Tiffany,
It was great meeting your sister yesterday. And, what a fabulous lunch we had at The Swiss in Tacoma. I hope the two of you didn’t mind my hacking – don’t worry, I am pretty sure I am no longer contagious. I guess we’ll know if you get sick in a couple of days, won’t we?
In the meantime, I’ve decided to write a short post today about music. Tiffany, one of my favorite bands of all-time is the British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or OMD for short. I was drawn to OMD back in the ’80s because when other bands were singing about love, sex and girls (eeww!), OMD were writing songs about Nikola Tesla, Genetic Engineering, Louise Brooks, battleships, and Apollo space missions. What’s a sexually confused kid not to love about that?
I fell out of touch with OMD in the early 90s, as most people had. But, things changed in ’93 when I was in Chico, California visiting family. I remember insisting that we visit the local Tower Records store. While flipping through the CD singles, I came across what I thought was one of the most stunning CD single covers. The single was for a song by OMD called ‘Stand Above Me‘.
I eagerly purchased it and couldn’t wait to hear the song. Sadly, I wasn’t that impressed with it, but the b-side track called ‘Can I believe you‘ was fabulous. Ever since that day, my love-affair with OMD was re-born and I’ve never looked back.
OMD are one of a number of bands that inspired me to teach myself how to write my own electronic music. It is always my goal to write songs that sound like OMD. Of course, I fail, but I never stop trying. OMD inspire me so much because out of almost all of the music I listen to, I find OMD’s style the most unique, literate, and refined – especially their early material from the ’80s. OMD elevate pop music to a level of sophistication that would even make Beethoven take notice. Besides, what did Beethoven ever do that was so great? Did Beethoven ever get his picture on a bubble-gum card? How can you say someone is great who hasn’t gotten their picture on a bubble-gum card?
Today, OMD are poised to release their first new album in 14 years. Their first single from the album, ‘If you want it’, is out now. The record will be called ‘History of Modern’ and is slated for release here in America on 28 September. The material from the record I have heard so far doesn’t disappoint, either. ‘If you want it’ is classic OMD with a modern twist and super hot video. In fact, in the interest of…uuuhhh…’choreographical research’, I spent a few hours dissecting the video. Here are a couple video stills for your viewing pleasure that I captured during my research.
Also for your viewing pleasure, here is the video for ‘If you want it’; I’ve also linked another new track called ‘History of Modern Part 1’. Welcome back OMD, I have missed you!
Let us know what you think of the new OMD material.
A Couple of Homos Sitting Around Talking 