
(Alas, I don't qualify, as my copy (though die-cut) is the 1983 Qwest release, not FAC73.)
Update: He changed the web site: now any 1983 pressing will qualify.
(Alas, I don't qualify, as my copy (though die-cut) is the 1983 Qwest release, not FAC73.)
Update: He changed the web site: now any 1983 pressing will qualify.
God, you're such a poser.
Wait wait... you've been saving up your 5th-grade-caliber "you're a poser" comment all the way through jwz's buying, remodeling, opening, and running for several years a club in the spirit of the factory just to trot that lame-o comment out in response a post about a fans' club idolizing one damn album?
Have we the tools to measure your bitterness?
(On the other hand, maybe that was a joke. I hope that it was a joke.)
Perhaps if my jokes were funnier I'd have fewer of these little misunderstandings.
Ditto (own the qwest release). Still, love the disk-alike die cut design.
I guess it'd take about 40 5¼ floppies to hold the MP3...
Die-cut sleeves were cool. I think the only other ones I have are OMD Dazzle Ships and Cabaret Voltaire 2X45 (which is a gatefold sleeve with a tab-and-slot, ensuring that no copies survive that don't have a big crease in the tab.)
I'll bet there's a Wikipedia page listing every die-cut sleeve ever printed, but I haven't found it.
Let's play, just for the hell of it:
In 1983, you could potentially squeeze 1.2 MB off either a DSDD 8" floppy or the just-released DSHD 5.25" floppy.
Blue Monday, with the B-side, is 888 seconds long. If I've done this right, you may have a hair more than 10kbit/s to work with.
With 11,025Khz mono source material (or something worse), you could potentially compress something recognizable and "listenable" into that space. Reading it off fast enough is another matter.
The ultimate in Make-level nerdsturbation would be to blow the data onto a floppy with a Catweasel, attach some sort of DAC and motor controller to a 1983-vintage mini, and get it to record it back to tape in non-realtime. (How much memory do you need to hold a MP3 codec's working set?)
If you really were Make you'd cheat and use something like a STA013.
Seems that the standard is limited to certain bitrates, and this technically creates "MPEG 2.5 Layer III" output. Still, it'll get you started, and leave room for the README.TXT. I get a 447,060 byte result.
lame --resample 11.025 -b8 -a -q0 --cbr "Blue Monday.mp3" "Blue Monday on a floppy.mp3"
A .MOD would sound better, but I assume the game is to treat it as a stream (and handle the vocals).
If I'm being this pedantic, note that filesize is just for the a-side.
Would the vocals seriously bloat the MOD file?
oh yeah. The space efficiency in a MOD (or any other tracked format) comes from storing the samples once and referencing them whenever they're played back. This is usually a win because the samples are (typically) very small/short.
Vocals would be stored and referenced in the same way, obviously, but since there's no repetition you'd effectively be storing a full-length waveform in the sample section, so you pretty much lose the efficiency of the format.
At least with MOD you could store the B-side almost for free.
I actually have a .MOD file of Blue Monday somewhere, but it's a remake and was done one key above the original. You can probably find it on the net...wait, I could do that for you. It's more than likely one of the ones listed on this page.
wow....suddenly I feel really lame when I think back to my days of squeezing Win 3.1 onto a single 5.25" floppy...
Yes, but a lot fewer to store the sequencing data from the Moog and the Kurzweil and the Rolands and all that - which would be a far cooler fan piece, although not even NO have those bits and pieces anymore (see http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr04/articles/rogerlyons.htm)
you people are old.
I was 1 when the single came out. Does that make me old?
well, older then me!
i'm just bitter because the first version of the song I heard was the horrible cover by orgy.
Get off my lawn!
Alas, I'm also disqualified. Mine is a FACTUS10, not a FAC73.
-----Original Message-----
From: spencer@bluemondayownersclub.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 10:30 AM
To: buz
Subject: Re: Question
Hi Buz
Your US FACT US 10 would be a welcome addition to BMOC.
Cheers,
Spencer
> Must it be the 1983 version, UK Cat No.FAC 73?
> I have a 1983 US FACT US 10.
>
> ~Buz
I should be ashamed I heard the Orgy version first, right?
Admitting you have a problem is the first step.
you just eased my shame for having heard blue monday '88 first.
Woah, plate o' shrimp

He just updated his site:
Do you own a 12" of "Blue Monday" by New Order?
(Must be the 1983 version and a 1983 pressing)
I assume you caught the recent BBC Factory documentary? I hadn't realised that FAC73's packaging cost so much that the single sold at a loss, and hence New Order were losing money hand over fist as their success increased.
I think my copy is probably also a Qwest version (it's in a box of records under some other boxes of records and I don't feel like moving them all to check right now), and my copy has the misfortune of having the record labels switched, so I always have to remember to play "The Beach" side for "Blue Monday".
I'm surprised that all of the previous commenters have missed the most important question here:
Now that you're a member, how does it feel?
hmm well thanks to your prompting many years ago, I have a factus ten version.