Confusion (4:40)

“Confusion” is a single released by New Order in August 1983 with the catalogue number FAC 93. It was the follow-up to their massive club hit “Blue Monday”. The song is produced by influential New York DJ Arthur Baker. As a result it was recorded in New York, a first for the band (though in September 1980 the band, as a three-piece, recorded the first versions of “Ceremony” and “In A Lonely Place” at E.A.R.S. (Eastern Artists Recording Studio) East Orange, New Jersey USA). Three remixes served as b-sides on the initial 12” release: “Confused Beats”, “Confusion Instrumental” and “Confusion Rough Mix”.

A re-recorded “Confusion” as well as the original “Confusion Instrumental” appear on the group’s 1987 Substance release. The track reappeared on the 1995 remix collection The Rest of New Order as a radical acid techno remix by Pump Panel. This new version was used in 1998 as part of the Blade film soundtrack.

The song (in its Pump Panel remixed form) has also been sampled on two popular dance tracks, “Operation Blade” by Public Domain and “Phat Bass” by Warp Bros and Aquagen. Both of these songs came out in the UK in the same month, December 2000, a fact that was played up by the latter song by including the sticker “The original Blade theme - accept no imitations” on the front of the CD single. Both songs reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart.