New Order's Bernard Sumner Collaborates With Blur's Alex James

Posted on Oct 5th 2009 3:30PM by Benjy Eisen
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Many plans have been made after someone had a few too many and perhaps said something they didn't really mean, but rarely does it lead to an all-star collaboration between members of English rock royalty. Yet, that's exactly the reason why New Order's Bernard Sumner began jamming with Blur's Alex James, just as Sumner was putting together the pieces for a new band.

It turns out that Sumner, James and Keith Allen -- Lily's father -- used to frequent a particular members-only club in London. "Every time I would be in London, if we were doing a gig or if I was doing some press or shooting a video, I'd go to this bar and Alex and Keith would always be there," Sumner tells Spinner. "So they are old drinking buddies of mine. I knew Alex for years just as a guy that I went drinking with. Obviously I knew that he was in Blur and sometimes he came to a New Order concert, but we were just drinking buddies and we've remained friends."

At some point, James stopped drinking but the friendship continued. After both attending the same New Year's Eve party, they went back to James' house "and just started jamming away," recalls Sumner. "And I was drunk. Alex wasn't drunk, but I was drunk." Knowing that Blur wasn't particularly active at the time and foreseeing the end of New Order, Sumner suggested that they try writing some songs together just for the fun of it. "So that's how it started, one drunken evening, one New Year's Eve party," says Sumner. "I broke my golden rule, which is never agree to do anything when I've had a drink of alcohol -- it's gotten me into some situations in the past -- but I'm glad I did now."

And yet, James never ended up actually joining Bad Lieutenant. "He lives 200 miles from me, so every time we needed a bass player, it was difficult," explains Sumner. "We decided to make the core of the group a three-member operation." Curiously, all three members are guitarists, but at least they live near each other. Bad Lieutenant's debut album, 'Never Cry Another Tear,' drops on Oct. 6, with live dates to follow. Bassist Tom Chapman has been tapped for the tour as well as drummer Stephen Morris, who has been with Sumner since Joy Division.

We'll drink to all that -- metaphorically, of course.