Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (album)

front cover die-cut first pressing

### Re-releases

1981 (LP), 1984 (LP), 1988 (CD), 2003 (re-mastered CD), 2010 (CD), 2018 (LP, half speed mastered), 2020 (LP)

## Chronology

### Next album

*Organisation*

**Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark** is the title of the debut album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released on Dindisc on 22 February 1980. The album was produced by the group and Chester Valentino, a pseudonym for Paul Collister, who was also the engineer.

The album features ten tracks including the singles Electricity and Red Frame / White Light and an earlier version of the group's first hit single Messages.

As well as being a groundbreaking album in the electronic music and new wave genres, it is also famous for its original die-cut sleeve designed by Peter Saville.

## Personnel

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were still basically at the time the core-due of Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey with guest musicians such as Malcolm Holmes (percussion on Julia's Song), Martin Cooper (saxophone on Mystereality) and Dave Fairbairn (guitar on Messages, Julia's Song). All the songs were written by Humphreys and McCluskey, except for the lyrics to Julia's Song which were written by McCluskey's former girlfriend Julia Kneale.

## Recording

The album was recorded entirely at the group's own studios The Gramophone Suite in Liverpool, which had been built with the advance from the record company Dindisc, a subsidiary of Virgin. Many of the songs had already been played live, including during their time as support to Gary Numan in the autumn of 1979, and some for their first John Peel session recorded in August 1979.[1] Only Electricity and Almost had been released previously as a single on Factory records, and successively on Dindisc although as different versions.[2]

Two tracks entitled Motion and Heart and Enola Gay were not finished in time for the album, but were performed for their second John Peel session recorded and broadcast in April 1980.[3] Both tracks would later re-surface on the follow-up album *Organisation*. The track Red Frame/White Light was also issued as single shortly before the album's release date.[4]

## Sleeve

The original sleeve featuring cut out 'slots' to form a symmetrical 'grill' with a coloured inner sleeve was used for a limited initial pressing of the LP only and was later replaced by a more conventional design still bearing the characteristic 'grill' printed on an orange square on a plain white background (as per the cassette version). Group name and LP title were also more evident on the later design whereas the die-cut sleeve bore a sticker in order to identify the title/group name. The original die-cut was issued in blue/orange and black/pink colour schemes with a 12x12 grill, as well as in a third and fourth version with a 10x10 grill in grey/orange and blue/orange colour schemes. Other variants of this initial pressing also exist.

## Chart performance

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark was the only original studio album to enter the Top 75 album chart in the UK the week after its release (others were 'greatest hits' albums by established artists).

It reached its peak position of no. 27 in March 1980 on the strength of the album alone, and again in May and June, on the back of the success of the Messages single.

## Tracklisting

#### Side One

1. Bunker Soldiers
2. Almost
3. Mystereality
4. Electricity
5. The Messerschmitt Twins

#### Side Two

1. Messages
2. Julia's Song
3. Red Frame / White Light
4. Dancing
5. Pretending To See The Future

### Re-releases

LP DID 2, 1981

* same tracklisting but with grey sleeve, orange grill and back cover in 'Organisation' style with photo.

LP OVED 96, 1984

* second reissue, in a plain sleeve with white/orange/black artwork (as per 1980 repress)

CD Virgin CDVIP 216, 1988

* first CD release. Tracklisting as original. Large grey 'slots' on orange background.

CD DIDCDR2 Remastered edition with bonus tracks, 2003.

* Bonus tracks

1. Messages (single version)
2. I Betray My Friends
3. Taking Sides Again
4. Waiting For the Man
5. Electricity (Hannett/Cargo Studios Version)
6. Almost (Hannett/Cargo Studios Version)

CD Micro Werks MW 060 (USA), 2010. Replicates the blue/orange die-cut sleeve.

* Bonus tracks

1. Messages (single version)
2. I Betray My Friends
3. Taking Sides Again
4. Waiting For the Man

LP vinyl, Virgin mastered 602557050806 (UK), 2018 half speed mastered at Abbey Road Studios.

* original Side One / Side Two tracklisting

LP orange vinyl HMV "1921 Series" 00602508864056 (UK), 2020

* original Side One / Side Two tracklisting

## Demos and other versions

* Messages (1978 demo) - released on flexi-disc with initial copies of *Pretending To See The Future* (book) [5]
* Electricity and Almost had been produced by Martin Zero for Factory records prior to the release of the album (see pages).
* Bunker Soldiers, Julia's Song, Messages and Red Frame/White Light had been recorded for the group's first Peel session in 1979 and Pretending To See The Future for the second in April 1980, after the album's release. This have since been officially released. (see page)
* Messages was completely re-recorded and produced by Mike Howlett after the album's release, and became the group's first hit single.
* An alternative version of Bunker Soldiers features on the US compilation album *O.M.D.* (1981)
* Pretending To See The Future (live version) - released on flexi-disc and given free with copies of Smash Hits magazine, issue dtd. 1981-03-19[6]
* Bunker Soldiers was also recorded for the fourth and final Peel session in February 1983. This version has never been officially released.
* Almost was remixed by Vince Clarke for a special re-issue in 2019.

## Live

   *see main page: OMITD tour*

* The album was promoted through the group's first headlining tour of the UK, which began at Eric's in Liverpool and took in other club venues as well as some universities and polytechnics around the country. Humphreys and McCluskey were joined on the tour by Malcolm Holmes and Dave Hughes of Dalek I Love You. The four-member line-up also appeared in the promo video for Messages.
* The tour continued into Europe and finished with five dates in the US. European dates towards the end of April and early May coincided with the release of Messages as a single, leading to national TV appearances in the UK and Europe around that time.

### Live recordings

No live recordings form this tour have ever been officially released. Certain tracks have continued to be played on successive tours and have been officially released.

## Chart performance

UK only [7]

* UK Official Albums Chart:
	+ entry N49 (24 February 1980), peak N25 (02 March / 11 May / 01 June 1980)
	+ re-entry N68 (19 October 1980, one week)
	+ re-entry N84 (14 February 1982, one week)

## Contemporaneous albums

list of albums that were released around the same time as *Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark*:

* The Cure - *Boys Don't Cry*
* The Selecter - *Too Much Pressure*
* Elvis Costello & The Attractions - *Get Happy!!*

## External links

* Discogs
* Spotify