- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: 80'S BAND OMD RELEASE NEW SINGLE
- Date: 5th August 1996
- Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 5, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) MCCLUSKEY SAYING FOR BETTER OR WORSE WE WERE ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF STARTING A TREND WHICH DOMINATED MOST OF THE EIGHTIES POP MUSIC - ELECTRONIC POP. WE WERE ONE OF THE FIRST TO BE SEEN PLAYING SYNTHESISERS ON TOP OF THE POPS. THEN IT BECAME SO COMMONPLACE IT WAS IRRELEVANT WHAT MUSIC PEOPLE WERE USING EVEN MICHAE
- Embargoed: 20th August 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVAC3WHMG8V8RTCRC2UW5U2PQX67
- Story Text: More than a decade after hit-laden band OMD (formerly Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) virtually invented electronic music, lead singer Andrew McCluskey is back.
The survivor of "synth" pop released his new single "Walking on the Milky Way" on August 5, a trailer for his new album "Universal".
The single, an autobiographical work which McCluskey says reflects the dissipated vigour of his own youth, marks a departure from OMD's hits of the 1980s.
"'Walking on the Milky Way' is me thinking about what I've been doing for the last 15 years and remembering the arrogant naive energy I had as a teenager," McCluskey said in London.
The 37-year-old musician says he's moved with the times, opting to drop the group's characteristic early electronic sound in favour of a more modern music.
As Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, OMD sold millions of records during the 1980s with hits such as "Joan of Arc", "Souvenir" and "Enola Gay".
McCluskey and his professional partner Paul Humphreys first hit television screens in 1980 as lanky young men gyrating to their synthesisers.
"For better or worse we were on the cutting edge of starting a trend which dominated most of the eighties pop music - electronic pop. We were one of the first to be seen playing synthesisers on "Top of the Pops" (a British chart show). Then it became so commonplace it was irrelevant," McCluskey says.
More than 15 years after he began, McCluskey remains curator of the band despite the departure of co-musician Paul Humphreys in 1990.
In 1991, McCluskey brought out a new album, "Sugar Tax", which turned out to be the most successful record of his career, selling some two million copies world wide and producing huge hits such as "Sailing on the Seven Seas" and "Pandora's Box".
By comparison, OMD's 1993 album "Liberator" sold under half a million copies worldwide, without a hit single.
For a musician who has survived more than 15 years of fluctuating pop trends, McCluskey has definitely moved into the nineties with his videos.
Gone are OMD's moody "storyline" videos -- two guys and a girl in a love triangle -- which were made on a shoestring budget "Now you can do it as a performance or do what the hell you like. I picked the director I wanted who's done some great videos and said here's the song, just have some fun and let your sick mind run riot," McCluskey said.
OMD's album "Universal" is due out in Europe on September 2. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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