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OMD
Coming out
of the late '70s Liverpool scene, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The
Dark were among a number of great Liverpool bands with strange
sounds and strange names, such as Echo And The Bunnymen and The
Teardrop Explodes.
Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys had been in several
'traditional' bands, but they were both heavily influenced by
German synth kings Kraftwerk, and were experimenting with sound,
via their little project VCLXI. Naming themselves after an VCLXI
song, McCluskey and Humphreys were fortunate to catch the ear of
Factory Records boss Tony Wilson.
Their first single, 'Electricity', in 1979, was one of the first
notable British synth-dominated singles. This was the year of
Gary Numan (who OMD supported at some gigs), and, so the year
where synthesizers became mainstream - and not just the
instrument of choice for art school nerdy types.
OMD certainly sounded different, with their mix of beautiful,
symphonic synthesized music and a strong percussive sound. Their
early singles embraced totally uncommercial topics (on the face
of it), such as the plane that bombed Hiroshima ('Enola Gay') and
'Joan Of Arc'.
Their third album, 'Architecture and Morality', was bolstered by
old friends Martin Cooper (keyboards and saxophone) and Malcolm
Holmes (drums), and was a high point for the group, with high
class tracks such as 'Joan Of Arc', 'Maid Of Orleans' (Joan Of
Arc the subject matter again), and 'Souvenir'. All three were UK
top five hits in the early '80s. All three had a mournful, but
gorgeously rich sound, and OMD were helping to rewrite a lot of
conceptions as to what 'commercial' music was.
'Dazzle Ships' was OMD's next album, in 1983, and because of
recent successes, the group were quite experimental with the
music, but it failed to reach great heights. From then on, OMD
mainly concentrated on dance orientated synth and sweet love
songs, with singles such as 'Tesla Girls', 'Locomotion', 'So In
Love', 'Secret', 'Talking Loud And Clear', and 'Forever Live And
Die'.
OMD began
to make inroads into the U.S. market with 'If You Leave', which
was written for the 'Pretty In Pink' movie, and released in 1986,
but, as often happens, the effort put into breaking new markets
often puts a strain on musicians, and the 1988 single,
'Dreaming', was the last, but wonderful, hurrah for McCluskey and
Humphreys.
Humphreys, Holmes and Cooper left OMD in 1989, leaving Andy
McCluskey to compile the last really acclaimed OMD album, 'Sugar
Tax', in 1991, with fellow Liverpool musicians Lloyd Massett and
Stuart Kershaw.
OMD have been one of the most innovative and influential groups
to come out of the UK, and, listening to their singles, the
diversity of their work is amazing.
- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.
booksmusicfilmstv.com 1970s
Music Index
booksmusicfilmstv.com 1980s
Music Index
booksmusicfilmstv.com 1990s to
Contemporary Music Index
| ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK CDs available from booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk |
OMD Discography Singles (and complete
list of UK chart positions; US chart positions in
brackets) |
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