Drummer Stephen Morris has shared his memories of the “chaos” surrounding New Order’s 1983 performance on Top of the Pops.The band’s biggest hit, “Blue Monday,” had only been out for a couple of weeks, but it was already racing up the U.K. charts. New Order was quickly booked on BBC’s famed music show, and unlike many other performers, the group was determined to play live rather than lip-synch. Given the amount of new technologies New Order was using – including synthesizers and sequencers – technical difficulties were all but guaranteed.“The BBC had to come and test every plug before we could plug it in,” Morris noted during a recent appearance on the Rockonteurs podcast, adding that the TV production crew was unhappy with the band’s deadpan stage presence.READ MORE: Top 100 ’80s Rock Albums“What was it the cameraman said? ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do with this lot. They don’t move a muscle,’” the drummer recalled while laughing. “I think they were expecting us to do a bit of dancing about.”What Went Wrong During New Order’s ‘Top of the Pops’ Performance?Sure enough, the band’s synthesizer parts went off the track during the live performance, including misplayed notes, timing problems and the wrong sample getting played. At points, members of New Order seemed to be holding back laughter as they continued through the song.“It was ridiculous. And we thought we made a mess of it, pressed the wrong button… chaos,” Morris admitted (he previously even suggested that “Blue Monday” was the only single to go down on the chart following a Top of the Pops performance).READ MORE: 20 Greatest New Wave BandsStill, something strange happened with New Order’s lone appearance on the show. Fans have since gravitated to the performance, likely because of its honest, mistakes-and-all presentation.“It was really funny when we did that because a lot of [other artists] came up to us because we were doing it live, saying, ‘Yeah, it’s great. We wanted to do it live as well, but they wouldn’t let us,” Morris recalled, skeptically. “It was an experience.”Watch New Order’s 1983 Performance of ‘Blue Monday’ on ‘Top of the Pops’Top 40 New Wave AlbumsFrom the B-52’s to XTC, Blondie to Talking Heads, a look at the genre’s best LPs.Gallery Credit: UCR Staff