Video 5 8 6

1997 single by New Order

"Video 5 8 6", originally titled "Prime 5 8 6",[4][5] is an electronic instrumental piece and twenty-fourth single written and produced in 1982[citation needed] by the British group New Order.[6] In December 1982, the track was initially released in two sections in Touch Music`s first cassette magazine, Feature Mist.[4][6][7] Touch re-released the entire track as a CD single in 1997.[4][7]

Composed primarily by Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris, "Prime 5 8 6"/"Video 5 8 6" was an early version of "5 8 6" (from Power, Corruption & Lies), which contained rhythm elements that would later surface on "Ultraviolence" and the 1983 hit "Blue Monday".[4] After Factory Records` Tony Wilson asked New Order for twenty minutes of "pap", it was first played in public during the opening of The Haçienda on 21 May 1982.[4]

On release it reached #86 on the main British singles chart[8] and #19 on the British indie chart. Bassist Peter Hook 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 structure.[citation needed]

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, including "Video 5 8 6" in a list of ten of New Order`s best tracks, called it a "motorik 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."[9]

Track listing

Chart positions