"Temptation" is a stand-alone single released by British band New Order on Factory Records. The single reached #29 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in 1982.

The two tracks were recorded as 12" long versions and later edited to 7" by engineer Peter Woolliscroft using one of the first Sony PCM 1610 Digital editing systems available in UK. The single is unique since the 7" version of Temptation fades out exactly when the 12" version begins due to both being recorded in one take.

The 7" version is a more structured version with a commercial synthpop feel; the 12" is more chaotic with the emphasis on electronic rhythms rather than melody. The 7" version plays at 33⅓ rpm to accommodate its length of around five and a half minutes. Both versions bear the same catalogue number "FAC 63" despite these differences.

The 12" versions of both "Temptation" and its B-side, "Hurt", appear on New Order's mopping-up EP 1981–1982, released a few months after the single itself.

Neither version mentioned the band's name on the sleeve; instead the song title and catalogue number FAC 63 were embossed into the cover.

The vocal track on the original 12" version features an audible "startled yelp" during the song's intro. Vocalist Bernard Sumner has since explained that the scream was from him due to bandmates thrusting a snowball down his shirt during recording.

In 2006 the song was interpreted in a video, entitled The Temptation of Victoria, by filmmaker Michael Shamberg, who had directed a number of notable music videos for the band, here revisiting a classic New Order song with the help of singer Victoria Bergsman of Swedish band The Concretes. The Temptation of Victoria was one of two videos that New Order commissioned Shamberg to direct in 2005 and is dedicated to the memory of film director Michael Powell.

All tracks written by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner.

...
Wikipedia