PL 1988 (Tonpress S-534) ***
                Blue Monday
                Thieves Like Us

   12": AU 1983 (Gap/Factory FAC 73) [non-die-cut sleeve]
   12": AU 1983 (Gap/Factory PC040) [die-cut sleeve]
   12": AU 1990 (Factory/Festival X14827)
   12": BL 1983 (Factory Benelux FAC 73)
   12": CA 1983 (Polygram FACX 10)
   12": FR 1983 (Factory/Virgin 600717)
   12": GE 1983 (Factory/Rough Trade FAC 73/RTD 10T)
   12": GR 1983 (Virgin VG2025Z)
   12": HO 1983 (Factory VR22504)
   12": IT 1983 (Factory/Base Records FAC 73) [yellow inner sleeve] ****
   12": JP 1983 (Factory/Nippon Columbia YW-7418)
   12": NZ 1983 (EMI/GAP GOOD 10) *
   12": NZ 1983 (EMI/GAP GOOD 10) [unreleased red vinyl]
   12": SP 1983 (Nuevo Medios 31-035)
   12": SW 1983 (Factory/MNW FAC 73)
   12": UK 1983 (Factory FAC 73) ****
   12": UK 1983 (Factory FAC 73) [white label promo]
   12": US 1983 (Factory/Rough Trade FACTUS 10) [pink sleeve promo]
   12": US 1983 (Factory/Rough Trade FACTUS 10)
   12": US 1985 (Qwest 9 20332-0)
   12": US 1998 (Qwest 9 20332-0)
   12": US 1983 (The Automatt FACTUS 10) [double sided acetate]
   CMS: AU 1985 (Factory/Gap FACC 73)
   CMS: NZ 1983 (EMI TC-GOOD 10)
  REEL: UK 1983 (Factory/Advision Sound Studios) [master]
                Blue Monday
                The Beach

   12": UK 198? (Factory FAC 23-12) +
                Blue Monday
                These Days [Joy Division]
                Love Will Tear Us Apart [Joy Division]

   12": UK 198? (Factory FAC 73/FACT 25) ++
                Blue Monday
                Heart & Soul [Joy Division]
                24 Hours [Joy Division]
                The Eternal [Joy Division]
                Decades [Joy Division]

   VHS: UK 1983 (Factory FAC 73V) [promo]
        4:06    Blue Monday

*    Sleeve somewhat different.
**   Unique Factory sleeve.
***  Unique sleeve. The promo was made in 60 copies.
**** Later reissued in a non-die-cut sleeve. Recent reissues may not have
     a groove notation.

+    Mispress: Blue Monday's A-side with Joy Division's "Love Will Tear
     Us Apart" 12" single B-side.
++   Mispress: Blue Monday's A-side with Joy Division's "Closer"
     album B-side.

It is said that Blue Monday was created in the studio while the band was experimenting with drugs and a new drum machine. Peter Saville got the idea of the flexi-disc sleeve when he saw the disc Stephen used to store the sequencer information on.

Q: Why can't I find the promo 7" from Japan anywhere?
A: [T.Ivarsson] "Well, that particular item is considered among fans to be one of the rarest items by New Order. The single contains an unique edit of Blue Monday but New Order didn't like the edit so it was never release. It is reported that 25 copies of the 7" were made. Peter Hook has said that he has a stack of them in his closet..."

Q: Why can't I find the promo 7" from UK anywhere?
A: Some people claim that it doesn't exist, while others claim that it does exists. In any case, it's a very rare item...

Q: What are those strange colours on the sleeve?
A: It's a colour code Peter Saville same up with, see Power, Corruption and Lies for decoding information.

Q: Was Blue Monday ever awarded a gold record?
A: [Jonathan Scott] "Blue Monday was indeed NOT awarded a BPI gold award as, at the time of its release, Factory were not members of the organisation. Gold discs DO actually exist for 'Blue Monday' as Tony Wilson paid for a few to be made as gifts.
[...] Factory later joined the BPI purely because Barney was becoming annoyed about bootlegging. (The BPI will represent artists in legal cases involving such copyright infringements) He changed his mind about the whole bootlegging argument shortly afterward."

Q: Has Blue Monday ever been awarded anything?
A: [Jonathan Scott] "[...] A truly fantastic Factory item and probably the rarest I've seen is the personal 'Blue Monday' designed & commissioned by Peter Saville. Seven or eight bronze Factory 'Cogs' [editor's note: 'cogs' = the Factory 'grinding wheel' found on the Movement inner sleeve] were made and presented to the group and their management. One was given to the DJ and promoter Tony Michaelides and one blank one was also produced - this last one was sold to a US collector back in the late 80's early 90's."

Q: I hear that Factory lost money on Blue Monday because of the floppy sleeve, is that true?
A: [Anonymous] "[...] this is incorrect and a common misconception. The sleeve of the 12" cost so much that it denied Factory an extra profit of just under a penny (UK) on each copy sold. Peter was determined to keep the 'floppy' sleeve and convinced Factory to go with the idea. However, demand and production cost and timings meant that the sleeve became progressively more simple with each repressing. The profits from the sale of 'Blue Monday' were large to say the least [...]"

Q: Where does the inspiration to Blue Monday come from?
A: In his book, "Manchester, England: The Story of the Pop Cult City", Dave Haslam says:

"Blue Monday was really influenced by four songs, he [Bernard Sumner] once told me. 'The arrangement came from 'Dirty talk', by Klein & MBO, the beat came from a track off a Donna Summer LP, there was a sample from 'Radioactivity' by Kraftwerk, and the general influence on the style of the song was Sylvester's '(You make me feel) Mighty real'"

Q: Where does the choir sound come from?
A: Most likely the choir sound on Blue Monday is the same as the sound on Kraftwerk's track "Uranium" (off the album "Radioactivity", 1975). Whether or not New Order sampled Uranium, or used the same sound that was included with the Emu Emulator, is not fully known. Kraftwerk used a Mellotron to create the sound. However, Roger Lyons mentions in an article in Sound on Sound (April 2004) that "the vocal choir part on 'Blue Monday' was sampled, and it was probably one of the first instances of someone sampling something from someone else's record. New Order originally used an Emulator II to play their samples live..."

Q: Where does the bass line come from?
A: Roger Lyons in a Sound on Sound article in April 2004: "The bass line was a Moog Source sequenced with a Powertran home-made sequencer that Bernard had built himself."

Q: Where do the bass line and drum track come from?
A: Roger Lyons in a Sound on Sound article in April 2004: "The bass line was a Moog Source sequenced with a Powertran home-made sequencer that Bernard had built himself." "...the memorable drum track on 'Blue Monday' had originally been programmed on an Oberheim DMX drum machine.."