OMD will re-release their first four albums on vinyl November 2nd, and will also play two hometown shows in Liverpool with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on October 6th and 7th, as part of the band’s 40th anniversary celebrations.
The 4 albums will be released on 180g vinyl, mastered at half speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road and housed in their original die-cut sleeves designed by the legendary Peter Saville.
‘Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, best known and loved as OMD, were formed in 1978 by teenage friends Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys. They quickly became electro-pioneers with a string of hit albums released throughout the 1980’s including the four to be re-issued on Universal Records November 2nd.
Their 1980 self-titled debut album, ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark’, featured hit singles ‘Electricity’ and ‘Messages’. ‘Organisation’ followed later that year and reached #6 in the UK chart, showcasing undoubtedly one of the greatest synth-pop songs of all time ‘Enola Gay’.
Maintaining a prolific work rate the band released their third studio album in 1981, ‘Architecture & Morality’, which reached #3 in the UK chart, featured the top 5 singles: ‘Souvenir’, ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘Maid of Orleans’ and sold over a million copies in the UK alone.
Two years later, in 1983, OMD unveiled their masterpiece ‘Dazzle Ships’ – another top 5 album, featuring the singles ‘Genetic Engineering’ and ‘Telegraph’.
Earlier this year the band announced two concerts at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on October 6th and 7th. They coincide with the anniversary of OMD’s first ever gig which took place at Liverpool club Eric’s in October 1978.
These shows will feature orchestral arrangements of many of OMD’s biggest hits, also fan favourite ambient tone poem pieces like ‘Stanlow’, ‘Sealand’ and ‘Ghost Star’ written especially for these concerts by Ian Stephens and Gary Carpenter, in addition to songs which have never been performed live before including rare B-sides.
Alongside the classic vinyl re-releases, the autumn shows with the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be recorded as a live album, and a very special 40th anniversary book will tell the story of OMD from the garage beginnings right through to the latest tours. Having released three albums since they reformed 12 years ago, OMD continue to make music for the future.’
A 40th birthday world tour starting in late 2019 will be announced very soon.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark (1980)
Side A
1 Bunker Soldiers
2 Almost
3 Mystereality
4 Electricity
5 The Messerschmitt Twins
Side B
1 Messages
2 Julia’s Song
3 Red Frame/White Light
4 Dancing (Instrumental)
5 Pretending To See The Future
Organisation (1980)
Side A
1 Enola Gay
2 2nd Thought
3 VCL XI
4 Motion And Heart
5 Statues
Side B
1 The Misunderstanding
2 The More I See You
3 Promise
4 Stanlow
Architecture & Morality (1981)
Side A
1 The New Stone Age
2 She’s Leaving
3 Souvenir
4 Sealand
Side B
1 Joan Of Arc
2 Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)
3 Architecture & Morality
4 Georgia
5 The Beginning And The End
Dazzle Ships (1983)
Side A
1 Radio Prague
2 Genetic Engineering
3 ABC Auto-Industry
4 Telegraph
5 This Is Helena
6 International
Side B
1 Dazzle Ships (Parts II, III And VII)
2 The Romance Of The Telescope
3 Silent Running
4 Radio Waves
5 Time Zones
6 Of All The Things We’ve Made
Pre-order the Vinyl Reissues here – https://OMD.lnk.to/VinylReissues
