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Electricity (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song)

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B-side
  
"Almost"

Genre
  
New wave synthpop

Format
  
7" vinyl

Length
  
3:32

Released
  
21 May 1979 (see release history)

Recorded
  
Cargo Studios, Rochdale Henry's Studio, Liverpool

"Electricity" is the 1979 debut single of the English group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, featured on their eponymous debut album the following year. Inspired by Kraftwerk's "Radioactivity", the song addresses society's wasteful usage of energy sources. Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys share lead vocals on the track. As with single "Messages", from the same album, the band embraced the concept of machines singing the song's chorus.

Contents

It was on the strength of "Electricity" that the band were offered a recording contract with Dindisc, who twice re-issued the single: the final release achieved a peak of no. 99 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1980. In 2012, "Electricity" peaked at no. 126 in the French charts.

Vince Clarke of Erasure (and formerly chief songwriter of Depeche Mode, Yazoo and The Assembly) has cited "Electricity" as his primary inspiration to pursue a career in electronic music, while BBC Radio's Steve Lamacq has named it as the track that made him want to become a DJ.

Track listing

  1. "Electricity"
  2. "Almost"

History

After OMD's first concert, opening for Joy Division in a 1978 appearance at Eric's Club in Liverpool, McCluskey was inspired to send a demo of the song to Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. They later heard that while he was not impressed with it, his wife was, so he bought it from them and released it as a single. Its ensuing success led to them receiving a seven-album record deal worth £250,000.

Reception

"Electricity" was a hit with veteran DJ John Peel, who gave the song regular play on his late-night radio show; as a result, the British music press quickly picked up on the song. Adrian Thrills in the New Musical Express cited it as "the best example of Factory Records to date – excellent, melodic, synthesiser pop." He also lauded B-side "Almost", calling it "a doleful, heartsick slab of electronic angst."

Conversely, Garry Bushell gave a negative review in Sounds, in which he remarked: "If Mike Oldfield was ten years younger and a Tubeway Army fan, this is what he'd sound like – who wants to listen to a bunch of Scousers whining about electricity anyway?" However, David Hepworth, who re-appraised the track in the same publication, opined that OMD's sound "commands your attention" and lauded the single for being "packaged with as much taste as it's played." "Electricity" featured on the NME end-of-year list for 1979.

Retrospectively, AllMusic critic Ned Raggett described the song as "pure zeitgeist, a celebration of synth pop's incipient reign". Colleague Dave Thompson called it a "perfect electro-pop number".

Vince Clarke cited "Electricity" as the track that sparked his interest in electronic music. In a BBC interview he said: "When I was 18 or 19 I heard a single called 'Electricity' by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. It sounded so different from anything I'd heard; that really made me want to make electronic music, 'cause it was so unique." Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr admitted to being "downright jealous" of the song.

"Electricity" and "Almost" versions

Multiple versions of "Electricity" exist; the earliest are recordings by McCluskey and Humphreys' previous group The Id.

There are many different versions of the two songs that were present on OMD's debut single. After the band left Factory Records, DinDisc attempted twice to score a hit with "Electricity". Consequently, four versions of "Electricity" and three of "Almost" exist.

Version I
  • "Electricity" (3:36) and "Almost" (3:50) were originally recorded at Cargo Studios, Rochdale and produced by Martin Hannett under the moniker Martin Zero, to be released by Factory Records.
    • Version II
  • The band felt Hannett had overproduced their songs somewhat, so they recorded new versions at Henry's Studio, Liverpool. These versions were produced by themselves and band manager Paul Collister under the moniker Chester Valentino.
  • A compromise was reached for the versions used on the single. This first Factory single contains the band's version of "Electricity" (3:44) and the Hannett version of "Almost" (3:50).
  • Version II of "Almost" (3:43) remained unreleased until appearing on the 2001 compilation; Navigation: The OMD B-Sides.
    • Version III
  • The album versions of "Electricity" (3:39) and "Almost" (3:44) differ from the previous versions, and were used for the third and final release of the single. "Electricity" was remixed from the original Hannett version. It's also the version used on the 1988 Best Of and the 1998 Singles collections and is the best-known version of the song. The album version of "Almost" is similarly a remix of Hannett's version.
    • Version IV ("Electricity" only)
  • A fourth mix of "Electricity" (3:43) was produced by Mike Howlett. This version of "Electricity" was recorded during the Organisation sessions when the band fancied extending the instrumental section in the middle of the song. It was initially released on the Dindisc 1980 compilation album in 1980. In 2003, it was released on CD as a bonus track on the re-issue of Organisation.
    • The Micronauts Remix
  • A radical remix by dance music act The Micronauts was released in 1998 both as part of The OMD Remixes release and as part of the bonus disc of the special edition The OMD Singles (France only).

    • Cover versions

    "Electricity" has been covered by the bands NOFX and MGMT.

    Singles

    The following singles were released:

    Albums

    "Electricity" and "Almost" were released on the following OMD albums:

    Sleeve design

    The sleeve was designed by Factory's designer Peter Saville. The band and Saville met in a Rochdale pub and exchanged ideas. Saville told them about a book of avant-garde musical scores which he'd come across. Andy McCluskey said that he sometimes wrote down the tunes he composed in a similar shorthand. This led to the unusual graphics that feature on the sleeve. Saville suggested to use shiny black ink on black paper. Both OMD and Tony Wilson didn't believe it could be done, but Saville persuaded a printer to do the job. The thermographic printing was a success, but the place set on fire three times, so eventually only 5,000 sleeves were printed. The reissue sleeves were standard white on black printed sleeves.

    References

    Electricity (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA