Many moons ago in Wallasey, England, a band called Jasper played in a church hall... a kind of farewell concert before heading off to college. As I'd played with a couple of them in a previous band called 'Bananas' I was invited to sing a few numbers with them.
The support band that evening were called the ID, and featured Andy Mcluskey, Mal Holmes and Paul Humphreys. Paul and Andy had previously played in a band with the unlikely name (sadly suggested by myself and friend John Rodgers) of "Hitlerz Underpantz". They even played variations of a couple of tunes I'd had a part in creating as a member of the 'pantz'.
To cut a long story short Andy and Paul (along with Winston the Teac) went on to form a band called 'Orchestral Manoueveres in the Dark" (OMD). OMD went on to have a string of electropop hits throughout the 80's and make some extremely original albums, 'Architecture and Morality' proving to be a classic in its genre.
In the USA their music came to public attention in 1985 after their song "If you leave" featured in the movie "Pretty in Pink" and reached the Top 5 in the US and Canadian charts. However their larger audience still remained in Europe, where their albums (under various incarnations of the band) continued to produce hits. However by the mid-90's the band members went their different ways.
In 2006 the band, in its original line up of Andy, Paul, Mal and Martin Cooper reformed and embarked on a tour featuring songs from 'Architecture and Morality' that eventually became a DVD release. In 2009 they performed a selection of their music with the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. They also went back into the recording studio to record an album of new material entitled 'History of Modern' supported by a European Tour throughout 2010.
In 2011 OMD made the decision to tour in the USA... for the first time in 23 years. I managed to catch their performance in New York at 'Terminal 5" on March 8th. In their earliest days back on the Wirral we had mutually shared instruments. I even remember moving a piano to Paul's house on one occasion (I was in a band that had a big green van). However, despite following their career with interest and buying a number of their albums over the years, the the only time I'd ever seen any of them perform was back in Wallasey when they were still 'The ID'!
My good lady wife Yvonne got me a Christmas present of the 'History of Modern' album, (which in my humble opinion it is one of their best). So it was we headed out to Manhattan looking forward to the gig. We were not dissapointed.
The set featured many of their newer songs alongside their better known hits. Andy Mcluskey is quite the performer, demonstrating his self-named 'spaz-dancing' and oozing with energy. His vocal performance was impressive. The audience spread across the age range, with a large number of European folks around us. Many were obviously long time fans and sang along with the hits. 'If you leave' received a particularly warm reception.
'Messages', 'Enola Gay', 'Maid of New Orleans' 'Locomotion' 'Telsa Girls', 'Walking on the Milky Way', were all in the set, alongside newer songs such as 'History of Modern' and 'Sister Mary Says' (which apparently isn't newer but an oldie revived - kind of fitting really.) The set concluded with the song that first caught the public's ear, written when they were 16, 'Electricity' (and still one of my faves- partly because I once played the clunky piano the melody is played on at a Pegasus gig back in the day.)
Terminal 5 is a standing only venue. Our feets were aching by the time we headed home! It must be a sign of my age that I would have much preferred a venue with seats. It was also noticeable towards the end of the set that there was some loss in the sound quality. There seemed to be some tuning difficulties with the synthesizers. The bottom end was distorted to the point of the sound breaking up. But by this time they had totally won over the crowd, so maybe nobody cared.
It was great to see them after all these years. They seemed surprised at the welcome they received in the Big Apple. It would have been nice to have had a chance to make contact and talk about the old days on the Wirral but such an opportunity never presented itself.
It was kind of fun to hear them being interviewed on the radio and mentioning bands I had played in such as "Hitlerz Underpantz' and 'Pegasus'. And many years ago I did lend them my synthesizer so I'm quite sure they would never be the world renown stars they are today without my help (LOL).
Seriously, it is strange how life twists and turns. Never in a million years would I have thought that one day I'd be standing in a warehouse in NY listening to a hit-producing band that in a previous incarnation I'd played alongside as I grew up on the Wirral.
And it was well worth it. A fun time that generated many happy memories, despite the aching back and feet to which we awoke in the morning :-)
Some Links to pics, reviews, vids etc...
Review, pics and video by Brooklynvegan
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Sundance Channel Blog
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