OMD’s story is of course the story of the relationship between Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, two Wirral lads with a love of some of the odder musics which were on the edges of the scene as they were teenagers in the mid 70s. So if your opinion of OMD is all perky electronic pop songs about quirky subjects – communication, electricity, historical religious figures and atomic bombs – then prepare to be surprised by some beguiling music. But it was partly this side of the band – the experimental and /or melancholy side – which drew me into their work and provided a link from their music to the work of their contemporaries (such as the Factory bands) and their influences (Eno, Kraftwerk, Neu!). As time passed and record company pressure forced them into more commercial areas, this side of the band was slowly filtered out but still appeared from time to time. That sentence perfectly sums up OMD’s early direction – they easily mixed melody with moodiness and electronic experimentation over the course of the early 80s. Those were the words of Carol Wilson, the head of Dindisc – the subsidiary of Virgin Records which signed OMD in late 1979.
“I don’t understand you guys – do you want to be Abba or Joy Division?”
