"Video 5 8 6", originally titled "Prime 5 8 6",Johnson, Mark. ''An Ideal For Living: An History of Joy Division.'' London: Bobcat Books, 1984. Pg. 103.Flowers, Claude. ''New Order + Joy Division: Dreams Never End.'' London: Omnibus Press, 1995. Pg. 51. is an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

piece written and produced in 1982 by the British group New Order. In December 1982, the track was initially released in two sections in

Touch Music Touch (sometimes mistakenly written 'Touch Records' and sometimes written Touch Music, which is technically the publishing side of the company) is a British audio-visual organisation, operating the Touch label. Touch was founded in 1982 by Jon ...

's first

cassette magazine A cassette magazine, or tapezine, is a publication contained entirely on computer-readable media, specifically on compact cassette, cassette. Its content consists of some combination of text, graphics, multimedia, and executable programs, and it is ...

, ''Feature Mist''. Touch re-released the entire track as a CD single in 1997. Composed primarily by

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post ...

and Stephen Morris, "Prime 5 8 6"/"Video 5 8 6" was an early version of "5 8 6" (from ''

Power, Corruption & Lies ''Power, Corruption & Lies'' is the second studio album by English rock band New Order, released on 2 May 1983 by Factory Records. The album features more electronic tracks than their 1981 debut ''Movement'', with heavier use of synthesizers. T ...

''), which contained rhythm elements that would later surface on "Ultraviolence" and the 1983 hit " Blue Monday". After

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutt ...

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder of ...

asked New Order for twenty minutes of "pap", it was first played in public during the opening of

The Haçienda The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, North West England, which became famous during the Manchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was run by the record label Factory Records. The club opened in 1982, eventually ...

on 21 May 1982. On release it reached #86 on the main British singles chart and #19 on the British

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

chart.

Bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Peter Hook Peter Hook (born Woodhead; 13 February 1956) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Joy Division and New Order. Hook often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings wi ...

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 Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

structure. 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.

Track listing

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control New Order (band) songs 1997 singles 1982 songs Songs written by Bernard Sumner Songs written by Stephen Morris (musician)