SONG OF THE DAY [#382]

'telegraph' | orchestral manoeuvres in the dark

i got my new omd compilation, 'messages,' in the mail today [darn those import prices!]. of all the omd compilations out there ['the best of omd,' 'omd: the singles,' etc], i think 'messages' probably represents the band best because it's not limited to singles [those most of them were--in fact, as i look at the track list, i think they all were] or the most popular omd songs. case in point--'messages' contains what are, in my opinion, two of the band's better songs: 'telegraph' and 'genetic engineering,' both from the criminally underrated album, 'dazzle ships.' it's puzzling that those two songs were left off the original 'best of omd' that came out back in 1988. holy craps, i just realized that was 20 years ago. what happened to my life?

'dazzle ships' was, and still kind of is, something of enigma in the band's outstanding career. it was very experimental, very techy, and very mechanical with its use of sonar blips, old radio broadcasts, looped vocals, and all manner of weirdness. consequently, a lot of folks balked at it, and to a degree i get it. up to that point, omd had fashioned themselves a pop band. sure they utilized still-emerging technology, but at their core, andy mcclusky and paul humphries were classic pop songwriters. they had an uncanny knack of churning out quality pop songs with memorable synthlines and instantly memorable sing along choruses.

omd, of course, had a pretty expansive catalogue before they ever broke big in the US of A with 'if you leave.' i think it's a shame more people don't know about their early stuff, albums like the aforementioned 'dazzle ships,' 'architecture and morality,' 'organization,' 'omd,' and 'junk culture.' you could probably even throw in 'the pacific age' and 'crush' [these two, while boasting some of omd's finest moments, simply don't match the overall consistency of the earlier work]. they were all incredible albums. i encourage you search them out, particularly 'junk culture' and 'architecture and morality.' i think they are probably omd's two consistently great albums.

at any rate, the main reason i bought 'messages' was for the bonus disc of 27 videos! i'd seen quite a few omd videos in my day, but there were plenty i'd never seen, and well, let's face it, a few i don't want to see again. andy mcclusky, i love you, but dood, you cannot dance. you write a mean tune, but you cannot dance. thankfully there were only a few awful vids. in fact, most of the videos were quite good. omd actually tried to tell a story and there's definitely a narrative thread holding a lot of the videos together. so good job, omd.

i'm in a bit omd mood right now, so be expecting some lesser known and rare omd tracks here in the near future. i also read in the 'messages' liner notes that the band is planning a new album soon. hopefully a tour will follow. i saw them back in 1990 at kingsbury hall during the 'sugar tax' tour and it was a blast. paul had left the band by that point, but they are back together and i, for one, am stoked.

on a personal note, i can't listen to omd without remembering how i used to listen to them on my walkman during those long drives from utah to california or vice-versa. i can't listen to 'so in love' or 'secret' and not picture the nevada desert or the california high desert; and 'hold on' is still the soundtrack to my summer of a thousand broken hearts circa 1992. of course there are dozens more, but those stand out. thanks guys! hope to see you stateside soon.

→ orchestral manoeuvres in the dark: telegraph | video
→ orchestral manoeuvres in the dark: genetic engineering | video
→ orchestral manoeveres in the dark: of all the things we've made [also from 'dazzle ships']