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  1. Is he equating himself to Paul McCartney because he was the bass player? Seems to be trend of former members suing band when they play that instrument.

    Macca, Waters, Hooky…

    Surprised they (allegedly) made so much dosh in the last few years.

  3. I’ll declare an interest at the outset – Joy Division/New Order is/are my favourite band(s) of all time (I’m 53, if that helps with context).

    I still buy New Order Albums (Music Complete, with the additional 12″ mixes is really very good) and see their gigs, but there is something missing…

    … The Peter Hook & The Light gigs over the last few years have been fabulous, and his magnificent “Low Life/Brotherhood” concert at Shepherd’s Bush last year (seriously) reduced me to tears.

    Having spoken to my mother-in-law about this, it seems Barney and Hooky’s ears should be boxed together very firmly, so they can get back together,,,

    …It would appear that I/we are lucky that we can currently double the entertainment, and I do realise that there is no way (at the moment) they can get back together, but 3 final thoughts:

    – why didn’t Hooky take over the vocals before/during “Movement”?

    – new Order is not the same without PH.

    – I still stand by my first sentence.

  4. The last proper New Order record is now as old as Ian Curtis was when he wrote the words to “Love Will Tear Us Apart”.
    Still, once you have your health, that’s the main thing…

  5. It’s funny to see people on social media griping about this as though it were something to do with music and the legacy of the bands involved. It’s not. It’s an argument over a company. They could be selling baked beans and the nature of the squabble would remain the same: it’s a business dispute.

    I’ve no knowledge of this specific case so I’m doing a certain amount of reading between the lines here, but I have been involved in a similar fall-out, so I come from a place of painful experience. Judging from the reports, Hook will probably be claiming something along the lines of ‘oppression of a minority shareholder’. What seems to have happened is that all four members of the band were once in a 25 per cent partnership, but that relationships between the directors became too volatile for the partnership to continue.

    At this juncture what they should have done was work out terms of a buy-out. They either give the leaver a lump sum, or if the remaining directors want to continue with the brand they have to accept that the departing director was instrumental in building that brand and pay him or her whenever it continues to make money (in the case of a band, it’s touring, merchandise etc. — publishing is a distinct entity).

    A lot of directors find it a bitter pill to swallow that a departing director still gets paid (a lot less, but even so), essentially for sitting on their arse, and so they’ll try *anything* to get out of that. One way to get out of it is to dissolve or mothball the previous company and set up a new one with a new licence. It’s this operation that could well be the key to this particular case. Reading the BBC and Guardian reports there’s lots of allegations of secret and clandestine meetings. All agree that Hook was ‘absent’. Probably there will be arguments about the nature of that absence. ‘You had plenty of notice.’ ‘No, I didn’t, I was climbing Mount Everest — as well you knew,’ sort of thing. It happens all the time. You’d be amazed how many emergency voting-procedure meetings are called when directors are on trans-Atlantic flights.

    So that’s what one side will be trying too prove: that things have been done in an underhand or unethical way. Meanwhile, the opposing side will be denying it, and trying to prove that the other director is simply being greedy and has been fairly treated. Both will be throwing up a lot of dust about the other’s behaviour but that will remain the core of the dispute. Given that this appears to have started in 2011 and is only just getting to court, it’s safe to assume that an awful lot of money has already been spent on the worst kind of fight there is — through lawyers — and I’m afraid the time for Barney and Hooky making up will be ancient history, all feelings long since calcified.

  6. Surely Hooky must be a somewhat shaky ground given the precedent set with Pink Floyd, especially considering the similar ‘we split’ – ‘no, you left the band’ scenario between the two camps?

    • I’m sure that’ll come up, but the issue isn’t about the band, it’s about the company. It’s about whether or not the majority shareholders have taken action that adversely affects the minority. So far a judge has decided that there is a case to be heard, so it’s round one to Hook, but the case still has to be heard and once that’s decided they’ll spend God knows how long deciding who owes what.

  7. I have read both Hooky’s and Barney’s books and I’m minded to agree with Hooky, simply because he seems to be a lot more enthusiastic about life and especially the music.

    I was a huge NO fan, down the front at both ’93 and ’98 Reading sets, but no more.

    I don’t think I’d want to be trapped in a lift with Bernard.

    • Although I also tend to be on Team Hooky, to be fair to Bernard his book reflects his somewhat traumatic childhood experience, which was sure to have been compounded by the loss of Ian Curtis (by all accounts Barney had a more ‘hands-on’ role in the inevitably futile attempts to help him), so I would guess for those reasons he’s not as open or gregarious a figure as Hook. Of course, some people consider that ‘gregariousness’ to be obnoxiousness. I did find it surprising that Barney chose to omit half of New Order’s career in his book, even in passing.
      I get the feeling that Hook has been pretty accurate in his observation that Bernard always wanted control of the group and was resentful of him not lying down and accepting it; I think the post-Hook era of NO has borne this out to a large extent.

      • Agreed. I met Hooky on a train during the Mrs Merton years and he was indeed an obnoxious twunt.

        Hooky’s books give the impression that he’s now sober and reflective and simply enjoys playing music. Bernard’s book suggested he’s still the tortured artist. And he can’t even sing!*

        *Ba-doom, tish!

            • Barney, I mean, who calls himself “a serious artist”. Hooky calls himself “lucky”. OOAA.

              Not that Hooky’s pipes are going to win any awards, either.

              Dreams Never End is one of my faves but it took seeing them play it live to realise the mumbled vocal was performed by Hooky and not Barney (who mumbled through the rest of Movement).

  8. They were my fave band as a teenager. They were a great band to grow up with, I was totally fascinated by the whole Factory thing – the lack of image/interviews, Peter Saville’s mysterious designs, the enigmatic press releases from Factory and Rob Gretton, the wobbly live gigs, and most of all the disconnect between the grumpy bastards in the band and the joyful and life affirming music they made – their ability to put gothic guitar anthems alongside 12″ electro disco epics on the same album and get away with it. Magic.

    I lost interest once they got Stephen Hague in to produce ‘Republic’ and smooth out their very essence and Peter Saville installed Photoshop on his Mac.

    I’ve not deserted them – I’ve listened to to the records, seen a few gigs of which Hooky’s have been far the best I have to say -saw them at The Ritz last year and it was wild, the crowd were going bonkers – like seeing New Order in the 80s and far more fun that New Order at the last enormodome show I saw – and he’s catching up with them in terms of the size of venues he can sell out and his position on the festival bill. ‘Music Complete’ is alright but a few more Hooky bass melodies and a bit less ‘competent’ playing by the session muso they hired might have elevated it to ‘best album since Technique’ levels.

    I am surprised by the sums of money being talked about (or maybe not since the one common thread in all these things is nobody is ever going to reveal just how much musicians do – or do not make ) – but they really should settle out of court – hell even the Bay City Rollers and Spandau Ballet sorted things out eventually

    • Likewise.

      Republic was a massive let down, I was hoping for much better after the glorious primer that is Regret. I’ve bought everything since but the single of Regret is the only thing I’ve played more than twice. And that was released 22 or 23 years ago.

      I have no interest in seeing the new line-up without Hooky, perhaps it’s just a bassist thing.

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