Bizarre Love Octangle

I love Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order. And clearly, many, many other artists do too. A brief trawl of t'internet will easily unearth over 100 cover versions, a large percentage complete dreck, with some interesting and engaging versions along the way.

Here's eight of 'em, starting with Catherine Anne Davies aka The Anchoress. I'm biased as I think she's a great artist in her own right but she also has a way with a cover version and this take on Bizarre Love Triangle is a fine example. Originally released as part of her monthly Bandcamp exclusive series in 2022, it was given a bright remix by Mario McNulty for a single release earlier this year. You can get both versions, plus her wonderful take on This Is Yesterday on Bandcamp. If you're quick, you can also catch Catherine joining the Manics onstage to perform the latter at Glastonbury via BBC iPlayer.

 

The first cover version of Bizarre Love Triangle that I heard was on the John Peel Show, when he played Devine & Statton's stripped down acoustic rendition of the song, coming in at a lean 2:11. Alison Statton and Ian Devine (aka Ian Pincombe) respectively came from Young Marble Giants and Ludus and released a couple of albums in 1989 and 1990. Bizarre Love Triangle was released on 12" only, the B-side featuring a cover of Crystal Gayle's Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.

 

Australian popsters Frente! were clearly paying attention as they released a similar acoustic take as a single in 1994. The version seemed ubiquitous at the time and I assumed must have been a huge hit but my memory seems to be betraying me as the song didn't manage to crack the Top 75 in the UK. I like it, but not quite as much as Devine & Statton's version.

Someone else who was taking note of the above was Nouvelle Vague, who recorded their version in 2005 but don't appear to have released it until their Rarities compilation in 2019. If you like Nouvelle Vague's approach, you'll love it. If you don't, you won't.

 

I must admit, I'd forgotten all about South, a three-piece rock band who were unusually signed to James Lavelle's Mo Wax label in 2001. I think I've got a Death In Vegas or UNKLE remix of one of their songs knocking about somewhere in my collection. They released several albums in the Noughties and their version of Bizarre Love Triangle appeared in 2006. It's a livelier and largely inoffensive take on the song.

 

I'm going to have to disappoint Ernie from 27 Leggies as I couldn't find a Mandatory Reggae Version that was even halfway decent. Instead, here's Dub Colossus with an, erm, dub that if I'd heard without sight of the title would have been hard pressed to identify as a cover of Bizarre Love Triangle. Good though.

 

What's that? If only someone had recorded a ukelele-led instrumental version of Bizarre Love Triangle? Here's Hawaii's finest, Jake Shimabukuro, to oblige with a Daytrotter Session performed in Davenport, Iowa in 2018 (29th September, to be precise).

 

Last but not least is a version that I discovered and heard for the first time when preparing this post. Here are the brilliantly-named Fukushima Dolphin, busking on Brighton beachfront in 2022. Eight minutes of pure joy. Keep an eye on the couple to the right of the band, they are clearly having a whale of a time.

 

After all that, it seems a bit mean not to include the original and best, doesn't it? Oh, go on then.