RK 50: Orchestral Manoeuvres

9-1-08 RK 50: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

LP ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK VIRGIN DE 201.653

1980 10 TRKS 2nd cover

CD ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK re VIRGIN UK DIDCDR 2

1980 16 TRKS ('03 re-master, 6 x bonus tracks)

LP ORGANIZATION DINDISC DE 202.971

1980 9 TRKS 2nd cover

CD ORGANIZATION re VIRGIN UK DIDCDR 6

1980 15 TRKS 6 x bonus tracks ('03 issue)

7" ELECTRICITY / ALMOST DINDISC FR 2097 827

1980 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" RED FRAME WHITE LIGHT / I BETRAY MY FRIENDS DINDISC UK DIN 6

1980 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" MESSAGES / TAKING SIDES AGAIN DINDISC UK DIN 15

1980 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

10" MESSAGES DINDISC UK DIN 15-10

1980 3 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" LIVE AT THE FACTORY DINDISC UK DEP 2

1980 4 TRK EP; no pic sleeve, promo-only; original came in 2^nd album (I think)

CD ARCHITECTURE & MORALITY re VIRGIN UK DIDCDR 12

1981 16 TRKS ('03 re-master) (7 x bonus tracks)

10" SOUVENIR / MOTION AND HEART / SACRED HEART DINDISC UK DIN 24-10

1981 3 TRKS with pic sleeve

CD BEST OF A&M US CD 5186

1988 16 TRK Collection

I distinctly remember the time in 1980 when there were lots of good groups coming out of England – I was lucky, I was working at a record distributor at the time. This meant I got to hear lots of new singles – some that I might not’ve heard quickly, otherwise.

“Red Frame / White Light” was one such single – I remember it came home with me in a big stack of maybe 20 new British 45’s that week. There were legendary drunken Friday nights of me and my friends playing Jukebox Jury – thumbs up, thumbs down. Often, if we all gave something a ‘thumbs down’, the 45 would be removed from the turntable, snapped in half and thrown in the trash!

Not the case with O.M.D. – the next single we got to hear by them was “Messages” – as a mighty little 10” (not quite a 12”, folks). Great sound, nice version of the song, too. I eagerly got the die-cut cover of their debut LP. At some later point in the 80’s, I sold it at a swap meet – the re-issue I found does not have the die-cut, alas.

I didn’t do “Architecture and Morality” at the time, just too busy with other stuff. But it sounds good now. As per the usual, my friend Joe got a laser disc of O.M.D. “Live at Drury Lane”. Jim D. turned up the clip collection some time later. I added the “Best of” CD to my collection upon finding it in a $3 bin, ostensibly for the later singles.