ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK

MERGING THE MACHINATIONS OF GERMAN ELECTRONICA WITH WARM MERSEYSIDE MELODIES, ON THEIR THIRD ALBUM OMD LUCKED OUT BY FINDING SOME OTHERWORLDLY CHORAL SAMPLES – AND SOON THEY STRUCK A PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN EXPERIMENTALISM AND COMMERCIAL APPEAL…

MARK LINDORES

As Liverpool braced itself for a homecoming concert from its favourite musical son Paul McCartney on 15 September 1975, the city’s Empire Theatre played host to a sparsely-attended show four days earlier when avant-garde auteurs Kraftwerk arrived in the city as part of their Autobahn tour. Though the gig was far from sold out, the chosen few that did attend ensured that its influence was far-reaching.

Indeed, the clued-up technophiles that formed the majority of the crowd left the venue convinced they had just witnessed the dawning of a new era of music and were inspired to become part of it.

Among those embarking on a journey of sonic adventure courtesy of Düsseldorf’s alternative Fab Four were Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey, a pair of local musicians who had developed a kinship thanks to their shared love of the German synth-pop pioneers. Although they had both played in a number of traditional rock bands, the pull of the industrial, minimalist soundscapes of their heroes led them to head in a different direction – with electronics as their foundation.

With finances and rehearsal space scarce, the duo was mecca Eric’s and Manchester’s Factory club, where they caught the attention of Factory Records’ Tony Wilson and namesake Carol Wilson.

Though he recognised the potential of OMD, Wilson felt that Factory had neither the scope nor the finances to support what he deemed to be a mainstream pop act in the making. He signed them to a one-single deal to release their forced to improvise to make their ideas a reality. As with many of their friends in bands, the DIY ethos of punk was fundamental to Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s success. Finding themselves as part of Liverpool’s thriving scene of the late 70s, they shared bills with Joy Division, Pete Wylie and Julian Cope, playing at local live music debut Electricity in 1979, purely to get them attention from the major labels.

“ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK WERE A PERFECT FIT FOR WHAT I HAD IN MIND FOR DINDISC – THEY HAD A SERIOUS, ARTISTIC SIDE WITH REAL DEPTH, AS WELL AS A COMMERCIAL, POP SIDE”

CAROL WILSON

But as the majors began to close in on the band, OMD signed instead to Carol Wilson’s newly-established Dindisc label, an imprint of Virgin, feeling it would give them the artistic freedom of an independent, but the financial security of a major. Upon the signing, Carol Wilson said: “OMD were a perfect fit for what I had in mind for Dindisc – they had a serious, artistic side with real depth, as well as a commercial, pop side.”