Featuring the core members
Paul Humphreys and
Andy McCluskey, the Liverpudlian synth pop group
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark formed in the late '70s.
Humphreys and
McCluskey began performing together in school, playing in the bands VCL XI, Hitlerz Underpantz, and the Id. After the Id split in 1978,
McCluskey was with
Dalek I Love You for a brief time. Once he left
Dalek, he joined with
Humphreys and
Paul Collister to form
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The group released its first single, "Electricity," on Factory Records; the record led to a contract with the Virgin subsidiary DinDisc. Using their record advance,
McCluskey and
Humphreys built a studio, which allowed them to replace their four-track, and recorded with drummer
Malcolm Holmes (formerly of the Id) and
Dave Hughes (formerly of
Dalek I Love You).
In 1980, the group released its self-titled debut album.
Organisation appeared the same year, which featured the U.K. Top Ten single "Enola Gay";
Hughes was replaced by
Martin Cooper after its release. The band's next few albums --
Architecture and Morality (1981),
Dazzle Ships (1983), and
Junk Culture (1984) -- found the band experimenting with its sound, resulting in several U.K. hit singles. Recorded with two new members,
Graham and
Neil Weir,
Crush, their most pop-oriented album, found more success in America than in Britain as the single "So in Love" hit number 26 on the charts. "If You Leave," taken from the
Pretty in Pink soundtrack, was their biggest American hit, climbing to number four in 1986.
The Pacific Age was released the same year, yet America was the only country where it was popular. Shortly after its release, the Weir brothers left the band, followed by
Holmes,
Cooper, and
Humphreys.
McCluskey continued with the band, releasing
Sugar Tax in 1991; in the meantime,
Humphreys formed
the Listening Pool.
After
Sugar Tax failed to gain an audience,
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark returned with
Liberator in 1993, which also was ignored. It was followed three years later with
Universal.
The OMD Remixes appeared in 1998. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide