Efficient, logical, effective and practical

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

13/03/83 : Dazzle Ships - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

Surprisingly, this is one that somehow slipped through the net back in the day - I liked the singles but never investigated it any further, so was interested to listen to it.

And hmmm - it falls into two camps.  There's the stuff with a tune which is actually pretty good and then there's the stuff with the voices and beeps which is also actually pretty good.  However, I'm not convinced that too many people who bought it for the former will have particularly enjoyed the latter - it's all very BBC Radiophonic Workshop.  But personally, I quite like the mix of tunes and quirk - even if it's not particularly memorable tunes and quirk.  It's also certainly not tunes and quirk I or Mrs Reed have ever owned - 11.5/43.  I do like the album cover though - particularly because I'm so smart I know what dazzle ships refers to.

We're at #6 in the charts this week in their second week of a 12 week run.  Above them in the charts this week are Michael, Tears For Fears (the highest new entry), the Hotline compilation, U2 and Eurythmics and the next highest new entry is Bananarama (#14).

Wikipedia has way more than I was expecting (184 milliPeppers) on the album, although most of it is basically saying how much trouble they had recording it.  I was amused to see my "mix of tunes and quirk" rephrased as "oscillating between moody pop music and experimental, musique concrète-influenced soundscapes" - you knew what I meant though!  At the time of release, the critics HATED it ("Guzzle Shit by Offensive Manure in the Park") but it's undergone a bit of re-evaluation over the years and many current artists declare it an inspiration - I like Mark Ronson's comment "It's just so elegant but a bit lo-fi at the same time" and Douglas Coupland's "Like caraway seeds or hot mustard, it's an acquired taste".  It's fair to say that, despite it's top 5 placing in the UK, it was not the commercial success the record label were hoping for - and that just makes me like it more.

"Customers also listened to" Blancmange, Ultravox, Visage and Yazoo - definitely all in the same area (if not exactly the same as this album specifically).  This was an interesting one - without particularly enjoying the album, I enjoyed the experience of listening to it, reading up about it and imagining the amount of head-scratching and "wtf?" it must have caused at the time.

06/03/83 - An extremely forgettable album
20/03/83 - One I like, but not as much as I feel I should