Electricity (OMD song)

"Electricity"
Single by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
from the album Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
B-side	"Almost"
Released	21 May 1979 (see release history)
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	Cargo Studios, Rochdale Henry's Studio, Liverpool
Genre	New wave,[1] synthpop[2]
Length	3:39
Label	Factory - FAC 6 (1st release) DinDisc (2nd & 3rd releases)
Writer(s)	Paul Humphreys, Andy McCluskey
Producer(s)	Martin Zero Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Chester Valentino
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark singles chronology
"Electricity" (1979) "Red Frame/White Light" (1980)

"Electricity" is the 1979 debut single of the new wave and synthpop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, featured on their eponymous debut album the following year. Inspired by Kraftwerk's "Radioactivity",^[3] the song addresses society's wasteful usage of energy sources. Frontman Andy McCluskey shares lead vocals with Paul Humphreys, who ordinarily functions as keyboard player and backing vocalist. As with single "Messages", from the same album, the band embraced the concept of machines singing the song's chorus.^[4] It was on the strength of "Electricity" that the band were offered a recording contract with Dindisc Records.^[5] Three attempts at scoring a hit achieved the peak of #99 in 1979.^[6] However, NME named "Electricity" as one of the best singles of the year, placing it on the magazine's end-of-year list for 1979.^[7] The song is consistently features on OMD compilations. In 2012, "Electricity" peaked at #126 in the French charts.^[8]

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.^[9] Critic Dave Thompson in Allmusic described the song as the "perfect electro-pop number", concluding: "Far from a celebration of the power of our power sources, the lyrics drive home the need for a renewable energy source, some alternative to the fossil fuels we're permanently expending by the second, and a future of abundant electricity free from environmental depletion."^[10] Colleague Ned Raggett called it "pure zeitgeist, a celebration of synth pop's incipient reign with fast beats and even faster singing."^[2]

Tracklisting

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.^[11]

"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" and "Almost" 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" and the Hannett version of "Almost".^[12]

Version II of "Almost" remained unreleased until appearing on the 2001 Navigation compilation.

Version III: The album versions of "Electricity" and "Almost" 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.^[6] The album version of "Almost" is similarly a remix of Hannett's version.

Version IV ("Electricity" only): A fourth mix of "Electricity" 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.^[13] In 2003 it was released on CD as a bonus track on the re-issue of Organisation.

Release history

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.^[15] The reissue sleeves were standard white on black printed sleeves.

Cover versions of "Electricity"

External links

• Lyrics for "Electricity".
• Lyrics for "Almost".
• Download section of official OMD website with The Id version of "Electricity" and version II of "Almost".

References