The group was founded in 1978 by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, after they had been involved in several bands, including The Id. Later drummer Malcolm Holmes and saxophonist Martin Cooper joined. McCluskey and Humphreys formed the core of the outfit until 1989, when the group split in two. McCluskey retained the name and continued to record and tour as OMD with a new line-up until 1996, while Humphreys, Holmes, and Cooper formed "The Listening Pool".
According to Songfacts, Enola Gay was the first of 7 Top 10 UK singles for the group; their only US hit was If You Leave, which was written for the 1985 movie Pretty In Pink.
In late December 2005, OMD's official website announced a 2006 reformation, for both live performances and a new album, with rehearsals beginning in summer 2006. The line up features the original 1980's members (Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper). The "Architecture & Morality" tour for late 2006 was postponed until the beginning of 2007.
The tour finally took place in the spring of 2007 featuring "Architecture & Morality" played in its entirety plus a 'greatest hits' set, although each concert famously ended with stirring rendition of B side/album track and fan favourite "The Romance of the Telescope".
Plans are now ahead for the release of a documentary DVD (since released and available here), a live DVD of the 2007 tour (release postponed until 2008) and a new studio album released in 2010, entitled "History of Modern".
The group's 12th studio album, English Electric, was released on 5 April 2013. The group's 13th studio album, The Punishment Of Luxury, was released on 1 September 2017. The group's 14th studio album, Bauhaus Staircase, was released on 27 October 2023.
Official OMD website: http://www.omd.uk.com
Red Frame/White Light
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Six three two three double 'O' three
Red frame white light
Telephone box
Red on gray
Red frame white light
You have a gray book
On a metal shelfRed frame white light
Numbered calls
Selected places
Red frame white light
Six three two three double 'O' three
Red frame white light
Telephone calls
Black and white
Red frame white light
You have a yellow book
With adverts
Red frame white light
Telephone box
Red on gray
Red frame white light
Six three two three double 'O' three
The song "Red Frame White Light" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark is a reflection of the impersonal communication in the modern world. The "Red frame white light" refers to a telephone box, which signifies the detached and mechanical nature of communication in a fast-paced world. The repetition of "Six three two three double 'O' three" emphasizes the sense of uniformity and anonymity that comes with calling from a public telephone booth. In this context, the use of the colors red, gray, black and white, and yellow contrast with the mundanity of everyday life, highlighting how emptiness and mechanization have taken over human connection. The reference to a "gray book" and a "yellow book with adverts" may reflect the commercialization of communication and the commodification of relationships.
The song also touches upon the theme of distance and longing, as indicated by the "numbered calls" and "selected places" in the song. The lyrics suggest that the singer has to rely on a machine to connect with someone who might be far away, adding to the sense of alienation and disconnection. The song's repetitive structure further emphasizes this coldness and monotony, as if communication has lost its soul and become an automated process.
Line by Line Meaning
Red frame white light
The striking visual of a telephone box with a bright red frame and a white light on top is the focus of attention.
Six three two three double 'O' three
The telephone number that everyone knows by heart and can easily remember.
Telephone box
A small, enclosed booth that houses a public telephone, often found on busy street corners.
Red on gray
The bold contrast of the bright red frame against the dull gray of the telephone box.
You have a gray book
On a metal shelf
A directory of phone numbers, listing people and businesses, kept on a metal shelf inside the telephone box.
Numbered calls
Selected places
The ability to make specific phone calls to pre-selected locations by dialing the corresponding number on the directory.
Telephone calls
Black and white
The communication between people via phone, often described as a black and white exchange of words.
You have a yellow book
With adverts
A phone book with advertisements for businesses, usually found inside the telephone box.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ANDREW MC CLUSKEY, PAUL DAVID HUMPHREYS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@benedettobruno1669
Always and forever, thank you to Great Britain and the British people whose creativity, since the 1960s, has given the rest of the World hundreds of unique bands such as the Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and music of unparalleled beauty, quirkiness and atmosphere.
What would our lives have been without British bands?
@brhodes7659
You’re most welcome 👍👍
@merseydave1
Two things : Even as a 14 year old in 1979, I could tel that OMD were influenced by Kraftwerk. Being a nerdy geek, I rang 632 3003 and a man answered to tell me its public call box on the Wirral not far away from West Kirby.
@krasteff
They cite Kraftwerk in every interview now, but there is 99% British punk,and btw one can here mainly Vangelis rather than Kraftwerk, especially here, Messages etc.
@antunivanovic
Jarre's "Equinoxe" sure is an audible influence, too. But then again, OMD perfectly blended all of them into their own creation.
@mop714
Who wouldn`t ... just for the buzz!
@mikemnemonic311
I have a photograph of myself standing proudly outside this telephone box. Locals understandably don't get the historical relevance.
@truckingscouser
That was their 'office', Andy and Paul discuss this in a documentary on them
@SheeplessNW6
When this came out in 1980, I was amazed by the weird genius of obsessively describing something as mundane and universally known as a telephone box. But here we are still listening to this, at a time when, for most young people, a phone box might as well be a mysterious artefact from a lost civilisation.
@PabloDeModeOfficial
Their best stuff. I mean I love almost every album of them but this is the sound they created as fresh and new.