Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark have released a 40th anniversary deluxe edition of sixth album, Crush.
Crush was the first O.M.D. album that I bought, partly because my brother had the first four albums. Or, to be more precise, C90 cassette rips, courtesy of my uncle, who had borrowed them from Shepherds Bush library and had the hi-fi to become a one man "Home Taping Is Killing Music" industry thanks to his nephews.
I love the self-titled debut, Organisation, Architecture & Morality and Dazzle Ships. My friend Stuart had fourth album, Junk Culture, which I was less enamoured with, and which marked a definite shift in sound, away from the predominantly electronic sound scapes of its predecessors.
However, I really liked So In Love, released a month ahead of Crush and securing O.M.D. their (if I've counted correctly) 10th UK Top 30 hit, peaking at #27. I helped a little by buying the 12" single at the time, though it was well oout of the charts by the time I tracked down the limited edition (of 50,000!) 7" double pack with an exclusive bonus track.
The 40th anniversary deluxe edition of Crush came out last Friday (10th), available on double vinyl (black or crystal variants) and double CD. I originally bought Crush on cassette and played it to death (literally, it's gone to that great mass of tape spool in the sky), but it's one of the few albums that I didn't subsequently replace on CD.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a physical copy again. In addition to the 10-track album, there are a whopping 16 bonus tracks (11 on vinyl), gathering B-sides and 12" mixes, as well as first time appearances for demos and previously unreleased songs.
Firegun was originally the B-side of third single La Femme Accident...
...whilst Choral remained unused, although the titular sample was used to arguably greater effect on Goddess Of Love on follow-up The Pacific Age.
When Crush was originally released in 1985, the album was accompanied a couple of months later by Crush: The Movie, a companion release on VHS video (or laserdisc 12", if you either happened to be in Japan and/or had the readies and the kit to purchase and play such a thing).
My folks resisted to urge to buy a video player for several years, and I was a 14-year old with a Saturday job, with some disposable income but not that much, so owning Crush: The Movie was never an option.
Bizarrely, the back cover blurb on the VHS cassette box manages to both over- and under-sell the product:
From Japanese adverts to Mexican death festivals,
from filming in Spain to murders in America,
this video follows O.M.D. through the recording and making
of Crush, their sixth album.
Crush - the movie is more
than just a collection of single promo videos,
it combines interviews with the band
and candid footage of them at work and play.
I should point out that whilst there is evidence that O.M.D. were "filming in Spain", there is nothing to suggest that they were connected to any "murders in America".
I've never seen Crush: The Movie but happily, the official O.M.D. site on YouTube has posted it in it's entirety. At the time of posting, I've watched the first 10 minutes and I will be back to watch the whole thing in one go.
The deluxe edition will be going on my birthday/Christmas wish list.
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