Born on 24 June: With Andy McCluskey (OMD), there's always "Electricity" in the air

Andy McCluskey was born in 1959 in Hedwall, Merseyside, near Liverpool, and his artistic destiny has always been inseparably tied to Paul Humphreys in OMD.

He met Paul Humphreys at their local primary school. Together, they played in small amateur bands that already had some improbable names—for example, Hitler’s Underpantz (!).

More than half a century has passed and Andy & Paul remain inseparable. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, or OMD for those in the know, is even enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Their latest album, "The Bauhaus Staircase", released in autumn 2023, is undoubtedly their best in quite some time. It even reached number one (physical sales) in the UK charts. Not bad for these sprightly sixty-somethings!

While the relationship between Andy and Paul has seen considerable success, the two friends did, however, fall out for a handful of years in the mid-90s. It was a brief hiatus before reuniting in 2006. Electronic pop gems like "Electricity" (initially released on Manchester label Factory Records in 1979), "Enola Gay" (named after the bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1980), "Souvenir" and "Joan of Arc" (two ballads from 1981), "Telegraph" and "Tesla Girls" (which isn't a tribute to Elon Musk!) in 1983, "Locomotion" (with its video partly shot at Schaerbeek railway station in Brussels in 1984), "La femme accident" (1985), "We Love You" (1986) all marked high points before they briefly faded from view.

Andy & Paul's passion for architecture is reflected in some of their album titles. Two examples: "Architecture & Morality" in 1981 and their latest, "The Bauhaus Staircase", in 2023.

It might seem baffling today, when music is mostly enjoyed via streaming platforms, but the pair always fought with their label to create record sleeves (for those black vinyl discs) worthy of any design museum. For these, they collaborated for a long time with Peter Saville, also creator of stunning sleeves for New Order.

In the mid-90s, while the Spice Girls were ruling the world, Andy bought a recording studio in Liverpool (The Motor Museum), started a record label (White Noise), and had fun producing a few 'girl bands' such as Atomic Kitten (for whom he co-wrote the hit "Whole Again") as well as Genie Queen. These days, however, he prefers not to mention those brief forays…

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Andy McCluskey (left) and Paul Humphreys (right) of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark in Brussels (Belgium - September 1986)