"True Faith" is a song by New Order, produced by Stephen Hague. It was the first New Order single since their debut "Ceremony" to be issued in the UK as two separate 12" singles. The second 12" single features two remixes of "True Faith" by Shep Pettibone. Both versions of the 12" (and also the edited 7") also include the song "1963". "True Faith" is one of New Order's most popular songs.
The single peaked at number four in the United Kingdom on its original release in 1987. The single also became the first New Order single to chart on the Hot 100 in the United States that same year and their first ever Top 40 hit, peaking at number 32.
A "True Faith" remix 12" single and CD single were released in 1994, and another "True Faith" remix 12" single and CD single were released in 2001. The 1994 remix charted in the UK at number 9.
Original releases[]
New Order wrote and recorded "True Faith" and "1963" during a 10-day studio session with producer Stephen Hague. The two songs were written as new material for New Order's first singles compilation album, Substance 1987. After the two songs were recorded, the band's US management decided that "True Faith" was the stronger track and would be released as the new single, with "1963" as the B-side. "1963" was remixed and issued as a single in its own right in 1994.
"True Faith" was never used as a track on a regular album, though it did appear on most of New Order's "best of" collections (Substance 1987, The Best of New Order, Retro, Singles andInternational). The first public performance of the song took place at the 1987 Glastonbury Festival; this version appears on the group's BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert album.
The original 7" version of the song did not appear on any album until 2011's "Total from Joy Division to New Order".
Music video[]
The release of "True Faith" was accompanied by a surreal music video directed and choreographed by Philippe Decouflé. In it, bizarrely costumed dancers leap about, fight and slap each other in time to the music; while a girl in dark green makeup emerges from an upside-down boxer's speed bag and signs the lyrics. The video has often been voted amongst the best music videos of its year. Sky Television's channel The Amp, for instance, has it rated as the best video of 1987, and it won the BPI award for Best Promotional Video in 1988. The video was inspired by Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer's Triadische Ballet.
The overall tonality, themes and various elements from the video re-occurred in Decouflé's scenography and choreography for the inauguration ceremonies of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.
The band was surprised by the fact that the single widened their audience with younger children despite the mature subject matter, because the video's characters, some of them in primary bauhaus colours, were reminiscent of children's programming.