British band OMD: "We were in Hitler's pants"

one day: You grew up in the industrial metropolis of Liverpool. Has that influenced your interest in electronic music?

McCluskey: Hard to say if Liverpool influenced us, we would have had to sound like the Beatles, right? But we were clearly more inspired by Dusseldorf than by Liverpool. At the electronic music from Germany we liked that it sounded so different from everything we knew. We were kids and looking for something new. When I heard the Kraftwerk song "Autobahn" on the radio in the summer of 1975, I knew that this was something special and started looking for imports from Germany in record shops. The Düsseldorfer Band NEW! was very important to us. I have the feeling that many Germans are unaware of how powerful the influence of these bands was on Anglo-American music. And then I saw Kraftwerk live.

one day: What do you remember?

McCluskey: September 11, 1975, I sat on rank Q36. I'll explain why that impressed me so much: 1975 was the time of rock clichés. Long hair, jeans with punch and endless guitar solos. The self-obsessed progressive rock was in. And at the time, four guys with short hair and suits appeared - Kraftwerk! What they did on stage looked like they were using knitting needles on tea serving plates. I was sitting in the power plant concert with a big Afro hairstyle, long scarf and trench coat, so it looked like a total hippie, but knew that I had seen the future of the music that evening and wanted to participate in it.

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One day: You then started making music with your school friend Paul Humphreys. How difficult was it to get electronic instruments?

McCluskey: The problems started with the money. We were poor kids from a working-class borough of Liverpool. I got a left-handed bass, though I'm not, just because it was the only affordable instrument in the store. Paul did not have any money for any instrument at all, so he got an old radio from his aunt and made something out of it that he called "Noise Machine" and that's what he made: weird noises.

one day: Was the idea of ​​punk, that everyone can found a band, even if he does not master an instrument, important for you?

McCluskey: The punk idea of ​​being able to do something with one or two chords was enormously influential for us. The other good thing about punk was that the music industry in England was decentralized. Before that, everything was important in London, but with punk all over the province there were cool clubs and independent record companies. It's no coincidence that most of my generation's successful British bands are not from London, but from Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin, Birmingham or Liverpool.

One day: One of the many band names you used before OMD was "Hitler's Underpantz" ...

McCluskey: ... yes, we can actually claim to have been in Hitler's underpants with a clear conscience. The name was not on our account, which had thought of a crazy colleague of us. The plan was: crazy name - crazy music.

one day: Did you really choose the final name Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark because it did not sound like a rock band?

McCluskey: Our friends were Genesis, Emerson, Lake and Palmer or Pink Floyd. We hated it all and wanted a name that makes it clear that our music sounds very different from Rock, Disco or Reggae. In 1978, we decided to go public with our weird electronic music. So we asked the trendy Liverpool club Erics a bit megalomaniac if we could give a concert. We were stunned when they agreed, but determined to pull it off. We arrived so well that the Erics bosses recommended us to the Club Factory in Manchester. That was our second gig.

one day: The legendary factory boss Tony Wilson, discoverer of Joy Division and New Order, was not exactly your fan, right?

McCluskey: We gave a demo tape to our music because he planned to start a small label. Wilson could not stand our music, but his wife fished our tape out of a bag of stuff he had refused during a drive. She tripped over our name, ran our tape, and was so impressed that she urged Wilson to publish it. But he resisted, did not like our concert and found us terrible at all. His wife insisted until he gave in: "Darling, just for you!" Our first single "Electricity" was released by Factory. A career start from the garbage bag, if you will.

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DISPLAY

Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
(OMD 40th Anniversary) SΟ Ս VΕΝΙR - ΤΗΕ SΙΝG Լ ΕS 1979-2019 [2CD]

label:

A Virgin EMI Records release; Universal Music Operations Ltd

Price:

EUR 34,00

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one day: Have you ever thanked the woman?

McCluskey: Just last year: We dropped to our knees before Lindsay and kissed her feet!

one day: With OMD you proved that electronic music can work well on concert stages. How difficult was that?

McCluskey: Especially when we started, journalists used to think that electronic music was pseudo-intellectual and lifeless robotic. It teased us to prove the opposite, that this music can sound emotional and powerful. That's why I developed my idiosyncratic stage dance. We did not want to be a powerhouse that is only static on stage.

one day: Is it true that of all the boogie rockers of ZZ Top were inspired by one of your performances?

McCluskey: We once appeared on the legendary British TV show "The Old Gray Whistle Test," ZZ Top were also invited. Bands can hardly be more diverse, but ZZ Top were thrilled with our performance: After this encounter they let our first album run a while before their concerts, before they came on the stage. Their next album "Eliminator" was then surprisingly electronic, and last but not least, the way Billy and Dusty from ZZ Top wielded their guitars in videos at that time, pretty much influenced my dance with the bass. Ten years later they confirmed that to me: "Yes, man, of course we copied your dance, it was so cool, thank you!"

One day: The OMD career is divided into two phases: the early avant-garde years and then the big pop era. Do you think so?

McCluskey: On the first four albums, we just let off steam. And somehow we created an independent pop music that sounded like OMD and sold millions of copies. But after the fourth album we became more conservative, more responsible, had to pay houses, Paul was newlywed. We also had to pay a crew and so on. So we finally joined the treadmill of the established music industry. After that, we were pretty successful, then sometimes not anymore. We separated and came together again.

one day: Is it true that a German TV show was responsible for your reunion?

McCluskey: "The Ultimate Chart Show" on RTL. In 2005, they compiled a list of the best-selling singles in Germany. Our song "Maid of Orleans" was the biggest bestseller in 1982, so they asked us if we wanted to perform. We were still separated and had received such offers for ten years and always refused, but this time I asked Paul if he would like to go to Cologne with me. He agreed, the other guys too. I've known Paul since he was seven, and it was great to finally meet him again. Our appearance was a lot of fun. Then we sat in the hotel bar, and I asked the others if we would not try again.

one day: Have you ever encountered your idols power plant?

McCluskey: Over the years, even a few times. The first time was scary: Since we played in the mine, a small club in Bochum. The Kraftwerk musicians stood on a balcony, dressed in black, watching us. I've never been as excited in my life as on that night: it felt like God had come to look us over. After the show we met her at the bar, they were lovely nice to us. We have a great job.