Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark



Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English new wave/synthpop group formed in 1978, whose founding members, Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. While steadily eschewing pop star status, the band cultivated a fanbase in the United Kingdom from 1978–1980. They gained popularity throughout Europe with the 1980 single "Enola Gay", and achieved broader recognition via album Architecture & Morality (1981) and its singles. (Read more in Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel
OMD were part of a cluster of bands that emerged from Liverpool’s Eric’s club in the late 1970s, and Peel was happy to give airtime to their debut single, ‘Electricity’, which was released on Manchester’s Factory Records. Quickly snapped up by Virgin’s Dindisc imprint, the band became chart regulars in the early 1980s, although their first two albums were still featured by Peel and they had the last of four sessions in 1983. The DJ also introduced OMD on Top Of The Pops.

In August 1979, Peel also played a track by an earlier incarnation of the band, then called the Id, from the “Street To Street” compilation of bands from the Liverpool area. (The DJ had written the sleeenotes for the collection.)

Like OMD, Peel was from the Wirral, on the other side of the Mersey from Liverpool, and this may have encouraged him to give an unexpected play in 2002 to their track ‘Stanlow’, about a local oil refinery in Ellesmere Port.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None

Sessions
Four sessions. All tracks except the version of 'Bunker Soldiers' from #4 released on Peel Sessions 1979-83 CD, 2000 (Virgin, 7243 8 49068 2 5). 'Messages' from #1 also available on Various Artists: Movement: BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions 1977-1979 2xCD, 2011 (EMI ‎– CDPEEL 7779)

1. Recorded 1979-08-20. First broadcast 03 September 1979. Repeated 08 October 1979.
 * Julia's Song / Messages / Red Frame White Light / Bunker Soldiers

2. Recorded 1980-04-14. First broadcast 21 April 1980. Repeated 06 May 1980, 02 June 1980, 25 June 1980.
 * Pretending To See The Future / Enola Gay / Dancing / Motion And Heart

3. Recorded 1980-09-29. First broadcast 06 October 1980. Repeated 03 November 1980.
 * Annex / The Misunderstanding / The More I See You

4. Recorded 1983-01-29. First broadcast 21 February 1983. Repeated 09 May 1983, 28 December 1983.
 * Genetic Engineering / Of All The Things We've Made / Abc Auto-Industry / Bunker Soldiers

Other Shows Played

 * 1979
 * 27 June 1979: Electricity (7") Factory
 * 09 July 1979: Electricity (7") Factory
 * 23 July 1979: Electricity (single) Factory
 * 26 July 1979: Electricity (single) Factory
 * 11 October 1979: Electricity (single) Factory


 * 1980
 * 28 January 1980: Red Frame/White Light (7") Dindisc
 * 05 February 1980: Red Frame/White Light (7") Dindisc
 * 06 February 1980: Red Frame/White Light (7") Dindisc
 * 14 February 1980: Red Frame/White Light (7") Dindisc
 * 20 February 1980: Messages (album - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) Dindisc
 * 28 February 1980 (Mike Read): Messages (album - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) Dindisc
 * 11 March 1980: Messages (7”) Dindisc
 * 03 April 1980: Dancing
 * 24 June 1980: Messages (7") Dindisc
 * 27 October 1980: Stanlow (album - Organisation) Dindisc
 * 06 November 1980: VCL XI (LP - Organisation) DinDisc


 * 2002
 * 30 July 2002: Maid Of Orleans (12") Dindisc (JP: "Not quite sure why I played that, but I was looking for something else and came across it and thought I'd like to hear it. And I thought you might like to hear it as well.")
 * 24 October 2002: Stanlow (LP - Organisation) Dindisc


 * The Id
 * 14 August 1979: Julia's Song (LP – Street To Street) Open Eye [The Id]


 * TOTP
 * 25 December 1981 (TOTP): Souvenir
 * 04 February 1982 (TOTP): Maid Of Orleans (The Waltz Joan Of Arc) (6)
 * 03 March 1983 (TOTP): Genetic Engineering (25)