OMD Albums
ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK
sleeve
CATALOGUE OVED96
FORMAT VINYL ALBUM
LABEL DINDISC
RELEASE DATE 13/08/84
CHART -
SLEEVE DESIGN Peter Saville & Ben Kelly
CURRENT VALUE £8-10
 
RUN-OUT A "The words were on the ceiling"
RUN-OUT B "The words are on the ceiling"
TRACK LISTING WRITERS PRODUCER RECORDED
BUNKER SOLDIERS Humphreys/McCluskey Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool
ALMOST Humphreys/McCluskey Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool
MYSTEREALITY Humphreys/McCluskey Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool
ELECTRICITY McCluskey/Humphreys Chester Valentino & OMD Cargo Studios, Rochdale
THE MESSERSCHMITT TWINS Humphreys/McCluskey Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool
MESSAGES Humphreys/McCluskey Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool
JULIA'S SONG Humphreys/McCluskey/Kneale Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool
RED FRAME/WHITE LIGHT Humphreys/McCluskey Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool
DANCING Humphreys/McCluskey Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool
PRETENDING TO SEE THE FUTURE Humphreys/McCluskey Chester Valentino & OMD The Gramophone Suite, Liverpool

NOTES

This was a reissue of OMD's debut album which featured the sleeve design used for the original, final batch of albums when it was first released. The sleeve featured the new catalogue number and the original record labels have been replaced with generic Virgin green/red labels.

'Bunker Soldiers' features a chorus that actually spells out the title 'BUNKER SOLDIERS' as random letters and the same letters translated into numbers.

'Almost' also featured as the B-side to the single 'Electricity' and the album version was used on the third release of the single.

'Mystereality' features saxophone by Martin Cooper.

'Electricity' is the same version featured on the third single release.

'The Messerschmitt Twins' takes its title from a nickname for Andy and Paul. The phrase popped into Andy's head during the night prompting him to write a song about it.

'Messages' is the original version and not the Mike Howlett produced single version.

'Julia's Song' dates back to Andy and Paul's time in The Id and features lyrics by Julia Kneale who was also in The Id at the time.

'Red Frame/White Light' was inspired by a telephone box used by the band outside The Railway Inn public house on the Wirral.

'Dancing' is an experimental piece whose unusual sound was created using Dalek I Love You's Kawai synth.

'Pretending To See The Future' was written about being in the music industry and specifically about signing a record deal.

 

TRIVIA

Chester Valentino was a pseudonym for OMD's then-manager Paul Collister.

The plates used to press these records are actually the same ones used to press the 1981 reissue. The main difference being that the hand-etched catalogue number has been crossed out and a machine-etched matrix number with the new catalogue has been added to the pressing.

As with the 1981 reissue, the run-out groove on side one also states: "The words were on the ceiling" which perhaps refers to this being a reissue as the run-out grooves on the original release had read: "The words are on the ceiling".