Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Souvenir

That Visage piece got me thinking about other great synth wonders from the 1980’s. Depeche Mode, Erasure and the Human League are certainly up with the best, but in terms of sheer delight that they brought forth OMD are my favourites. Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys started out way back in 1978 and released their first single ‘Electricity’ a year later. The duo had a neat line in effeminate posturing and a rather mixed up fashion sense but they certainly knew their way around a keyboard. They based their sound on the kingpins of electro genre, German band ‘Kraftwerk’, but added their own little dollop of pop sensibility which lit up the charts. OMD’s output didn’t go unnoticed and they were even signed to the legendary Factory Records for a time. The deep-rooted melancholy that traverses through much of their back catalogue is never more evident than on the technicolour splendour of ‘Souvenir’. The vocals are timid and fragile and the tune resonates with a timeless piano riff. While OMD’s previous singles had burnt a trail through limitless energy, ‘Souvenir’ managed to compel through its own melodic genius. One piece of interesting trivia: with this being the time of vinyl some copies of the ‘Souvenir’ single were mistakenly pressed with the Human League’s ‘Love Action’ on the reverse. KD

OMD – Souvenir

More Info: OMD
Buy Album: [UK] Architecture and Morality: Remastered [US] Architecture & Morality
Year: 1981

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