Round & Round (New Order song)

"Round & Round"
Single by New Order
from the album Technique
B-side	"Best & Marsh"
Released	27 February 1989
Format	12" 7" CD
Recorded	1988 at Mediterranean Studios, Ibiza, and Real World Studios, Box
Genre	Synthpop[1] techno disco[2]
Length	4:31 (Album Version) 4:02 (Seven Inch) 6:52 (Twelve Inch)
Label	Factory - FAC 263
Writer(s)	New Order
Producer(s)	New Order New Order, Stephen Hague (Seven Inch and Twelve Inch)
New Order singles chronology
"Fine Time" (1988) "Round & Round" (1989) "Run 2" (1989)

"Round & Round" is a song by New Order and the second single from their 1989 album Technique. It was re-recorded for single release with Stephen Hague, who had previously worked with the group on their hit "True Faith". It is one of the group's most dance-centred songs, with few guitar or bass lines. Like the majority of New Order songs, the song's title is not mentioned in its lyrics. The song was selected for single release by Factory Records' Tony Wilson over the wishes of the band, who wanted to issue "Vanishing Point" (also from Technique) instead.

Lyrics

The song is about New Order's then-souring relationship with Tony Wilson, the owner of Factory Records which was the group's label at the time. On the documentary "New Order Story", Bernard Sumner discusses that he didn't originally intend the song to be about Tony Wilson and the tension between Wilson and the group, but Sumner admits that growing tension between the two men ultimately was channelled into the song when it was being written.

Versions

The band recorded three versions:

• The album version (4:29), which appears on Technique, emphasises drums and bass for a hard dance feel. It concludes with a cold ending in which the sequencers are run through phasers before then cutting out abruptly.
• The 7" version (3:59) co-produced with Stephen Hague emphasizes the melody, synth pads, and vocals. It has a similar structure to the album track but replaces the instrumental break with a repeat of the intro, and fades out in conclusion. This is the version used in the video. Sumner remarked in a radio interview with Terry Christian on Key 103 that he was not fond of the plethora of "Round & Round" remixes and named the 'Stephen Hague Radio-Remix' as his favourite.
• The 12" version (6:50) has a 2:45 intro sequence and stops cold before proceeding much as in the 7". It has a wash of synthesizers and a keyboard solo midway through the song. Also, the line "It makes me act like a child" repeats several times as the song ends. instead of fading out like the seven inch version, it ends in a manner closer to the original album version though less discordant.

These versions and other remixes were distributed on over twenty 7", 12", and CD single formats, many with exclusive artwork.^[3] "Round & Round" has also appeared in various forms on New Order compilations. In 1994, "Round & Round" was remixed once again by Stephen Hague with Mike 'Spike' Drake for the compilation (the best of) New Order. This version revised Hague's 1989 seven inch remix removing many of the echoed refrains.^[4]

B-sides

The single's main B-side was an instrumental, "Best & Marsh", which was written as the theme for a Granada TV series of the same name featuring footballers George Best and Rodney Marsh.^[5] The CD single also included an instrumental remix of "Vanishing Point" produced for the BBC drama series Making Out.

Marketing

Video

The video for "Round & Round" features a series of eight successive black-and-white head-and-shoulder shots of young, female models, casually sitting in front of a camera as it records them, with the women occasionally talking (though what they say is not heard in the video). Randomly intercut into the footage of the women are various colorized short clips of flowers or marbles.

During the filming of the various models, it was decided to film additional footage of one model (Patty Sylvia) for an alternative cut of the video that features only Sylvia and the brief one-second color intercuts. Bernard's second wife, Sarah, is also rumoured to have appeared in the video; however, as she is rarely seen in public, it is difficult to confirm which one she is.

Veronica Webb is featured with a dreadlock hairstyle in the video. A very young Cynthia Bailey is also featured. Fabienne Terwinghe is the fourth model. Elaine Irwin Mellencamp is the last model shown.

Artwork

The artwork by Peter Saville Associates mirrors the Technique album cover, but uses a different statue with a red or blue (depending on which version is owned) background. With the single following the New Order tradition of not including the title within the lyrics, the line "The picture you see is no portrait of me" was stickered on varying sleeves.

Track listings

All tracks written by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner. 

Chart positions

Notes and references