Andy McCluskey

Andy McCluskey
Background information
Birth name	George Andrew McCluskey
Born	(1959-06-24) 24 June 1959 (age 52)
Origin	Heswall, Wirral, England
Genres	New Wave, synthpop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer, keyboardist, bassist
Instruments	Voice, bass guitar, keyboards
Associated acts	VCL XI, Equinox, Pegasus, The Id, Dalek I Love You, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Atomic Kitten
Website	www.omd.uk.com
Notable instruments
Fender Jazz Bass Rickenbacker 4001 bass

George Andrew "Andy" McCluskey (born 24 June 1959, Heswall, Wirral, England) is the lead singer, bass guitarist, and primary songwriter for the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD).^[1][2]

He met Paul Humphreys at Great Meols Primary School, in Elwyn Road, and played with him in several bands, including Hitlerz Underpantz, VCL XI and The Id. McCluskey then attended Calday Grange Grammar School in West Kirby. McCluskey briefly joined Dalek I Love You as their lead singer, but left because he wanted to sing his own songs. McCluskey teamed up with Humphreys again to form OMD in the late 1970s. They were successful, especially in their native United Kingdom where they had several hit singles. They are best known in the United States for their song "If You Leave" from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack album.

Humphreys and the rest of the band split with McCluskey in 1989, with McCluskey retaining the OMD name. He released three more albums under the band's moniker including their biggest selling album, Sugar Tax (1991). Due to the diminishing sales of the following two albums Liberator (1993) and Universal (1996) he disbanded the group. A decade later, in 2006, McCluskey reunited with Humphreys and the other former OMD members for a successful reformation of the band.

Atomic Kitten and The Genie Queen

In 1998, McCluskey founded the UK pop group Atomic Kitten. Their song "Whole Again", co-written by McCluskey, was his first UK No.1,^[3] and he and his fellow songwriters were nominated for the Ivor Novello Award for excellence in songwriting.^[4] In 2002, the band sued to terminate the songwriting/production agreement between themselves and McCluskey.^{[citation needed]}

More recently, McCluskey formed White Noise Records and publishing label where he tried to recreate the formula of Atomic Kitten with Liverpool girl group, The Genie Queen.^[5] He also bought a recording studio, The Motor Museum, in Liverpool.^[6]

OMD reformation

McCluskey and Humphreys reformed OMD for a performance on German TV in June 2005, with the promise of more gigs to follow. 2007 saw the first tour of the reformed OMD, including Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes, commemorating the twenty-sixth anniversary of the release of their masterpiece album Architecture & Morality. The album itself was remastered and re-released to coincide.

The band released a CD and DVD of their triumphant Hammersmith Apollo (London) live gig from the 2007 reunion tour in the spring of 2008 before undertaking a short tour to celebrate thirty years as a band in the autumn of 2008, concluding at London's historic Roundhouse venue on 7 October 2008. A compilation of their singles and videos, Messages: Greatest Hits, was released to coincide with the tour. On 20 September 2010 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released their 11th studio album History of Modern, their first in 14 years.

Bass technique

McCluskey is right-handed, but originally learned to play bass guitar on a left-handed model. As a result, he plays with the strings "upside down" (i.e., with the lowest-pitched string on the bottom and the highest-pitched one on top), counter to normal practice.^[7]

References