Featuring the core members Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey, the Liverpudlian synth pop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released its first single, “Electricity,” on Factory Records; the record led to a contract with the Virgin subsidiary DinDisc. In 1980, the group released its self-titled debut album. It was followed by Organisation, which featured the U.K. Top Ten single “Enola Gay.” The band’s next few albums — Architecture & Morality, Dazzle Ships, and Junk Culture — found the band experimenting with its sound, resulting in several U.K. hit singles. 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. After a hiatus a full-blown reunion came in 2006, including both McCluskey and Humphreys. They dabbled in a few more projects and as soon as they were off the road they began writing songs for another album. Taking its name, and some inspiration, from Italian divisionist/symbolist painter Giovanni Segantini’s work titled The Punishment of Luxury, the band’s 13th album was made by the duo of McCluskey and Humphreys and released by White Noise Records in September of 2017.
Live the Music
