Lets Do Time Warp Again Part One

"There's no heaven there's no hell,cream will float shit will sell
Step aside avoid the smell I surrender ring the bell
They don't want you they don't need you,they just use you,they just bleed you
They don't want you they just bleed you
New babies and new toys it's better w/ the girls but it's bigger w/ the boys
Sold a dream but you got no joy it's better w/ the girls but it's bigger w/ the boys"

New Babies New Toys-OMD

OMD will always hold a special place in my black celtic pagan heart,they were the first band I ever ever went to see{technically Rod Stewart and The Faces was my first gig but I was 11 and had to be chaperoned} where as OMD at Hammersmith Odeon in Dec 80 was my first concert that I paid for and bought the ticket so when the chance came to see them again after a 25 year hiatus on Thursday at the TLA I took it w/out a seconds hesitation.

It was almost a rite of passage every year to see OMD at Hammersmith Odeon in the fall between 80 and 86 I saw them on each tour for each album they released, Organisation,Architecture & Morality,Dazzle Ships,Crush and The Pacific Age,I even lucked out and saw them here in Philly on my first visit in 85 when they opened for Power Station at the Spectrum.

I still remember fondly getting tickets to see that first show,back then I worked a crappy retail job Monday thro Saturday w/ a day off during the week usually Wednesday and then Sunday off,Thursday was pay day and when I found out there were standing room tickets available for their Hammy Odeon show on the Wednesday I made the trek across London to get my ticket,it was brass monkeys that afternoon and I recall raiding my old mans wardrobe to "borrow" his Donkey Jacket an industrial workcoat it was two sizes two big for me but served a purpose as I was able to sink into while sitting on a very cold and blustery train platform waiting for the train,to imply I "borrowed" the coat would mean I gave it back to my dad I never did but I did tell him I was keeping it!!!

The show was awesome OMD were just starting to have commerical top 40 success,I had bought their third single "Messages" b4 buying their second album "Organisation" and began a 31 year and counting love affair w/ their music,there was many a nite I spent alone in the living room w/ the lights off and the stereo up either dancing or pretending to play bass like Andy McCluskey or keyboards like Paul Humphreys,I realize that probably sounds daft but you have to remember I was only 17 at the time and still a teenager it went w/ the territory I hated my job I had no friends and the one thing that made teen aged angst worthwhile was music,over the next few years w/ each album and each single I religiously bought the bond w/ OMD grew stronger.

Fast forwarding a few years I left London in 87 by which time the OMD were now running out of steam,commercially they were no longer a top 40 band and technically it was only Andy McCluskey in the band and it seemed the book on OMD was closed.......but like so many 80s bands who's called it a day they got back together,between people like me who still play their music and the new generation on music lovers who were too young to appreciate them first time around,retro never goes out of fashion and the original line up of Andy McCluskey,Paul Humpreys,Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes reunited.

It began as an "Architecture & Morality" tour where they performed the whole album and a few hits,that worked so well that last year they released their first album as a foursome since 86's ''Pacific Age" album "The History Of Modern" which of course they toured behind.....but not here well not until March anyway but much to my chagrin no Philly date and sadly the New York City show was a week nite I can only swing NYC shows on a Friday or Saturday so it looked like I was SOL ..........till they announced another US tour this fall but this time w/ a stop in Philly...so there!!!!

I hadn't seen OMD in 25 years since the 86 "Pacific Age" tour and they hadn't played Philly in 23 years so it seemed like an idea nite was in store and from the opening note of "New Babies New Toys" to the closing note of "Electricity" it was a trip down memory lane for me,Messages,Tesla Girls, If You Leave,Souvenir,Joan Of Arc,Maid Of Orleans,Status,Radio Waves,So In Love,Enola Gay and Secret to name but threeteen songs that took me on a nostalgic trip back down memory lane,sitting on a freezing train platform waiting to go to Hammersmith Odean to get my ticket to see them for the first time, seeing them three days later,for every evening in the living room of my old flat in London where I danced or pretended to play bass or keyboards to their songs,for each show at Hammersmith Odean and the Spectrum I saw them and for everytime I either listened to them on the radio,tv, walkman/ipod I had to wait around after the show to say hi to Andy and Paul it was just that kind of nite.

I doubt it'll be another 25 years b4 I get to see OMD again,at 73 I doubt I'd be dancing muchless up front high fiving Andy as he danced by me on stage and while I no longer dance around my room or pretend to play bass or keyboard to their albums I still get a kick out of listening to them and expect to continue.