Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a new wave music group formed in Liverpool in 1978 by core-members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys.
Condensed history[]
McCluskey/Humphreys in 1979
Originally an experimental outfit featuring home-made keyboards, electronic sound effects recorded with the help of their reel-to-reel tape recorder Winston, some bass guitar and voice, the duo gradually moved towards more melodic compositions, releasing their first single 'Electricity' b/w Almost on Manchester's Factory label in Spring 1979. The pair were soon snapped up by Virgin subsidiary Dindisc and their 1980 singles Messages and even more prominently Enola Gay made Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, by now OMD, a household name with two albums (their eponymous debut and Organisation) to their name within the year.
Greater success came almost 12 months later with the top 10 singles Souvenir and two songs about the French saint Joan of Arc, all of which featured on the million-selling album Architecture & Morality, taking the electronic experimental zeitgeist of 1981, strong melodies and unusual subject matter, to the upper ranges of the album charts.
By now the group had also become a consolidated four-piece with Humphreys and McCluskey joined on stage and in the studio by Malcolm Holmes on drums and percussion and Martin Cooper on keyboards and other instruments.
An expanded OMD in 1986
Their success was however quick to diminish with the follow up Dazzle Ships in 1983 when pop music was already less in favour of experimentalism, albeit still in symbiosis with catchy melodies. Songs about genetic engineering and the demise of the telegraphic system were no longer chart material. Some ground was regained in 1984 with the Junk Culture album and a series of strong singles, followed by Crush in 1985 and The Pacific Age in 1986, although the latter two suffered too much from an over zealous effort to break the US market.
A first Greatest Hits collection followed in 1988 although the duo of Humphreys and McCluskey called it a day shortly after, bringing to an end a decade of collaboration.
In 1991, however, Andy McCluskey exhumed the group name and, despite grunge and the return of guitar-rock, managed to break the charts again with the album Sugar Tax and the electro-heavy and catchy singles Sailing on the Seven Seas and Pandora's Box. McCluskey, aided mainly by Stuart Kershaw, tried again with Liberator (1993) and Universal (1995) but things were brought to a grinding halt in the Brit-pop years.
Humphreys/McCluskey in 2013 (pic. Ed Fielding)
Nostalgia eventually won through in 2006 when McCluskey and Humphreys got back together again to perform some live dates as a duo, later touring the Architecture & Morality album in its entirety with former band mates Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes. A brand new album History of Modern emerged in 2010 followed by more touring, and another new album English Electric was released to critical acclaim in 2013. A third album of the new OMD-era, The Punishment of Luxury, was released on 01 September 2017.
Original drummer and percussionist Malcolm Holmes retired from the group for health reasons in 2013 and was replaced by McCluskey's former writing and recording partner Stuart Kershaw.
40th anniversary celebrations under the name of Souvenir (comprehensive box set release and extensive tour) took place in 2019 and into 2020.
Condensed discography[]
- UK releases only. (UK peak chart placings in brackets)
Notes[]
- ↑ released initially on Factory records FAC6 then on Dindisc (see page).
- ↑ second Dindisc release
- ↑ name changed from original Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans) to avoid confusion with previous single
- ↑ initial copies of album also contained free one-sided 7" single the Angels Keep Turning (The Wheels of the Universe).
- ↑ from Pretty In Pink soundtrack.
- ↑ re-recording of The Pacific Age album track
- ↑ DJ promo import 12"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 remix of album track
- ↑ EP with remixes of Enola Gay, Souvenir & Electricity
- ↑ also features DVD with promo videos
- ↑ 1980 live recording
External links[]
- Official site
- Discogs
- Spotify
- Setlist.fm
- Smash Hits tagged pages
- Getty Images
- A Beginner's Guide to OMD, electricityclub.co.uk