Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room Dazzle Ships 2008

At last! Wo-hoo! My fave OMD album finally gets its place in the sun...

From the OMD website;

The remastered version of Dazzle Ships is scheduled for release on 3rd March 2008. As previously reported, the CD will feature bonus tracks along with sleeve notes and additional information along with new sleeve art which recreates the original 1983 vinyl sleeve.

Amongst the bonus tracks are a 1981 version of Telegraph (recorded during the Architecture And Morality sessions), the full-length version of 66 And Fading and Swiss Radio International which was dropped from the original album release.

"Dazzle Ships is a strange LP" recalls Andy McCluskey "because obviously it was possibly the lowest selling album that we ever released and yet I am inordinately proud of it. Maybe we did something that was commercial suicide, but we did that album for the right reasons. It has a painful beauty".

Hi Garry
Thank you for your review about Dazzle Ships. I heard it when it was first released and I hated it and never listened to it again. . IMHO it was the poorest album ever by OMD. I no longer own it but 20 years down the line I wonder if it's worth another listen?

Peter :rolleyes:

Hi Peter,

I can totally understand why it wasn’t an immediate hit with a lot of people – even McCluskey calls it ‘Commercial Suicide’

For what it’s worth – for me, it was just an amazing album and a very adventurous one. At the time of its release (’83) many bands had got themselves Fairlight CMIs or Emulator’s and not really done much with them, except create a very slick sound with songs about Rio/Club Tropicana/and Gold.

And then along came Andy and Paul with their short-wave radios, bits of old 2-track tape, B-Sides, Mellotron, ‘Dark Star’ video and Speak ‘N’ Spell machine. And songs/noises/random collages about Telegraphs/Radio Waves/Genetic Engineering/and girls who have had their hands cut off at the wrist.

It’s not important, but it’s great to know that the bass note on the title track is just a sample of McCluskey saying ‘Blue’.

Often wondered what it was.

It is one of those albums that takes a bit of getting used to. The comparison at the time, if I recall, was to "Radioactivity" from Kraftwerk and this is not unreasonable. However, "Dazzle Ships" is well worth the effort as underneath the slightly odd noises are some very good songs - just give it a few listens.

About bloody time too!!! My favourite OMD album. Love everything about it. Yes it's OMD's Radioactivity & that's why I love it so much. To hear the full length '66 & Fading' on cd at last just leaves me excited like a rabbit on hea... No I won't go there, calm down Mr. I.

OK I think I'm going to enjoy this release.

"Music for your tape recorder."

Uh-oh. I am probably one of the few people here (if not the only one) who is not a big OMD fan.
I have almost all their cds and I do give them a listen from time to time but I don't know, I just don't hear what the rest of you all hear.

I do like Kraftwerk's Radioactivity so perhaps it is time to dig out Dazzle Ships and give it a try again.

Yeah! 66 and Fading! Looking forward to that and the unreleased stuff!

"This is Helena/This is Helena"
ba-ba-ba! b-b-b-ba! ba!

Ilektrik - will PM you later tonight

“Music for your tape recorder” An OMD Playlist for maryann

1. Electricity
2. Almost
3. Messerschmitt Twins
4. Messages
5. Julia's Song
6. Enola Gay
7. 2nd Thought
8. Statues
9. More I See You
10. She's Leaving
11. Souvenir
12. Joan Of Arc
13. Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)
14. Telegraph
15. Radio Waves
16. Silent Running
17. Of All The Things We've Made


1-5 OMD
6-9 Organisation
10-13 Architecture & Morality
14-17 Dazzle Ships

[/QUOTE]“Music for your tape recorder” An OMD Playlist for maryann

1. Electricity
2. Almost
3. Messerschmitt Twins
4. Messages
5. Julia's Song
6. Enola Gay
7. 2nd Thought
8. Statues
9. More I See You
10. She's Leaving
11. Souvenir
12. Joan Of Arc
13. Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)
14. Telegraph
15. Radio Waves
16. Silent Running
17. Of All The Things We've Made


1-5 OMD
6-9 Organisation
10-13 Architecture & Morality
14-17 Dazzle Ships [/QB][/QUOTE]

You forgot 'Navigation', Garry.

Thanks Garry.
Will listen to those tracks and let you all know.
I am a bit curious as to how and why you chose those tracks though.

Stay tuned as I try again to 'get' OMD.

Dazzle Ships is one of the Ultimite 'concept' albums.
It's a superb colection of what OMD did best,but the majority of the public just didn't 'get it'
A terrific collage of sounds,shapes and samples to help muddle things together so you never knew what was coming next.Some of OMD's finest EVER moments can be found here so if you dismissed it all those years ago you've missed out on years of pleasure!!
"This is Helena!"..nuff said!!

I think I read somewhere that '66 & Fading' is 'Telegraph' reversed, or something like that.

As an OMD anorak geek I too am overjoyed at this re-issue which may, at last, get Dazzle Ships some of the recognition it deserves (doubt it tho..). Yes it is a concept album, yes it does 're-cycle' some old B sides and yes it isn't commercial but hey, what the hell .. Virgin wanted Arch&Moral part 2 and boy did that NOT happen. Luckily the OM's were on the crest of a wave with aforementioned opus so basically thought that they could get away with anything. They didn't but hoorha for pop experimentalism in 1983!

Telegraph, Radio Waves, Silent Running are all timeless pop classics, whereas the title track(s), 'Helena' and, say, Genetic Engineering all go where no other synth-band had previously gone before.

A special mention must go to the wondrous 'Time Zones' .. leaves me gobsmacked to this day.

re. extra tracks . .let's hope it's the full '66 & fading' this time and not the butchered 'edit' on Navigation.

A McCluskey has commented on the offish forum thusly:
PS as a concept album you've gotta listen to it form start to finish, pausing only after 'International' to 'turn it over' ..oh and remeber to turn the volume right up before you start side 2....

Oh WOW!! Thanks for that. I'll have to go & join the forum, now. Goodeee..............

I almost bought all the OMD cds a few years back, but im glad i didn't now as the remasters are worth the wait. The 'OMD', 'Organisation', and 'A+M' are not just great albums but the whole remaster / repackage thing is top quality. Will be buying 'Dazzle Ships' too as soon as its release. I hope they dont start putting some dodgy two disc cd and dvd version together later, just to try keeping up with the 'A+M' one though. If it stays as one cd per album......then 'Universal' here we come!!

Yes must be one of those rare forums where the 'star' actually contributes now and then... (imagine if JF were to make the odd post here...)

.. I doubt, say, "The Pacific Age" will get the same attention... time may me prove me wrong. :rolleyes:

I love "Dazzle Ships" - it got me through my mock exams along with "Ha!Ha!Ha!" and "Systems of Romance". I think "A+M" is slightly better (and certainly more consistent) but it is "Dazzle Ships" I turn to in uninspiring times. We won't talk about what came next ...

I think they did a good job with 'Junk Culture' trying to recover commercially while still maintaining a bit of 'experimental' cred ..

'Crush' was def leaning towards the 'over-commercial' and soppy side but it was a lovely warm spring and I was madly in love myself so everything in the world was dandy ..LOL ....

For exactly the same reasons, I have a soft spot for both 'Junk Culture' and 'Crush' - that was it for me though - 'Pacific Age' was just not OMD.

Have Andy & Paul been pulled up yet for nicking ideas for 'Junk Culture' from Vangelis' Blladerunner soundtrack?

..quite right, more like a parody

I think not; what did you have in mind exactly?

If you watch the film, listen to the music in the scene in Taffy's nightclub - just before Zora heads for the dressing room...Junk Culture's title track sounds VERY similar!

It's not just me who thinks that then...

It's most obvious just after Rachel 'hungs-up' on Deckard.

Rob

Ah Ha! A bit of digging turned up this nugget of info -

Vangelis - used an Emulator I on the soundtrack to Blade Runner

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark also used an Emulator I.

All Emulator’s came with a floppy disk with some pre-set samples. The "Mexican Radio" sample included with the Emulator I disk forms the basis for Junk Culture and the Vangelis track!

well there you have it then !

(..frantically digs out old Blade Runner video .. oops haven't got a VCR anymore..)

That did it! Now I WILL listen to OMD

Come over to the dark side Maryann! I might even tell you why I chose those songs for you!

..well that's something we'd ALL like to know!

It will not be as easy as Joy Division, Garry.

Tracklisting for the re-issue (from hmv.com);

1. Radio Prague
2. Genetic Engineering
3. ABC Auto-Industry
4. Telegraph
5. This Is Helena
6. International
7. Dazzle Ships [parts II III and VII]
8. Romance Of Telescope
9. Silent Running
10. Radio Waves
11. Time Zones
12. Of All The Things We've Made

13. Telegraph [manor version 1981]
14. 4-Neu
15. Genetic Engineering [312MM version]
16. 66 And Fading
17. Telegraph [extended version]
18. Swiss Radio International

More info: http://www.omd.uk.com/html/news.html

If it was my choice, i would have arranged the extra tracks in another order. The extra non album tracks should have been the first after the album, and then the extended mixes of album tracks as the last. Not my choice though, but cant wait to heard it after years without the original vinyl or cd. Thanks for the update Garry.

This is definitely an album that deserves revisiting - I'm definitely looking forward to this re-issue, if only for the full version of 66 And Fading - magnificent stuff...

Rob

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/xv3n/

Brief review there.

Nice find naps. Interview with McCluskey also downloadable here, apparently good although I haven't listened to it yet myself:
http://www.wave105.com/article.asp?id=596158

Only just seen this!

The Remastered version of Dazzle Ships is now available for pre-sale via the OMD Merchandise section.

Andy McCluskey will be signing a limited number of initial copies on a first come/first served basis.

We also still have stock of the Discography Booklets for this release. Some time back we produced a series of 4-page booklets that focussed on OMD album releases by title. These included one for Dazzle Ships. Each copy of Dazzle Ships bought via the OMD Website will be issued with one of the Dazzle Ships booklets until we run out of booklets (no more are being printed).

So if you would like a signed copy of Dazzle Ships with a booklet then order now: www.omd.uk.com/omerch/index.php

http://www.omd.uk.com/html/news.html

Was gonna pick it up at Sister Ray tonight - but I've ordered mine through here to try and get a signed one.

Yup, ordered mine there too. OMD site I mean.

BTW will be in London next 'Good' Friday nad wanted to have a butcher's at the legendary Sister Ray shoppe .. where is it exactly and how does one reach it? - oops very OT ..

It's a minutes walk down Berwick Street from the Oxford Street end;

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=94+berwick+street&sll=51.51544,-0.135065&sspn=0.003305,0.009892&ie=UTF8&ll=51.514752,-0.134325&spn=0.009374,0.019784&z=16

Sister Ray, 94 Berwick St.

Oh goodee . .I can leave the girls at Top Shop and stroll on down then.
I see it's also near the Pla-za (where the lounge is occupied by se-mi-nars although not really exactly toward the shadow of the Cenotaph methinks).

Ta Rads.

No worries D,

Sister Ray is at the epicentre of some of London's best independent/second-hand record shops - all within a minute or two of Sister Ray - will PM you a map later this week

would be lavverly guv.. (sorry just trying to get into the local lingo..)

easy guv! easy! nahwotimean? Er...if you speak to Peter, Sarah, Martin or Rob you'll know that that's how I talk!

Norf Lahndun guv! Sarf ov ver river!? you mad squire!? nah one gahs sarf ov ver river!


Er back on topic...yeah Dazzle Ships - great innit?

I had never heard Dazzle Ships. I only knew Genetic Engineering, which I've always liked a lot, and Telegraph, which I found a bit lightweight.

I found the enthusiam in this thread contagious, and of course, this IS a forum for people with refined taste. So I pre-ordered Dazzle Ships (£8.95, free p & p from 101cd) and looked forward to it keenly and optimistically. It arrived yesterday morning, which was impressively early as it was its day of release. And it really grabbed me from first play. One of those albums that is more than the sum of its parts and a superb swansong from OMD as an interesting and creative combo. Thanks guys!

I had a look at some discussion of Dazzle Ships on the OMD website forum, and members were saying that it would be a great album if it wasn't for the sound collages and radio excerpts etc. :rolleyes: Man, its those things that do so much to make the album the ear-grabbing and nigh-on unique listen it is, and it would drop from an eight and a half to a six and a half from me without them!

Oh, and I now think I've judged Telegraph too harshly all these years. It's actually a cool and off-kilter slice of celebratory pop. And the harder 1981 version of the track is a worthy bonus too.

Blimey!!!!

Andy & Paul were both on regional news programme London Tonight promoting...'Dazzle Ships'!

I am not mad, and I'm not making this up! Before a brief chat on 'Dazzle Ships', they showed clips from Drury Lane ('Enola Gay' and another one - can't remember) then in the background, the video to 'Telegraph'

Also hinted at...I'm really not mad and I'm really not winding you up - Some Dazzle Ship shows later this year in the UK & Europe.

Once again - Blimey!

Gazza Ships

Blimey Indeed!

Discussing a faux-naive behind-the-Iron Curtain take on the pop of a quarter of a century ago on your regional news? It's enough to make folk choke on their jellied eels guv'nor.

Video not available outside UK but for those interested I do have an mp3-recording thing in my haaaaaand ..

Mine's on paper, written and seeeeeeent...

So, a 'Dazzle Ships' tour is a possibility! Get the flags out! If they're gonna do the b-sides as well - I may have to re-consider my previous rant on retro-revival gigs.

yeah def ... A&M was tempting but a Dazzle-tour is a must. Imagine 50,000 fans singing along: "Babies!...mother!..hospital!..scissors!"

heh! Yeah! And that well known little sing-a-long number about the girl whose hands were chopped off at the wrists - should be a right old knees-up!

Still debating whether to hit the 'i-tunes' button or not.. Swiss Radio International just sitting there waiting for me after all these years... grrrrr...

Looks like a full blown Dazzle Ships concert has been blown out of the water as Paul, Mal and Martin have refused to do the semaphore flags to ABC auto industry. But Andy has hinted that the concerts would have a substantial amount of Dazzle Ships material included.

A few years back I went to the Peter Saville exhibition in London and they had the plans for the Dazzle Ships tour set on display and it really brought home how the whole scale, design and concept that flowed through everything they did at that point (The Monument tour designs were also there and it was done on a similar vain). The shows themselves were better received than the album and it was quite an experience to witness it back then. They were going to release a DVD of one of these shows but unfortunately the masters for the 2 concerts that were filmed have gone missing from Virgins archive so unless they turn up again no footage exists from this tour.

They could though put the full Tube performance on where they did ABC Auto Industry and Genetic Engineering which has to be seen to be believed. When they walk out with the flags and stuff and stand there with a backing tape playing the track you can see the audience mouth open with a 'what the F**K?' expression etched on their faces and Mal in particular is so uncomfortable it's embarrassing.

Nice one Gaz! yes I remember the Tube performance as one big jaw dropping moment; (somewhat similar to 'Dancing' on OGWT) I was a first year uni student at the time of DS release and the TV room was always packed during The Tube on a Friday teatime, but on that particular occasion how my heroes were ridiculed! I also used to blast the whole DS album down the residence corridor and it wasn't always, er, appreciated. Thankyou for sharing that with me.

PS in the end I couldn't resist the i-tunes option and downloaded the whole album; won't put any spoilers up tho unless expressly requested!

++SPOILERS REQUESTED++
++SPOILERS REQUESTED++
++SPOILERS REQUESTED++
++SPOILERS REQUESTED++

LOL LOL ..

well not really much to tell but just that it's no disappointment in sound quality and that's just the i-tunes format so I imagine the CD will be even better.

I'll just comment on the 'new tracks':
I was just a wee bit disappointed by the Telegraph 1981 Manor version as it is a bit of a mess both in arrangement and performance (hence why never previously released), it really sticks out like a sore thumb and shouldn't have been put straight after the traditional closer 'Of All the Things...'. Too abrupt IMHO (BTW spot which OMD song the bass line was used on some years later...)

Swiss Radio International - lives up to it's aka moniker as 'the ice cream van song' but as such I think it would have made an excellent closing track to the original LP.

So in short switch around Telegraph Manor and SRI and the CD is perfect!!!

Nice to have GE 312mm versh and the full '66 & Fading' in decent digital form at last.

Be dazzled all over again!

Cheers D! Looking forward to hearing Swiss Radio International the most

..just don't sneeze or cough or you'll miss it...

I must admit that I quite like Telegraph 1981 Manor version - I would've just preferred there to have been a bit of a gap between it and the end of Of All The Things We've Made. Finishing off with Swiss Radio International is perfect - it should've closed the album the first time it was released.

So far this has got my vote for being the best reissue of 2008...

Rob (being Dazzled)

Yup that's exactly what I meant .. maybe even 4-Neu after OATTWM would've been better. The Manor Telegraph is a just a bit too .. brash. Doesn't even fit in with other 1981 OMD-ness far as I can tell. But have to listen to it a bit more. I'm stuck on the GE 312mm versh . .best hand clapping in a pop record ever.


edit. is this a Dazzle ship I see before me?
http://bp2.blogger.com/_VRJgso9Cyew/RhEiyX6e3tI/AAAAAAAABBk/mpoTA6eWDQc/s1600-h/wadsworth.jpg

not sure if this will work but some interesting photo's on here. Well to me they are .
I uploaded the Saville Exhibition photo's we took but I'm not sure if you need to join (which is free) to view them.

http://www1.snapfish.co.uk/slideshow/Alb...84/t_=123887084

Another Swiss Radio International spoiler (...sort of!) :

This Is Helvetia

It's short, but there's just something about Swiss Radio International and it signs off the new Dazzle Ships cd perfectly.

One of my favourite subjectively eerie sounds is the chimes of a distant ice-cream van heard as the light fades on a chilly day. As a kid I compiled a collection of ice-cream van recordings, and with the antiquated equipment used and the patina of age I think these could make effective found sounds today.

Weirdo out.

ahh..musique concrète.. nothing like it ..

St. Etienne's Bob Stanley comments on 'Dazzle Ships' in The Guardian:

http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2262624,00.html

Nice find Rads ..

"..But some people always hold it up as what we were all about, why they thought we were great."

I'll drink to that.

What's Swiss for a 99 and a screwball?

There's now a Dazzle Ships mini-site called 'Written in Sand'*

http://www.omd.uk.com/dhtml/d_main.html which has an interview with McCluskey.

There's also another interview with OMD at Clash magazine** here:
http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/omd-interview

Gazza

* I always thought the lyric was 'Written and sent...' - must clean my ears!

** There's some great info in here but whoever typed up this interview and whoever edited it, for the sake of our beautiful language, needs to be taken out to a wall and shot.

Quite a good interview with George (snigger) A McCluskey on Radio 2 recently. You can hear it again here on OMD media site .. (I believe you can listen to a certain amount of stuff without registering)

I wondered how long it would take ...

here's the SRI official (not) video:

youtube link

Where's the narration from Brian Cant?