Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark [OMD]: Genetic Engineering (1983)

Genetic Engineering was the first single from Dazzle Ships. On this Canadian 12" single, the flip side is Telegraph, also from Dazzle Ships. Wikipedia tells us: "The synthesized speech featured on the track is taken from a Speak & Spell, an educational electronic toy developed by Texas Instruments in the 1970s intended to teach children with spelling." Wikipedia goes on to discuss the song's reception and legacy:

Jim Reid in Record Mirror wrote: "Madly infectious hook-line propels a song absolutely dripping with 'moderne' references. A cold record, whose raison d'être lies in the application of studio technology and the manipulation of hackneyed gobbledegook. Should be massive – won't touch my turntable again." In Melody Maker, Paul Simper dismissed the track as "a load of old tosh".

US critic Ned Raggett praised the "soaring", "enjoyable" single in a retrospective piece for AllMusic, asserting: "Why it wasn't a hit remains a mystery."

Frontman Andy McCluskey has noted that the song is not an attack on genetic engineering, as many assumed at the time, including radio presenter Dave Lee Travis upon playing the song on BBC Radio 1.

McCluskey stated: "I was very positive about the subject." "People didn't listen to the lyrics... I think they automatically assumed it would be anti." Music journalists have suggested that the first 45 seconds of the song were a direct influence on Radiohead's "Fitter Happier", which appears on that band's 1997 album OK Computer. Thoem Weber in Stylus argued that the Radiohead track is "deeply indebted" to "Genetic Engineering".

I love this track and sibe-b is phenomenal too. There is a slightly different version of this release which has the track 4-Neu as the b-side.