""Blue Monday" set the tone for '80s synth-pop, but its influence on dance music was just as far-reaching and as significant as any classic '80s house or techno track. Taking inspiration from the futuristic disco of Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder (the stuttering kick drum that famously opens the track's extended, 12-inch version is directly cribbed from the chorus of Summer's "One Love"), the former members of Joy Division (plus keyboardist Gillian Gilbert) hitched their melancholy songwriting style to a custom-built sequencer/drum machine combo and unleashed one of the most famous and widely imitated grooves in pop music history. No wonder it remains the bestselling 12-inch single of all time."
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