release date: Sep. 27, 1986
format: vinyl (SFPS001) / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,63]
producer: New Order
label: Strange Fruit - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: A) 1. "Turn the Heater On" (4 / 5) - 2. "We All Stand" (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "Too Late" (3 / 5) - 2. "5-8-6" (3,5 / 5)
2nd ep by New Order. This was actually the second recording for BBC Radio 1's John Peel Show, as the first recording session was later released as SFPS 039 in '87. This ep is released with the catalog number SFPS 001, which indicates that it was the very first release by Strange Fruit Records, the record company co-founded by John Peel, primarily to release the many radio transmitted broadcasts of live studio sessions. These four tracks were all recorded Jun. 1982, and track #A2 and #B4 were later released on Power, Corruption & Lies (1983). The other tracks were only played on this occasion. "Turn the Heater On" is a rare track as it's a cover version of a reggae song (by Keith Hudson, apparently, played as a tribute to Ian Curtis who supposedly was very happy with the song). New Order hardly ever played cover songs except from their own Joy Division tracks and first from around 2000. I enjoy this ep as it shows the band in the transition period with a lot of post-punk and Joy Division trademarks, and with especially 5-8-6 the sound they move towards within synthpop.
