Peter Hook has poked at the long-standing, festering grudge between himself and hid ex-bandmates in New Order., telling the i paper that he gets messages from fans about his old band’s gigs and they’re not complimentary.
“I don’t think they’re New Order. They don’t sound anything like them. I’ve watched them play songs (online) recently, and they’ve dropped the basslines and play it like some weird, bad cover version of a New Order track. So the animosity is obviously still there now.”
The interviewer asked Hook if he thought that was a dig aimed at him and he replied: “Well, do you think it makes the song better?”
He revealed that fans have messaged him about the band’s gigs. “They’re like, ‘You can’t hear the bass!’” he says. “Obviously, there is a certain smugness one could adopt. But I’m, obviously, way above all that."
Of course. If you say so, Hooky.
The iconic bassist left New Order in 2007, after thirty years with the band. It’s never really been fully explained what led to the split. What is clear is that when the three remaining members of the band reformed in 2011, Hook was no longer their bass player. Since then the band have toured around the world with Tom Chapman on bass and released a new album, Music Complete, in 2015.
Hook sued his ex-bandmates in 2015 over alleged unpaid royalties, and though this was settled in 2017, bad feelings obviously still run deep. In the i interview Hook also criticised his former colleagues for not acknowledging the fact that they have been nominated for the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame this year.
If they are inducted, he said he will attend: “I tell you, I’ll be there. But I think I might be on my own” and added, on their silence about the nomination that: “I think it’s an insult for fans of both bands.” (New Order and Joy Division, of course).
And if they do attend as well? “I believe they tried to buy a boxing ring and three pairs of gloves,” he joked. “Straight to MMA!”
