Original synth

English synth-pop act Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are currently touring with their classic line-up (the core of which is Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys), which split in 1988.

McCluskey soldiered on and released a few albums under the OMD moniker before finally calling it a day in 1996. Although OMD made their name with ’80s hits like ‘Joan Of Arc’, ‘Enola Gay’ and ‘If You Leave’ (written especially for the John Hughes movie Pretty In Pink), McCluskey is keen to emphasise the group’s left-field origins.
“Our first single was ‘Electricity’, which we released on Factory Records,” he remembers. “(Factory boss) Tony Wilson, bless him, was the first person who actually said to us, ‘What you guys do, it’s like the future of pop music.’ And we were like, ‘Pop music?! Fuck off! We’re experimental.’ Cos that’s where we came from, we were listening to German imports and making lots of weird noises.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re back playing material from Architecture And Morality, we’re quite keen to reclaim our place in the history of music. I know we’re probably perceived as another ’80s synth band who wrote some catchy tunes and have now decided to reform, but we actually came from a very strange place. We started out as an experimental band, and if you listen to the first four albums, there’s stonking, great big million-selling singles on there, and then there’s some really fucking weird shit.”
McCluskey’s pop sensibilities found their full expression following the demise of OMD, when he founded girl group Atomic Kitten, and co-wrote the smash hit single ‘Whole Again’.
“Strangely enough, the reason for Atomic Kitten’s creation is all to do with Kraftwerk,” he explains. “I became quite friendly in the ’90s with Karl Bartos, and when I decided to pack in OMD, he said, ‘Listen, if you’re just going to write songs, don’t just give them to your publishing company, create a band that’s a vehicle for your work.’ So I went off and did this crazy idea, thinking I knew about the music industry after 18 years in my own band. I didn’t have a clue, but I got lucky with Atomic Kitten.
“I’m proud of the first record, I think it’s a fucking great pop album. Unfortunately, as soon the real big success came for the band, the ugliness started and I ended up not working with them anymore. I could tell you all the gory details, but my lawyer insists I’m not allowed to. The only saving grace is that I can’t be held responsible for the sad pastiche of themselves that they became, very bland and formulaic.
“They were quite wild and fun in the early days. When they had Kerry Katona in the band, they were dangerous, you never fucking knew what they were gonna get up to. There were no rules, and I liked it, it was fun.”
OMD have many fans amongst today’s bands, with artists like Sash and Moby contributing to a remix EP a few years back. Arcade Fire collaborator Owen Pallett (who co-wrote the string arrangements for Funeral and Neon Bible), meanwhile, has covered the album Dazzle Ships in its entirety during his live shows.
“I have seen some YouTube footage of him playing that on his violin, it’s quite amazing,” enthuses McCluskey. “We’re prospectively working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and I’ve asked my management to track him down, because I want to see if we can get some kind of symbiotic relationship going here. Maybe we’ll ask Owen Pallett to see if he could do some interesting rearrangements of OMD material for our LP. That could be quite funky.”
OMD play the Olympia, Dublin on May 13.