At the turn of the ’80s, I walked into one of my favorite independent record stores in the St. Louis area, and heard a new band (via in-store play) that instantly grabbed my attention. The song that caught my attention was “Electricity” from the US debut release of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. That album was actually selected material from the band’s first two UK releases (as if we wouldn’t get it). As it slid down to “Enola Gay”, I was transfixed. Needless to say, I picked up the album. Since that day, I picked up every OMD album that released. I was rarely disappointed through the end of their first run.
Much can be said about the albums released by OMD. From the debut through to The Pacific Age, OMD challenged the fanbase musically. But then, you’re either a fan or you’re not. Junk Culture was the album that introduced an MTV-age synth-dance style that seemed to be welcomed with open arms. While I won’t call Junk Culture a perfect OMD album (for me, that’s Architecture & Morality), it’s still a great experimental advancement for the band.
“Tesla Girls” was a high-key synth track that gained the band even more fans than they already had, eventually catapulting them into a peak period. “Locomotion” pulled its own weight evenly, maybe even better than “Tesla Girls” had. Junk Culture didn’t stop there. It also contained “Talking Loud and Clear” (I loved the toy-box music texture of this track), perhaps my favorite of this album.
On Wednesday (Dec 17), the band announced the upcoming release of a 2CD Deluxe Edition of Junk Culture (I snuck in before them with a December 11 announcement on my UK TAPSheet) complete with b-sides, extended mixes of their singles, demos, and previously unheard tracks. In that post, I was only aware of their UK release date, set for January 26. That date is now set for February 2. I’m quite sure a US release date will soon follow.
If a US date becomes available, I will update this post. But, for now, OMD fans can feast on the 2CD Deluxe Edition offerings of Junk Culture below:
CD1:
1. Junk Culture
2. Tesla Girls
3. Locomotion
4. Apollo
5. Never Turn Away
6. Love And Violence
7. Hard Day
8. All Wrapped Up
9. White Trash
10. Talking Loud And Clear
CD2:
1. Her Body In My Soul
2. The Avenue
3. Julia’s Song – Re
4. Garden City
5. Wrappup – Dub Version Of ‘All Wrapped Up’
6. Locomotion – 12″ Version
7. Tesla Girls – Extended Mix
8. Talking Loud And Clear – Extended Version
9. Never Turn Away – Extended Version
10. (The Angels Keep Turning) The Wheels Of The Universe
11. 10 To 1
12. All Or Nothing
13. Heaven Is – Highland Studios Demo
14. Tesla Girls – Highland Studios Demo
15. White Trash – Highland Studios Demo