Back then, to burden your band with such an unwieldy name as Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark might have seemed unwise, but the obvious commercial appeal of their music provoked enough interest that it eventually led to Factory Record’s Tony Wilson offering them the chance to cut their debut single Electricity on the Factory label.Įlectricity (and its flip side Almost) perfectly captured OMD’s infectious blend of melody and melancholia. Naming themselves after one of their own early songs, Humphreys and McCluskey launched their own unique style of catchy electronic melodies that helped form OMD’s reputation for intelligent pop. Although they had gained a lot of experience from working in a traditional band environment, it was never quite the creative platform they were looking for. This, however, was still a side project the pair indulged in on odd weekends while they were active in local bands such as Equinox, Pegasus and The Id. So it was quite apt that Eric's was the venue of choice for the debut performance of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark in October 1978.įounder members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys had originally been inspired by the experimental electronic music of German bands such as Kraftwerk and Neu! Working with radio sets and home made synthesisers, Humphreys and McCluskey christened themselves VCLXI (after a valve diagram on the sleeve of Kraftwerk's Radioactivity album) and began their own musical experiments. In the midst of all this activity was Eric's Club - a small discreet venue that was a favoured haunt for the people who would later form bands such as The Teardrop Explodes, Echo & The Bunnymen and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Everyone was either in a band, in-between bands or were forming a band. The Liverpool music scene in the late 1970's was an exciting and dynamic place to be. The majority of the lyrics never survived to be included in the version that was released, only part of the second verse.” There is only part of a chord sequence that sees the accompanying vocal melody climbing precariously to its climatic crescendo in each verse that is retained by the final recording. Musically there is almost nothing that hints at the explosive instrumentation of the final version. It is possibly the closest that OMD ever came to a folk song courtesy of Paul’s organic harmonic singing.ġ0 to 1 is a forerunner of Love and Violence. The album was remastered at Abbey Road and the other tracks featured on double album have previously only been available on vinyl.įrontman Andy McCluskey explains the origins of the two never heard before tracks included: “All or Nothing is a complete song featuring Paul Humphreys on wistful triple tracked lead vocals.
Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys returned to the Virgin Archives to revisit the album. 30 years after the release of O.M.D’s Junk Culture comes the remastered double HighRes-Deluxe Edition.
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