[sic] Magazine

40 YEARS OF OMD

Editor’s note:

Earlier this year Jens Lindell compiled a Top 40 of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) tracks as a daily countdown to the bands 40th Anniversary plus a landmark gig in Copenhagen.

Jens’ selections can be found below, replete with background stories, photographs and the odd video.

I will leave the introductions to Jens.

Enjoy.

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40 YEARS OF OMD
By Jens Lindell

INTRODUCTION.

Formed in Liverpool, England with the aim to play just one concert, Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) went on to become frontrunners of the massive wave of electronic pop music that hit the world in the beginning of the 1980´s. With their first few records, OMD (completed by drummer Malcolm Holmes and keyboardist Martin Cooper) were in the zone, breaking new ground while being adored by both the critics and the record buying audience in Europe.

In 1984, the year that I discovered OMD as a twelve-year-old, they had already begun to turn away from the intellectual and conceptual music that made their first four albums stand out. In the mid 80´s, the band focused on more conventional pop songs. After being on the verge of massive success in the US, they split up. Hence, the vibrant years of my fandom, my record collecting and gig-going, coincided with the years OMD was reduced to only Andy McCluskey, plus a new live band.

Not that I minded! I went from my home country of Sweden to see OMD play in Liverpool in 1991, as part of a fan trip arranged by the makers of the OMD fanzine Telegraph. Then I saw them twice in 1993 back home in Scandinavia, the first concert in my home town, where me and my friends ended up at the band´s hotel, drinking beer with the band all night.

In 1996, being involved in student radio, I went to Gothenburg to see Andy McCluskey for an interview that I somehow managed to talk the Swedish office of Virgin Records into booking. This resulted in me being locked up with a DAT-recorder and my big musical idol in a hotel room for an hour! It was a very earnest interview, where Andy openly talked about considering retiring from making music as OMD. Three years later, I travelled to Liverpool again, to meet up with a fellow fan. We were granted a visit to OMD´s studio, The Pink Museum, (renamed The Motor Museum in 1999) where Andy McCluskey´s song writing partner Stuart Kershaw (also OMD drummer in the 90´s and since the retirement of Malcolm Holmes in the last few years), showed us around and revealed that he and Andy had just landed a record deal for a new girl band they had invented: Atomic Kitten.

So yes, I certainly did the diehard fan thing with OMD, although I happened to be just a little too young to experience their halcyon early era. Thus I acquainted myself with their legendary back catalogue retrospectively at the same time as experiencing the newer releases. Like many of the fanbase, I have enjoyed OMD reforming and making their successful and critically acclaimed comeback in the last ten or so years. Each era of OMD has its own merits, as will be seen in the Top 40.

Since it was turning 2018, I was well aware OMD were approaching their 40th anniversary. I also had a concert ticket to go and see them live for the first time in 25 years (the first time ever for me with both McCluskey and Humphreys on stage). Counting from New Year´s Day, I realised there were exactly 40 days until the concert! This triggered me into creating my top 40 favourite OMD songs, posting one song a day on a Facebook fan page as a countdown to the gig and anniversary.

There is a fascinating story behind many of the songs of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Just as there is the fabulous overarching story of two working class boys from Liverpool with a hobby of creating weird pop songs using sparse equipment and having absolutely no musical training. A hobby that went out of hand as they became the pioneers of electronic pop music – still going strong 40 years later!

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THE TOP 40 OMD TRACKS

NUMBER 40: THE DEAD GIRLS (ALBUM TRACK, 1986).

Written as an exercise in revisiting the sound of the five year old Architecture & Morality-album, but with merits going way beyond those of a pastiche or self-parody. With a fascinating and kind of limping rhythm, orchestral drama paying full attention to details, and evocative lyrics, The Dead Girls is an OMD jewel in its own right.

NUMBER 39: TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR (SINGLE, 1984).

The band bought a Fairlight sampler keyboard (which was state of the art technology and cost a fortune), had the piece flown to Montserrat, where they were recording at the time, and wrote Talking Loud and Clear simply as a test piece, while learning to use the fancy new machine. This test piece would reach number 11 in the UK charts, despite of displaying OMD’s daftest promo video ever.

NUMBER 38: CHRISTINE (ALBUM TRACK, 1993).

The social realism of the lyrics stand out on an album otherwise filled with either bittersweet or lightweight love songs. Set in night time New York and ending with the main character drowning herself in the Hudson River, Andy McCluskey’s words are cleverly accompanied by a hip hop-esque beat and waves of nocturnal synth strings. A bleak story conveyed with poetic beauty.

NUMBER 37: TELEGRAPH (SINGLE, 1983).

Originally recorded for the Architecture & Morality album, Telegraph was re-made for its follow up. The Dazzle Ships version of Telegraph is tighter, speedier and some potentially offensive lyrics about religious matters have been edited out. The song was scheduled to be the first single from Dazzle Ships, but was dropped in favour of Genetic Engineering. Although it eventually flopped when released as single number two, Telegraph still sits as one of the catchiest and bounciest pieces on OMD’s darkest and most experimental album.

NUMBER 36: NEVER TURN AWAY (SINGLE, 1984).

Although it failed miserably as a single, Never Turn Away serves as a gift to fans who didn´t favour the busily poppy, brass- and calypso-laced style of most of the tracks on the Junk Culture album. It´s a slice of wistful and levitating fairy tale pop perfectly matched to the soft vocals of writer Paul Humphreys. Never Turn Away could easily, at the time, have worked as a theme tune to, say, a family adventure movie based on one of the fantasy books by Astrid Lindgren.

NUMBER 35: KISS KISS KISS BANG BANG BANG (ALBUM TRACK, 2017).

Not appearing to have anything to do with the similarly titled black comedy movie from 1995, Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang is as much a comment on the state of world politics as it appears to be about Andy McCluskey exorcising personal demons. Last year´s album saw OMD challenging themselves in writing and production. This meant they went a bit more industrial in production and looser in composition, on the downside a bit bushy and unprecise at times. On the opposite, stand out album track Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang is whispering, restrained and laser sharp. In one word: exquisite.

NUMBER 34: 2ND THOUGHT (ALBUM TRACK, 1980).

This song marks the first occasion that OMD used the ethereal, often choir-based, four chord colouring that would become their signature. One of three solo compositions from either Andy McCluskey or Paul Humphreys on OMD’s second album (their first only included songs written jointly). In the wake of the English Electric album four years ago, 2nd Thought writer McCluskey stated he had recently re-discovered the song as a personal favourite from the band´s early catalogue. Hardly surprising, since the lyrics resonate the same pain of doomed love and separation that echoed across English Electric.

NUMBER 33: WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID (ALBUM TRACK, 1991).

The eighties came to an end, and so did the alliance of Cooper/Holmes/Humphreys/McCluskey, a trauma for fans as well as the band members. Not the least Andy McCluskey, left alone with only the band name as a comfort, his friends having all walked out on him collectively. On his first effort as solo OMD, lyrics were bound to be coloured by the split. A therapeutic necessity aside, this helped balancing the sugary coating of the Sugar Tax album with some blood and bone marrow. The most obvious example, Was it Something I Said, is topped by a spine-chilling vocal delivery, the singer virtually screaming and crying the words. Emotional magic!

NUMBER 32: THE AVENUE (B-SIDE, 1984).

As a B-side of the Locomotion 12-inch single, The Avenue should of course come with a railway sample (from the Andrei Tarkovsky movie Stalker). Furthermore displaying some serious Andy McCluskey melancholy in the shape of a classic OMD slowy, with an intriguing, pulse raising middle section, this is a song way too good to be expelled to a flipside.

NUMBER 31: SEALAND (ALBUM TRACK, 1981).

Sealand is the geographical location of a Royal Air Force base near Liverpool. When Andy McCluskey picked it for a title, neither did he do it for local patriotism, nor for his fascination with airplanes. Instead it was the name itself, the image of a place between the land and the sea, that appealed to him and probably inspired the music: a swelling piece of art music as opposed to a pop song. Driven by the sound of the mellotron synth, the track gradually turns more airy and then quiet, until an intense hammering guarantees that no one falls asleep. Unlike anything OMD have done before or since, or anyone else for that matter, except for maybe David Bowie during the Berlin years. Crossing the finish line at 7.47, it stood as their longest piece of music until 2010.

THE TOP 30 OMD TRACKS

NUMBER 30: DAZZLE SHIPS (PARTS II, III AND VII) (ALBUM TRACK, 1983).

OMD´s cold war masterpiece album, Dazzle Ships, is not a cosy affair. And the title track is as haunting and bleak as it gets. Listening in earphones on high volume, as the track approaches the minute mark, is not for people with a weak heart. Built to illustrate the fate of a warfare submarine, the track combines sound effects, the metallic voice of Andy McCluskey saying “Blue” and an ambient choral epilogue. This is the king of OMD sound collages.

NUMBER 29: RADIO WAVES (ALBUM TRACK, 1983).

Originally written for pre-OMD band The Id, including Radio Waves on the Dazzle Ships album, along with two previous b-sides, fuelled suspicion that OMD had run out of good ideas. In hindsight, all these tracks feel totally integrated in what is arguably the band´s conceptually strongest record. Radio Waves is a sparking energetic outburst, that was destined to make a great third single. But the release was cancelled due to the (relatively) poor reception of the previous two.

NUMBER 28: HISTORY OF MODERN (PART I) (SINGLE, 2010).

As Andy McCluskey was tinkering with this track at home, his then wife would tap him on the shoulder and say something along the lines of “I like this one best among your new songs”. Driven by its insanely catchy, call response, instrumental chorus, History of Modern (Part I) would reach way outside the McCluskey family and eventually become a concert classic in the modern history of OMD. Lyrically about the death of the universe (one hell of an OMD subject by the way), you have to appreciate the little detail of the song literally deteriorating at the end.

NUMBER 27: BUNKER SOLDIERS (ALBUM TRACK, 1980).

In their primitive nature, the earliest compositions of Humphreys/McCluskey show just how rooted in the punk movement Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were. Bunker Soldiers is post punk per se. The mysterious shout outs in the chorus is the two frontmen randomly spelling out the letters of the song title, along with the same letters translated into numbers. As raw and rousing as OMD were ever heard.

NUMBER 26: NO MAN´S LAND (BONUS TRACK, 2013).

Left off the English Electric album for sounding too consciously retro, No Man´s Land was tucked away as an I-tunes bonus track. Many an OMD fan has since argued that it should have been on the album, embracing what is one of the band´s most emotionally charged moments. Andy McCluskey is having a showdown with life to an increasingly intensified wall of sound, matching the climaxing of his moving vocal delivery. The choral sample sometimes risks becoming an OMD cliché. In this case, the swells of Ave Marias sit beautifully in the mix.

NUMBER 25: THE NEW STONE AGE (ALBUM TRACK, 1981).

Deliberately attempting to confuse fans, OMD decided to open Architecture & Morality with something different than expected. In fact, the contrast to the classic and sober touch of the remaining eight tracks is so vast that The New Stone Age rather appears to be a prelude to, than a part of, the actual album. Featuring buzzing guitars, stinging synths and angst-ridden vocals, it evokes the feeling of having stuck your head into a wasp´s nest. Hardly pleasant, but very thrilling!

NUMBER 24: GEORGIA (ALBUM TRACK, 1981).

The original song named Georgia was one of the first written during the Architecture & Morality sessions. It was shelved (and later released as Gravity Never Failed), but the band liked the title so much that they decided to call another of their new songs Georgia instead. The only apparent similarity between the two songs is shared vocal duties between Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey. Brimming with inventiveness, the “new” Georgia is fast out of the blocks as the album´s bounciest and most energetic song, then alters into a slightly more ethereal part (sung by Paul) and further on into a mystic outro with a brutal full stop.

NUMBER 23: PRETENDING TO SEE THE FUTURE (PEEL SESSION, 1980).

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“Avoiding this is like avoiding the plague; we can’t understand the advances we made”. OMD show how disillusioned they were, having yet barely dipped their toes in the shark-infested waters of the music industry. Originally released as the last track of their debut album, the band re-recorded the song for their second Peel Session, aired on BBC Radio on April 14, 1980. The John Peel version is preferable for a much clearer production, with the resentful vocals at the front of the sound.

NUMBER 22: MAID OF ORLEANS (THE WALTZ JOAN OF ARC) (SINGLE, 1982).

The simplistic, bagpipe imitating Mellotron melody. The historical romanticism of the lyrics. Maid of Orleans is in some aspects a more lightweight number than any other song on Architecture & Morality. On the other hand it´s an epic ballad, unlike anything else heard before or since. The intriguing intro and Malcolm Holmes´s compelling drumming are possibly the biggest strengths of this song. And in any live concert, Maid of Orleans is a dead certain climax, Andy McCluskey dancing like he´s being electrocuted by the strobe lights.

NUMBER 21: 88 SECONDS IN GREENSBORO (ALBUM TRACK, 1985).

The sudden lyrical visit to Greensboro, North Carolina, had nothing to do with OMD´s ambition to attract a larger American audience. Instead, it was instigated by Andy McCluskey happening to watch a documentary at home in Liverpool. The TV images of Ku Klux Clan and American Nazi Party members shooting five people to death and injuring a dozen more during a demonstration march, urged McCluskey to write the lyrics. In the studio, the band opted for a 1-2-3-4 all members on deck live take, in which the entire instrumental track was recorded. Result: this raw nerve of a song, which is by far OMD´s most passionate moment of the mid 80´s.

THE TOP 20 OMD TRACKS

NUMBER 20: OF ALL THE THINGS WE´VE MADE (B-SIDE, 1982).

The night before OMD were embarking on the Architecture & Morality tour, Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey were working until 3.30 AM, recording a b-side of Maid of Orleans. They had told no one, let alone the other band members, how the pressure of being in OMD had worn them down. Secretly, they agreed Of All the Things We´ve Made was going to be the last song they ever wrote. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark was to be no more. With its showering bass guitar and hammering drum machine set against a dripping piano melody and, not the least, reflective lyrics, this simple song would indeed have made the perfect epitaph of OMD. As it turned out, it wasn´t. Following its first exposure on one of OMD´s most successful singles ever, it was later placed as an excellent conclusion of their next album.

NUMBER 19: HELEN OF TROY (ALBUM TRACK, 2013).

As OMD fans celebrated the long awaited comeback with History of Modern, little did we know that our heroes would be back less than three years later with English Electric, an album that raised the bar of what could be expected of middle aged manoeuvres in the dark. At times, the band were even on par with some of the finest moments of the magic era of 1979-1983! Helen of Troy was co-written by Andy McCluskey and Greek duo Fotonovela, originally for Fotonovela´s album Tons of Love. However, Andy realised how good the song was and demanded it should go on English Electric instead. No wonder. Helen of Troy is vintage one-finger-synth-bass-driven OMD pop, topped by McCluskey pulling off a spine chilling vocal performance, as if the vocal cords of the soul man of electronic pop hadn’t aged a day beyond 25!

NUMBER 18: ALMOST (ALBUM TRACK, 1980).

Inspired by the early Teardrop Explodes song Camera, Camera, Almost accompanied Electricity as the b-side of the band´s first ever release, the Factory Records single. There was a choice to be made between a more raw version, produced by the band and their manager Paul Collister, and a version by Joy Division producer Martin “Zero” Hannett. OMD, at first reluctantly, agreed to release the Hannett version, which is glossier and enhances the song´s warm, washing lead melody. A slight remix of the b-side version, used on the following debut album, provides the ultimate version.

NUMBER 17: PANDORA´S BOX (SINGLE, 1991).

In 1991, Andy McCluskey went from down and out to owning European MTV for a summer. There have been plenty of OMD comebacks, but this was the massive one, at least commercially and in terms of revenge for the frontman. Sailing on the Seven Seas paved way with a bang, but a more satisfying moment was to follow. In the mid 1980´s Pet Shop Boys had stolen OMD´s crown as kings of the bittersweet electronic pop tune. With a song based on the life and career of silent movie film star Louise Brooks, OMD briefly stole it back. Whether you prefer a darker side of Orchestral Manoeuvres or not, Pandora´s Box is still flawless commercial pop, and a moving portrait of a troubled star.

NUMBER 16: 4-NEU (B-SIDE, 1983).

A warm piano melody and the earnestly whispering voices of both Paul Humpreys and Andy McCluskey are set against a gentle but monotonous beat and the most haunting of vocal samples. 4-Neu was written as a homage to German kraut rock band Neu, but could yet easily be interpreted as a romantic, even obsessive, or possessive, song. Either way, it´s one of the most moving things you´ll ever hear from an OMD flipside.

NUMBER 15: IF YOU LEAVE (SINGLE, 1986).

A breathtakingly beautiful slice of mid-80´s chart pop, this soundtrack song to the movie Pretty in Pink was ignored by the UK audience but adored in other parts of the world, reaching an impressive number 4 in the Billboard charts. What makes If You Leave an even more impressive achievement is that it was written and recorded in less than 24 hours. John Hughes, king of teen romantic comedy-drama, made a last minute change in the storyline of his movie, to which OMD´s original contribution (Goddess of Love) now suddenly did not fit. Thanks to skills of quick songwriting and the longevity of Pretty in Pink as a cult classic of its time, If You Leave has become an anthem of high school nostalgia for an entire generation.

NUMBER 14: JOAN OF ARC (SINGLE, 1981).

Andy McCluskey wrote The Waltz Joan of Arc, aka Maid of Orleans, first. Since he wasn´t convinced it would work as a song for the Architecture & Morality album, he wrote a second song with the same title but a more conventional pop structure. So, is this the lesser Joan of Arc? Well, you could argue that Maid of Orleans wins for being the more original of the two. On the other hand, Joan of Arc is the more aching one, displaying that despair us OMD fans almost universally crave for. Skillfully built from the silent choirs of the intro to the discharge of the last verse, you ‘shouldn´t ought to try’ to underestimate the pop song Joan of Arc.

NUMBER 13: STATUES (ALBUM TRACK, 1980).

In the early hours of May 18, 1980, Ian Curtis hung himself in his kitchen. The suicide of the charismatic and enigmatic Joy Division frontman deeply affected the world of popular music, not the least that of OMD, who had shared concert bill with Joy Division on several occasions. The sombre and gothic tone of some of OMD´s second album, Organisation, partly has to do with their shock and grief. Statues, closing track of side one, is thought to be specifically about the premature death of Ian Curtis. If the sleeve art of Organisation is the band´s darkest ever, Statues is definitely a song nightly enough to match.

NUMBER 12: THE ROMANCE OF THE TELESCOPE (UNFINISHED) (B-SIDE, 1981).

Originally b-side of the Joan of Arc single, The Romance of the Telescope was rescued from obscurity when included on the Dazzle Ships album a year and a half later. This song is adored among the diehard fans and also appears to be a favourite within the band. Moody Mellotron patterns, military drums and haunting choral samples at the end make it a somewhat harsher experience than the average OMD ballad. This is accentuated in the frailer and more vulnerable b-side mix, suiting the stated poetry of the lyrics beautifully.

NUMBER 11: WALKING ON THE MILKY WAY (SINGLE, 1996).

16 years after OMD´s first major hits, Andy McCluskey was desperate for one more. Refusing to fade into the regions of the charts where the has-beens reside, it was be big or be gone as he prepared for his next single and album. Perhaps sensing that the odds were against him, McCluskey wrote the song as his epitaph, addressing his journey through the music industry, from a teenager with brilliant dreams to a disillusioned 37-year-old. A master of pulling the heartstrings, Andy knew how to hone his craft even when manoeuvring in the waters of mid 90´s brit pop. It´s hard not to be moved by this ballad on the grander scale, which the writer at the time claimed to be one of the five best songs he had ever written. Perhaps not quite, but pretty damn close.

THE TOP 10 OMD TRACKS

NUMBER 10: ENOLA GAY (SINGLE, 1980).

Paul Humphreys was reluctant towards Enola Gay since he had had no part in writing it. Manager Paul Collister loathed the song for being too poppy and threatened to resign. But neither of them could stop what would become OMD´s first UK top 10 hit. With its distinctive and addictive chorus melody, playing over a progression of four chords, Enola Gay has become their signature song. But the tune wouldn´t be much without the context of its blatant lyrics. Andy McCluskey´s fascination with war and airplanes led him to the story of the American pilot dropping the first nuclear bomb in the history of warfare, in – here comes the thrilling part – a plane named after his mother, the bomb subsequently being nick-named Little Boy! Despite being an obvious anti-war song, McCluskey denied having any political incentives for the lyrics.

NUMBER 9: THE BEGINNING AND THE END (ALBUM TRACK, 1981).

The beginning, OK. But above all: The End. Transience and OMD lyrics have always walked hand in hand. “Many of my songs seem to express a longing for something from the past”, Andy McCluskey stated in an interview in 1996. Foreboding the ineluctable end is a sibling subject, very common in the OMD songbook. Given the fact that The Beginning and the End dates to the very earliest compositions of Humphreys/McCluskey, under the VCL XI moniker, the monumental streak of melancholy is apparently in the band´s DNA. Accompanied by gentle percussion, the Mellotron, choirs and stately guitars, there´s not a dry eye as the song takes Architecture & Morality to the inevitable you know what.

NUMBER 8: JULIA´S SONG (ALBUM TRACK, 1980).

Julia Kneale, V.I.P. in the circle around OMD, was the girlfriend of Andy McCluskey and also backing vocalist of The Id, eight piece pre OMD-band featuring Malcolm Holmes, Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey. When Kneale asked for singing lead vocals on one song, Humphreys/McCluskey composed one especially for her. The words however, she would write herself. Not surprising, since she was also a poet and had even had her own book published. At the demise of The Id, as well as the Kneale/McCluskey relationship, Julia´s Song was still too good not to be included in the sets of early OMD gigs. Andy McCluskey had to face the task of delivering the vocals. Malcolm´s steady rhythm, Paul´s marimba-esque melody, whatever other ingredient contributing to the song, it is Andy pulling off a squirming vocal performance of Julia’s evocative words, unlike anything else he has ever sung, that makes the magic happen.

NUMBER 7: VCL XI (ALBUM TRACK, 1980).

VCL XI is titled after the “band” name Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey used for their first electronic experiments and songs, a name taken from a number on the back sleeve of Kraftwerk´s Radioactivity album. Thus indicating sparse electronic music with a technological focus, the song VCL XI is something other than expected from its title. It´s a pill, it´s a thrill, it´s all colours at once, it´s champagne bubbles in your mouth, rattling, industrial psychedelia, a fever dream exploding in your ears while still cuddling them. And if quirky is a certified superlative in the standard vocabulary describing OMD´s music, VCL XI is the quirkiest of the quirky. All in all, a marvellous musical dish, perfectly seasoned by McCluskey rambling vaguely interpretable words, instead of “real” lyrics.

NUMBER 6: ELECTRICITY (SINGLE, 1980).

The first song Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey wrote as a duo, in Paul´s mother´s house. The one that landed them their first record deal. The first ever OMD single. To call Electricity their pioneering song is not an overstatement. Having no musical training whatsoever, very little song-writing experience and nothing but their inspiration from Kraftwerk and their own heads to navigate by, Electricity stands out compared to anything else in the post-punk era, even compared to anything else in the OMD catalogue. It has naive brilliance of the kind that Humphreys/McCluskey only had access to when they were teenagers and had just started. Of several versions of Electricity, the primitive, totally un-sequenced, Factory single recording deserves an honourable mention. It is, however, the Dindisc (subsidiary of Virgin Records) single version, also used on the debut album, which wins in the long run.

NUMBER 5: INTERNATIONAL (ALBUM TRACK, 1983).

You don´t have to possess any deeper knowledge about Nicaragua´s Somoza dynasty or the circumstances surrounding a young girl having her hands cut off at the wrists. The radio sample leading us into the warm but sad waltz of International is still one of OMD´s most evocative and haunting intros. What then follows is an effectively moving song, the gentle melody almost folk song-esque in its simplicity. With a vocal from his deeper register, Andy McCluskey delivers a statement he, at the time, described as “anti-everything in international politics”. As the song is about to reach the three-minute-mark, Andy suddenly gears up and shouts out his agony and sorrow, in what is arguably his most powerful vocal performance ever. As the song fades out, we´re left breathless and teary-eyed.

NUMBER 4: SOUVENIR (SINGLE, 1981).

During the recording of Souvenir, Andy McCluskey left the studio in frustration. It was Paul Humphreys´ and Martin Cooper´s song, with Paul´s vocals. For the first time, plans were being made for an OMD single without Andy behind the microphone. However, McCluskey´s negative feelings had more to do with the song itself, than frontman rivalry. He thought it was too middle of the road, and his attempts to beef it up with new elements of synth and a quirkier, Talking Heads-style, bass-line, had been futile. In hindsight, Andy has nothing but praise for Souvenir, sharing a universal opinion that the song is one of OMD´s finest moments. Called ‘The Choir Song’ until the week before the sleeve was delivered, the magic of Souvenir is that of choir-looped chords melting together, lushly garnished with gentle synth piano, double-track vocals and a sparkling melody hook. A distinctly unique electronic delicacy.

NUMBER 3: SHE´S LEAVING (ALBUM TRACK, 1981).

A few years into the new millennium, the general opinion about OMD’s legacy gradually shifted from anything between unimportant and underestimated to influential and credible. Even U2, of all bands, wanted to mirror themselves in “the white soul music of OMD”, the expression taken from U2´s own website, in an article describing the sound of songs likely for inclusion on their album No Line on the Horizon. In terms of the soulful side of OMD, She´s Leaving is one of the first songs that spring to mind. The recording was not an easy affair and the band was on the verge of abandoning the song. In the end, OMD decided to shift key on the finished recording, which meant they had to speed up the entire song. As a result, She´s Leaving became lighter and more brittle, and the smooth flow of the song was accentuated. That the band refused to release it as the fourth single from Architecture & Morality is the only thing that is perhaps a shame about this wonderful, bittersweet slice of pop.

NUMBER 2: MESSAGES (SINGLE, 1980).

Shifting producer for just about every album, there is no fifth Beatle, no George Martin, in the world of OMD. Scattered works of wonder from individual producers are few, but one that really deserves to be highlighted is how Mike Howlett transformed Messages from a shuffling and one-dimensional album track to a vibrant pop single that earned OMD their first UK top 20 hit. Howlett’s surging new intro for a starter, quickly became a vehicle for raising the temperature in live shows, the song traditionally placed as number 3 in the set all through the years. And what the producer really did throughout the song was to inject a huge amount of band feel, driven by Malcolm Holmes´ steadfast drums and a bass-line that is far more distinct than on the album version. It was probably not a coincidence that the band chose Messages as the first song they rehearsed when re-forming after nearly 20 years of hiatus. If they could still deliver their premium “band” song, there was proof they could pull off performing live again. Maintaining its groove throughout, Messages peaks in its last minute, Andy McCluskey shifting his bass playing into something totally melodic, bellowing the final vocals of one of his most accomplished lyrics ever. OMD may have a reputation for being self-taught amateurs, but Messages has professionalism written all over it.

NUMBER 1: STANLOW (ALBUM TRACK, 1980).

Who writes a six and a half minute love song dedicated to an oil refinery? Who have their singer and frontman applying for access to the very refinery the tune is about, to record the sound of the oil refinery pump for inclusion in the song? OMD, ladies and gentlemen. OMD and OMD only. Placed near the M56 North Cheshire Motorway, Stanlow oil refinery has a special place in the heart of the band, since it served as a grand, lit up beacon, a welcome back home, after early concerts in Manchester and other places in the region outside Liverpool. As a song, Stanlow encapsulates nearly everything that is magic about Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The industrial, experimental intro, moving into the ethereal ballad beauty that constitutes the song until it, without losing any of its grandeur or melancholy, transforms into pop, driven by a clipping beat as well as a five-note melody hook and synth-bass. And then there are the lyrics, beautifully exploring this band´s recurring theme of the juxtaposition of, and impossible romance between, man and machine. In terms of development for the band, Stanlow is one giant leap. Little more than a year earlier, OMD had hammered down Electricity badly by hand, for their first ever single. Here, they deliver a song with full sophistication and rich flavor, raising the bar for whatever coming next. As the heart-resembling oil refinery pump returns and fades into the music for its final beats in the outro, there is only one thing left to conclude: Stanlow is the ultimate OMD song.

I hope folks enjoyed the article.

Jens’ Top 40 first appeared in the OMD Fans Facebook Page as a daily countdown to the Anniversary and gig. See link provided.

[sic] Magazine thanks Jens, the band, Julia Kneale and the Fans.

Photographs may be subject to copyright and are not to be re-used for commercial benefit. The videos linked here tend to be only the singles. This is out of respect toward copyright and the band’s own wishes. Do try to hear some of the other selections though. As can be seen with the Romance of The Telescope selection, it is often the experimental album tracks and b-sides that give OMD their real edge over other synthpop peers. Statues, Stanlow, The Avenue, International and The Beginning And The End are all recommended by yours truly.

Let us know how we did. Agree with our 40? Did we cover your favourites? What did we miss?, etc Be welcome to drop us a comment.

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