B-side "Hurt" Format 7"12" | Released 10 May 1982 | |
Recorded Advision studios, London 1981 Genre Post-punk, alternative dance Length 5:21 (7")8:47 (12")7:00 (1987 version) | ||
"Temptation" is a stand-alone single released by British band New Order on Factory Records. The single reached #29 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in 1982.
Contents
Original release
The two tracks were recorded as 12" long versions and later edited to 7" by engineer Peter Woolliscroft using one of the first Sony PCM 1610 Digital editing systems available in UK. The single is unique since the 7" version of Temptation fades out exactly when the 12" version begins due to both being recorded in one take.
The 7" version is a more structured version with a commercial synthpop feel; the 12" is more chaotic with the emphasis on electronic rhythms rather than melody. The 7" version plays at 33⅓ rpm to accommodate its length of around five and a half minutes. Both versions bear the same catalogue number "FAC 63" despite these differences.
The 12" versions of both "Temptation" and its B-side, "Hurt", appear on New Order's mopping-up EP 1981–1982, released a few months after the single itself.
Neither version mentioned the band's name on the sleeve; instead the song title and catalogue number FAC 63 were embossed into the cover.
The vocal track on the original 12" version features an audible "startled yelp" during the song's intro. Vocalist Bernard Sumner has since explained that the scream was from him due to bandmates thrusting a snowball down his shirt during recording.
In 2006 the song was interpreted in a video, entitled The Temptation of Victoria, by filmmaker Michael Shamberg, who had directed a number of notable music videos for the band, here revisiting a classic New Order song with the help of singer Victoria Bergsman of Swedish band The Concretes. The Temptation of Victoria was one of two videos that New Order commissioned Shamberg to direct in 2005 and is dedicated to the memory of film director Michael Powell.
Track listing
All tracks written by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner.
Other versions
The song was completely re-recorded and released on 1987 singles compilation Substance, sometimes known as "Temptation '87". This version is now one of New Order's best-known recordings, partly due to its appearance on the best-selling Trainspotting soundtrack; in the film the lyrics are sung by Diane while she's showering, heard very faintly in the background during breakfast not much later and again during the scene where Renton is locked in his room.
Later, after five years of inactivity, another new version of "Temptation" was recorded by the band in 1998. This recording is similar to the earlier 1987 version, but omits the long intro and a portion of the lyric beginning "Bolts from above...". This did not represent an official rejection of these elements, as they were retained in live performances (such as that recorded at the 1998 Reading Festival and later issued on the Australian 60 Miles an Hour EP). Running at 4:08, this version is known as "Temptation '98" and eventually saw official release on the Retro boxset.
"Temptation" is also the song New Order have played live more than any other.
A different mix of "Temptation" appeared on the soundtrack for the 1986 film Something Wild. That version clocks in at 3:30.
Cover versions
Remixes
Meaning
Introducing the song at a performance at the Zurich Volkshaus in 1984, Bernard Sumner told the audience, "This next song's called 'Temptation'. It's a story about long lost love."
Availability
Both the 7" and 12" versions of "Temptation" can now be found on the 2008 Collector's Edition of New Order's 1981 album Movement.