Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Page 4 – Burning The Ground: DjPaulT's 80's and 90's Remixes

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

“Tesla Girls” is a song by British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released as the third single from their 1984 album, Junk Culture. It charted at #21 in the UK and Ireland, and #33 in the Netherlands. Although only moderately successful on the charts, it became one of the group’s biggest club hits.

Musician and writer Kim Wilde slammed “Tesla Girls” on release, calling it “inane and monotonous”. Critic Dave Thompson, in a retrospective review for AllMusic described the song as “electrifying”, adding: “The clever lyrics are almost as smart as the music pounding across this song. Cutting-edge scratch production drives the sound, slamming beats fuel the fire, and an irrepressible melody and ‘no, no, no’ chorus all conspire to turn ‘Tesla Girls’ anthemic, while the soaring synths set the blood pumping…a quintessential dance number.” Colleague Ned Raggett wrote: “‘Tesla Girls’ is easily the group’s high point when it comes to sheer sprightly pop…witty lines about science and romance [are] wedded to a great melody (prefaced by a brilliant, hyperactive intro).”

The single performed more poorly than expected mainly due to a lack of media coverage. Controversy surrounded the song’s video, which some in the media had slammed as ‘sexist’. In fact, the video, which was largely Andy McCluskey’s idea, was lampooning the style of American music videos the band was pressured into making by Virgin Records in the hope of breaking into the U.S. market. He believed that American music videos relied heavily on attractive young female models posing and preening in front of the camera. While few got the joke, a furor did develop. It was the last time Virgin Records interfered with the style of videos of the band’s singles.

The song featured in the 1985 film Weird Science.

SIDE A:
Tesla Girls (Specially Remixed Version) 5:03

SIDE B:
Tesla Girls (Instrumental Version) 4:43
Tesla Girls (Video Version) 3:26

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: A&M Records ‎– SP-12120
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Promo, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Design – P/S/A*
Photography By – Trevor Key
Producer – Brian Tench, O.M.D.*
Written-By – O.M.D.*

NOTES:
Promotion Copy – Not For Sale
Original version appears on the A&M album “JUNK CULTURE”

Band name printed as ‘O.M.D.’ on the front cover and ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’ on the spine and labels.

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1991

Euro-Mixx is a US based label that had formerly released bootleg singles under the name ON-Usound. This 12″ is a nicely done Megamix titled “One Mad Day Mix” of British New Wave group OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark).

Founding members, Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England. The band rose to fame with their fourth single “Enola Gay”, which became a major hit throughout Europe in 1980, and achieved worldwide popularity the following year with their third album Architecture & Morality. Regarded as the band’s seminal work,[1] it spawned three international hit singles and propelled them to superstar status in their home country. OMD, whose music frequently eschewed traditional pop music arrangements in favour of experimentation, were retrospectively described by AllMusic’s Ned Raggett as having been “in the enviable position of at once being creative innovators and radio-friendly pop giants.”

Record sales began to decrease in the UK during the latter half of the 1980s, as did critical support, but the group remained popular. Concurrently, they reached their US peak and had a series of hits, the most notable being 1986’s “If You Leave”, written for the film Pretty in Pink.

On April 16, 2013 the band will release their twelfth studio album “English Electric”, featuring the first single “Metroland” which is out now.

SIDE A:
One Mad Day Mix (Part One) 12:25
Pandoras Box
Speed Of Light
Call My Name
Locomotion
Secret
So In Love
If You leave
Sailing On The Seven Seas

SIDE B:
One Mad Day Mix (Part Two) 15:10
Secret
If You Leave
So In Love
Talking Loud And Clear
Locomotion
Genetic Engineering
Tesla Girls
Telegraph
Enola Gay
Electricity

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (generic)

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Euro-Mixx ‎– OMD-24
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM, Mixed, Unofficial Release
Country: US
Released: 1991
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop

NOTES:
For Radio Play Only

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi