Souvenir

Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark

In celebration of 80’s keyboard pop that trancended the decade? I see myself going down a little rabbit of hole of some the greatest keyboard songs of the decade. Songs that still sound great today. They have aged, but like fine wine. They have avoided sounding outdated. This OMD track SOUVENIR is from their early masterpiece ARCHITECTURE & MORALITY. It’s from ‘81 and these keyboards sound great with full vocals and an analog mix. Poetic, pop perfection years before their song SECRET made OMD famous.

Since last night I’ve been thinking about playing records in the 80’s thanks to Craig Finn. What a lost art. You have to choose an album — side A or side B. Or even one song — a 45. Then you turn it over and listen to that rare B side. Record listening used to be a commitment. Now? Music listening is easier than ever.

Admittedly, choosing shuffle can be fun, or that personalized playlist the AI algorithms made for you? But it is lazy with no real commitment.

How about dusting off that record you bought in ‘83 as a kid and listening to side A. Give it your undivided attention. Like I said, it’s a lost art — there’s too much to do, too many things that need our time and attention. Has music listening drifted so far into the background that we forgot how to do it?

And what is it about those records from the early eighties? This was still before digital recordings were made. So that old vinyl sounds great — because they were analog recordings of keyboards.

It's my direction
It's my proposal
It's so hard
It's leading me astray

My obsession
It's my creation
You'll understand
It's not important now

All I need is
Co-ordination
I can't imagine
My destination
My intention
Ask my opinion
But no excuse
My feelings still remain

All I need is
Co-ordination
I can't imagine
My destination
My intention
Ask my opinion
But no excuse
My feelings still remain

My feelings still remain