Singles: "Messages" (1980), "Joan of Arc" (1981), "Maid of Orleans" (1981) and "(Forever) Live & Die" (1986).Photo Credit: Alex Lake and Mark McNaultyīritish band OMD: we all grew up with their music in the 80s and 90s.
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Thanks.Īlbums: 'Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark' (1980), 'Organisation' (1980) and 'Junk Culture' (1984). I appreciate they might not be FRL's thing, or were European successes rather than American in some cases, but significant records are significant records and OMD have an undeniable cult-mainstream legacy. While I'm here I would ask admins to also give genuine "essential" consideration to the following OMD releases, based on the factors of impact on peers/critical standing/commercial success. So there's no apparent justification for the exclusion of the aforementioned OMD recordings. The numerous essential recordings listed for the commercially "kinda there" likes of Echo & the Bunnymen and KLF would indicate that influence and peer respect are sufficient to make a piece of music "essential". Assuming the site doesn't have a vendetta against OMD and that there's simply a good faith lack of awareness (it's impossible to keep track of every record, I know), Google/Wikipedia is only a second away and can verify the irrefutable influence of these releases. Hey admins: please do the right thing and add 'Dazzle Ships' (1983) to essential albums, and "Electricity" (1979) and "Souvenir" (1981) to essential songs. Anyway, they've been inducted into my personal hall of fame for over 20 years. Sadly it's about brand recognition, industry connections, and a lot of other political BS. If it were about talent, OMD would be in. And don't expect to see OMD records listed in too many rags' "Greatest Albums" lists (they're reserved for the same old, predictable names). Never will you hear this shouted about in NME or Rolling Stone, though, because OMD just aren't cool enough (not even ironically so). They influenced Pet Shop Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Saint Etienne, Radiohead, Moby, Talk Talk, The Killers and numerous others.
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Vince Clarke STARTED because of OMD, so you have them to thank for Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure. Their 2013 album, 'English Electric', was phenomenal - they really found their footing again after a long hiatus.
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They got a little poppy in the mid 1980s, but dig into the album tracks and B-sides from their latter 20th century work and you'll find music just as great as their early stuff ("The Avenue", "88 Seconds in Greensboro", "The Native Daughters", "Gravity Never Failed", "Christine" etc). That said, OMD's first four albums were the perfect blend of experimentation and strong songwriting. That they leave this earth never having been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is pretty much fitting for them.
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OMD were always the weirdos who sold millions of records, but never had an image, never got asked for an autograph in public, never were at the big parties, never did Band Aid or Live Aid, never got played on radio (well, after their songs left the charts).