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Tuesday, October 23, 2018

"Secret" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Song#:  2567
Date:  12/14/1985
Debut:  91
Peak:  63
Weeks:  13
Genre:  Synthpop



Pop Bits:  After scoring five Top 10's in their UK homeland, OMD finally broke through on the US Pop chart with "So in Love" (#26), the first single from their sixth album Crush. For a follow-up, this track was chosen for the next single. Although it lingered around for a while, it couldn't quite manage to get into the top half of the Pop chart. Still, "So in Love" put them on the map in America and that would help them greatly with their next charting single.

ReduxReview:  This percolating track just doesn't have the same hooky, radio friendly vibe as "So in Love." It's a lovely little track, but I'm not sure I'd pay attention to it if I had heard it on the radio. One of the best parts of the song is the bridge with all of its layered harmonies. OMD is one of those bands that I should have hooked into back in the day as their synthpop sound was right up my alley. Yet I just didn't connect with their songs. Apparently, the Crush album signaled a change in their sound/direction to something more slick and commercial. Critics and fans of the band were not that impressed and preferred the experimental sound of their previous albums. Save for a few songs, I didn't care much for either era of the band.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  In 1988, this song would find its way onto the soundtrack album for the film Arthur 2: On the Rocks. It was the sequel to the highly successful 1981 film Arthur that starred Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, and Sir John Gielgud, who won an Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role. Moore and Minnelli would reprise their roles in the sequel, but the original writer/director Steve Gordon died in 1982 and that work was picked up by others. The late-coming sequel would end up being a box office bomb that would help earn Minnelli a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress (in combo with her other major dud that year, Rent-A-Cop). The original Arthur would be remade in 2001 with Russell Brand, Jennifer Garner, and Helen Mirren. It was also a box office and critical failure.

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