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Recorded for the soundtrack to the film Pretty in Pink (1986) “If You Leave” is the group’s highest-charting single in the United States, where it reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1986.Īndy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys from OMD talk to Virgin Radio’s Pete Mitchell about their new book Pretending To See The Future and their 40-year career during a Q&A at The Cavern Club in Liverpool December 2018.Ģ0. BBC Radio’s Steve Lamacq has named “Electricity” as the track that made him want to become a DJ.ġ9. “Enola Gay” (named after the plane that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima) was an international success when released in 1980, selling more than 5 million copies and topping the charts in Italy and in Spain.ġ8. OMD returned the favour in the nineties by inviting Gary on their arena tour.ġ7. In the autumn of 1979 they were supporting Gary Numan on his UK tour. McCluskey developed a popular and distinctive onstage dance routine, dubbed by the BBC’s Stuart Maconie as the “Trainee Teacher Dance”.ġ6. On the track “Souvenir” (1981) Humphreys used recordings of a choir tuning up to create the ethereal and fluttery choral effects which gave the song its original sound.ġ5. John Peel played it on his BBC Radio 1 show and it sold all the 5,000 copies that had been pressed in a week.ġ4. OMD released their debut single, “Electricity”, in 1979. After just two gigs, they were offered a record contract with Factory Records.ġ3. Andy joined the Civil Service in the summer of 1979 and went to work in the Cunard Building in Liverpool, processing cargo entries for Her Majesty’s Customs.ġ2. They bought their first synthesiser from Andy’s mum’s Kay’s mail order catalogue, a Korg Synth for £7.76 a month – over 36 weeks which they paid out of their dole money.ġ1. One title was ‘Margaret Thatcher’s Afterbirth’, fortunately, they chose ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’.ġ0. With a gig booked at Eric’s in Liverpool and no name for the group the pair went to Andy’s house where they kept all their song titles written on his wall. Paul had a massive Subbuteo collection and sold it to help pay for his first keyboard.ĩ. Andy went to see Kraftwerk play on September 11th, 1975 at the Liverpool Empire. The phone box was honoured with a blue plaque as part of the group’s 40th anniversary celebrations in 2019.ħ. Their second single Red Frame/White Light is about a red telephone box in Meols, on the Wirral peninsula in Cheshire that was used by the band to make calls to organise their gigs in the late 1970s. They would play it through fuzz-boxes and echo machines (all borrowed) and one speaker.Ħ. Paul built a contraption called the Noise Machine out of circuits he got from a diagram book, which made a horrible noise. As a result, he plays with the strings “upside down”.ĥ. Andy is right-handed, but originally learned to play bass guitar on a left-handed model. That was the first time Paul was on stage with Andy musically.Ĥ. Paul removed the fuse, wrapped it in foil from a cigarette box and put it back in and hid behind the bass speaker, pressing this fuse, in serious danger of being electrocuted. When Paul was still the roadie Andy’s bass-head blew the fuse. Equinox was the first, (which Paul was the roadie for), and that migrated into an eight-piece band called The Id, then Hitlerz Underpantz, and briefly a group named VCL 11.ģ. Andy McCluskey met Paul Humphreys at Great Meols Primary School, in Elwyn Road, and were in several bands pre Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. When Paul first heard “Autobahn” by Kraftwerk on the radio he thought, ‘That is the future of music and I want to do that!’Ģ. The band re-established themselves as a chart act, and have since kept on touring extensively around the world.ġ.
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In 2006, the outfit reformed with Humphreys back in the fold, and began to work on material more akin to their early output.