Maid of Orleans – OMD (1981)

Description

Additional information about this, (OMD) Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark vinyl art.

 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – The Artist

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (also known as OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside in 1978. Spawned by earlier band The Id, the outfit is composed of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin Cooper (various instruments) and Stuart Kershaw (drums); McCluskey is the only constant member. OMD released their debut single, “Electricity”, in 1979, and gained popularity throughout Europe with the 1980 anti-war song “Enola Gay”. The band achieved broader recognition via their album Architecture & Morality (1981) and its three singles, all of which were international hits. In 1989 creative differences rendered McCluskey the only remaining member of the group but in 2006, OMD reformed with Humphreys back in the fold and began to work on material more akin to their early output. The band re-established themselves as a chart act, and kept on touring extensively. They have sold over 40 million records to date.

Maid of Orleans – The Song

‘Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)’ is a song by British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and was the third single released from their third studio album Architecture & Morality. The track has been described by OMD frontman Andy McCluskey as the group’s “Mull of Kintyre”. To prevent confusion with their previous single “Joan of Arc”, the song was retitled “Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)” for its single release. Both songs are about the French heroine Joan of Arc and both reached the Top 5 of the UK Singles Chart—although this single was more successful internationally.

Joan of Arc – The Shape

This record is modelled into the silhouette of  the French heroine Joan of Arc as featured on this singles  picture sleeve. 

Joan of Arc (1412 – 1431), nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans”, is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years’ War, and was canonised as a Roman Catholic saint. She was born to Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family, at Domrémy in northeast France. Joan claimed to have received visions of the archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years’ War.  The unanointed King Charles VII sent Joan to the Siege of Orléans as part of a relief army. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted only nine days later. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII’s consecration at Reims. This long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved the way for the final French victory.On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundian faction, a group of French nobles allied with the English. She was later handed over to the English and put on trial by the pro-English bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. After Cauchon declared her guilty, she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, dying at about nineteen years of age Joan of Arc has remained a popular figure in literature, painting, sculpture, and other cultural works since the time of her death, and many famous writers, playwrights, filmmakers, artists, and composers have created, and continue to create, cultural depictions of her.

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