This 10" Canadian pressing on dark green vinyl contains two tracks: an extended mix of Souvenir and Motion and Heart (Amazon Version), the latter of which originally appeared on Organisation. Unless you held this record up to a light, you might not even notice that the record is pressed on coloured vinyl. In fact, I had a copy of this record for some time before I realized that it was on coloured vinyl.
If a band released something these days with a label such as Amazon Version, one might conclude that the tune was an Amazon exclusive. It's odd how the word Amazon probably causes most people to think about the online store and not the river.
If the debut OMD record was a sort of homage to Kraftwerk, then Organisation is a sort of tribute to Joy Division. The record does contain the big dance-able single, Enola Gay-- the only single released from this LP -- but the remainder of the record is a much more moody affair. Even the big dance-able single is odd, given the subject matter. In truth, there are some upbeat moments, but much of the record is subdued. I think that's a good thing. Stanlow might make it into my top five OMD songs, even though one could not dance to it.
It may seem like heresy to some, but I think one could make the argument that this might the finest OMD record. It's a tough call between this and Architecture and Morality, but this LP is truly fabulous.
The is the record in which the band hired a full time drummer - Malcolm Holmes -- who replaced Winston, the band's tape recorder.
"It's 8:15, that's the time that it's always been"
This is the original, first UK pressing of Enola Gay, released on September 6, 1980. It is taken from the 2nd LP, Organisation. The flip side is a very cool tune called Annex. It's difficult to imagine that a catchier song about unwarranted nuclear devastation could ever be written. The Wikipedia page for this song has lots of interesting details. I find the following to be particularly bizarre:
Keyboardist Paul Humphreys and OMD manager Paul Collister
were not fans of "Enola Gay" (the latter originally threatened to
resign if it were released as a single). Collister did, however, believe
it was a surefire hit – a view that drummer Malcolm Holmes
did not share. Initially proud of the song, McCluskey's confidence
wavered: he re-recorded his vocal, but was dissatisfied with the final
mix of the track.
Red Frame/White Light is the second single from the band's debut record. It was released in a picture sleeve and in a generic sleeve, with different labels. Most 7" and 12' version have I Betray My Friends on the B side, with others having Dancing. Obviously, this is the version in the generic sleeve. Both 12" versions seem to be difficult to find in decent shape for reasonable prices. I love this track.
You also need to know this, as reported in Wikipedia:
The telephone box that inspired "Red Frame/White Light" is located at the junction of Birkenhead Road and Greenwood Road in Meols.
In the nearby pub "The Railway Inn" the band would meet and used the telephone box to organise their gigs and transportation. In the song's lyrics the phone number is mentioned: 6323003.
Fans would ring the number expecting to get one of the band members, but got a confused home owner in their own area code. Over the years it has become a kind of sacred place for OMD fans. In 2004 OMD fan Stephen Cork started a successful campaign to get the telephone box repainted in time for a fan tour on 10 April 2005.
On the evening of 18 August 2017 the phone box was removed by BT Group. It has subsequently been restored and returned to its original location as of October 2017. [source]
Messages was the third single from Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's first LP. This 10" pressing features a re-recorded version of Messages, which originally appeared on the band's debut LP. Apparently, a few copies of this release with the original album track are extant. My copy is a UK pressing with grey 2 tone labels.
Surprisingly, this record contains a cover of the Velvet Underground's Waiting for the Man (written by Lou Reed). The other track is Taking Sides Again, an OMD original. Messages is one of my favourite, and top-5, OMD tunes.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, also known as OMD (or, as some people wrote back in the early 80s, OMITD), is one of my favourite bands from the 1980s. They have been called "The Beatles of synth pop." Right from the first note of the first song of their debut self-titled record, I was hooked, when I heard it sometime after 1980. My only regret is that I have a Canadian pressing rather than the original and brilliant UK die-cut jacket, created by Pete Saville, who did amazing graphic design work with Factory Records.
The band has been very open about taking some musical cues from Kraftwerk for this record, and that is apparent when listening. I can't say enough good things about this record. All tracks are amazing, but the one that people are most likely to recognize is Electricity. Other strong tracks are Bunker Soldiers, Messages, The Messerschmitt Twins, Red Frame/White Light, and Dancing.
Later, the band took a more commercial route, but even then I found the music interesting. Oddly, the band enjoyed success in the UK as a pop band, getting what I think was frequent airplay. In North America, they were relegated to "alternative" status -- back when alternative meant something - and so one had to listen to college/university radio or CFNY to hear OMD.
I do remember the day when a friend of mine came over and turned the tuning dial to my dad's console stereo system from 104.5 CHUM-FM or Q107 to 102.1 CFNY, the Spirit of Radio. That was quite the day. Momentarily disoriented to the odd sounds coming fro the stereo, I eventually found a new friend though I did not give up the old staples. That little station from Brampton made an enormous impact on me, and no other radio station experience, no other forays into new music, for that matter, has ever been so important as that early exposure to a world of unique music. That station was my constant friend, until everything blew up in the late 1980s. Now, radio is in the hands of corporations and fools. "And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools..."
The compilation LP was released only in the UK, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Does this speak to the band's fan base? My feeling is that they were not popular in Canada. I don't believe I ever heard this band's music on the radio. Anyway, I have a copy of the UK pressing.
Though their first LP, the whole of their early output on the Postcard label, and a few well-chosen singles are preferable to this greatest-hits sampler, this is still a great record by one of the U.K.'s best-of the unappreciated. In fact, now that they are gone, we can all take a Stalinist view (borrowing a Mick Jones phrase there) of the recordings they made after You Can't Hide Your Love Forever, while Edwyn Collins fished about trying to reinvent himself as something of a white soul singer, even if his talent meant that you still got the occasional great throwback record like What Presence?! Interestingly, the demand for this collection can be felt: in interview after interview it has become clear what an inspiration this great Scottish group has proved to be the modern scene, starting with the Smiths and moving on to acts on labels like Creation Records. Six boos to the Polydor label for dropping them (causing their breakup) then releasing this, though. What craven jerks! [source]
Yeah, but I am not a fan of the crazy cover image.
I find it interesting that the label created by Orange Juice is called Holden Caulfield Universal. That's a very interesting name for a record label. This 12"single contains a long version of the titular track, plus Tongues Begin to Wag and Barbecue.
I never had a vinyl copy of this mini album, until I found a sealed 2013 repressing for about $5 or $6. It was a deal that was too good to resist. Why this band was not bigger, I have no idea.
Alas, this is not an original pressing. I never had a vinyl copy of this release until 2013 or 2014, when I found a new, sealed copy, for under $10. I snapped it up. It's good.
Obviously, there is a strong biblical and, possibly, misogynistic reference in this track:
"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Genesis 2:23 - I had to look that up, as I am not a biblical scholar and I think religion is one of the worst human inventions).
The meaning is less clear in this Orange Juice track. From Discogs:
"Some copies of the 12" release included a 10" x 10" card photo of a band member. Different prints existed for all four band members - see images. There was only one print inserted per copy and it was assigned at random."
After John Lennon's murder, Yoko took her anguish into the recording studio and emerged with this raw collection of songs. From the gunshots before the cut "No, No, No" to John's bloody glasses on the cover, this is harrowing stuff indeed. But it's surprisingly good, if only for the fact that the whole world was feeling similarly at the time. One of the most essential Yoko Ono releases, it's powerful and chilling. [source]
I am not a Yoko expert, but I think it's clear that this is one of her better records, along with her first Plastic Ono Band record.
Mike again employed Maggie Reilly in his quest to be a pop star. I'm not sure if it works. My gut feeling says no. ELO also has a record called Discovery. it's sitting in my basement in a crate of records that I am not quite sure what to do with. The other name for the ELO record is Disco Very.
The original UK pressing places Crises, the 20 minute + title track, on side A, but the Canadian pressing inexplicably flips the order, and places all of the short tunes on Side A (though in a different order) with Crises on side B. I have no idea why. In High Places features Jon Anderson, from Yes, on vocals. The other recognizable tune is probably Moonlight Shadow, again featuring Maggie Reilly. There are several cover versions of that song floating around.
This is a very strange record. Side one contains Taurus II, a sequel to Taurus, which appeared on QE2. Side two has the lengthy Orabiboo plus three of what I can only call pop songs, notably Family Man, later recorded by Hall and Oates. The original version is sung by Maggie Reilly. It's a good version, but I also like the Hall and Oates cover version. My fav piece on this record is the title track, also featuring Maggie.
This is another of those records that I paid about $1 for. Disc two contains edited versions of Tubular Bells and Incantations. It's a pretty good record.
What happened? This is a solid record, but it pales in comparison to the earlier stuff. Some love it, but it leaves me a little cold. Or, maybe it's just that I preferred the earlier stuff.
This is the first and clearly the best Oingo Boingo record. I love some later tunes, but this one ranks up there.
"Later cited as an influence by such diverse bands as Nirvana, Mr. Bungle, and Fishbone, this album stands up well to the test of multiple listens and would make a worthwhile addition to any album collection." [source]
