Pop Quiz: Bad Lieutenant

Pop Quiz: Bad Lieutenant

Aidin Vaziri | After surviving three decades punctuated by death, drug abuse and at least one incidence of terrible rapping, the influential British pop band New Order finally sputtered to an end two years ago when bassist Peter Hook announced his departure from the group on live radio. But the split didn't sidetrack the other members, who, led by front man Bernard Sumner, formed Bad Lieutenant and last month released a familiar-sounding album, "Never Cry Another Tear." According to Sumner, who spoke to us from his home in Britain, that was no accident.


Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant
Q: If things had gone your way, would this have been a New Order record?
A: Ooh, that's a question. Well, if it was up to me, New Order would still be together. Basically, Hooky left, but he had his reasons.
Q: It seems as if musicians are supposed to keep the same job with the same people forever. Everyone else gets to move on.
A: It is a lot to ask. I've known Peter Hook since I was 14 - you can't possibly be the same person 30 years later. He changed one way and I changed a different way. It got to the point where if I said black, he said white. If I said go, he said stop. It's a ridiculous way to carry on. It's an unnatural thing to be together that amount of time
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