OMD - Free Artifacts: The Unreleased ’78 Tapes

Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey decided on a clear muscial direction to give to their new band, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (from the title of on of their earliest compositions), very much inspired by the German elechtonic group Kraftwerk. The duo started collecting electronic instruments and affordable synthesizers (Korg MS20, Elgam Symphony, Korg Micro-Preset, Selmer Pianotron and a Roland CR-78 drum machine), and experimenting with the sounds coming from those machines and from McCluskey’s bass. The songs combined radio waves, noises, excerpts from radio and TV broadcasts, rhythm sections and melodic parts. In october 1978 Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark (at the time acronym-ed ad OMITD) played at Eric’s. Part of the playlist for the gig was the following:

- Introducing Radios

- Distance Fades Between Us

- Progress

- Once When I Was Six

(A bonus 7" EP titled ‘Free Artefact - The Unreleased '78 Tapes’ came with the first 10,000 copies of the band’s second LP, Organisation, released in 1980.) The performance captured Tony Wilson’s attention, who signed the band to his Factory for their fist sngle.

omd 78