Here are the results of the latest survey that asked the question, "what are your top 5 favorite OMD songs of all time". I must say, this is much easier than it sounds as many people have said how difficult it is to pick just 5 songs out of dozens and dozens of excellent hits over the years. Anyway, the results you will see are very dicerse, with no clear cut winner. Given the results of this survey, it is apparent that people love OMD for many different reasons, and everyone has a story why each song is their favorite. Read the whole survey here as it is well worth the time.
Keep your eyes on the web site as the next survey topic will be posted very soon. Thanks to everyone who sent in a form (which was a lot of you) and as always, I look forward to hearing from you all!!
"No special reasons. They are all great songs in their way. Souvenir is a beauty - an all time favorite in any category
Dream of me is an excellent remake of the old Barry White one Enola gay has great lyrics and a catchy tune
The milky way - a pleasent surprise cause I thought OMD were gone Talking loud and clear - the reason why I bought my first OMD album (junk culture) in 84."
Look forward to the result of the survey
Morten stytzer
elsinore
denmark
"I love the lyrics in Pandoras box."
Peter Beebe
Southampton
England
"Too Late.- because is what I call a Honey Song I mean (When I go out with a girl and I play that song in my car, after having some drinks, I can do what
ever I want Sugar Tax.- I will not pay, I imagin a a big concert and all the people singing
at the same time "I Will not pay" Cool This Town.- Definitly if I could have song on CD this would be my best. (there
should be a B side album) If you leave.-... I have no words to explain how beatiful, interesting,
cultural and musical is this song Was there something I said.- my favorite because of THE FEELING
Mystery Person
"Agnus is all pumped up and is great at full volume!
Heaven is - I just like it!
If you leave has got a lot of emotion in it.
Tesla girls Brings back some good memories."
Mike Paulsen
Albuquerque, New Mexico
USA
"I lean towards the earlier material, so that would explain why
4 out of 5 are from the first4 albums. International has a real
sublime quality to it -- majestic and sad at the same time, seeming
to be about the entrapments of the Cold War. I'm really drawn
to the synth instrumentation on it backed by the waltz-time pulse.
Maid of Orleans (another waltz!) is also very majestic and emotional
probably their most heartfelt song to date. Souvenir is just a
superb pop tune with another great synth hook! I suppose
the reason Promise stands out on Organisation so much for me is the great
chorus. And So in Love is another pop masterpiece with a spine-tingling
chorus."
Mystery Person
"SO IN LOVE--The first OMD song ever i heard. OH THE SIMPLER TIMES OF THE MID 80's
2nd THOUGHT--A good night traveling song.
PRETENDING TO SEE THE FUTURE--This is one of the best synth style songs i ever heard.
GARDEN CITY--If "architecture and morality" this song would have been #1,even after 12 years its steal get me movin'.
THE BEGINNING AND THE END--This without a doubt one of best song that i have ever heard. Architecture and Morality is the best album i have ever bought or heard, worth 1000 of times more than the $12 I paid for it."
Mystery Person
"Well its really hard to pick my top five, but those would havr to be it. WHY??...
5)So in Love: love the melody and lyrics of the song. it jusr simply appeals to me
4) Pandora's Box: also a great chatchy tune and melody. Love the simple chord progression of OMD!!!!
3) Talking loud and clear: I used to drive a friend crazy by always playing this song... the extended version no less!*grin* also has beautiful lyrics and melody. and interesting use of instruments.
2) Elona gay: my band used to jam to this song. our best song ever!! we even recored it was part of our audio engineering project!! Nutty and a fun-loving song!
1) Walking on the milky way: its all here isn't it??! Andy's heart poured !
out! i can really relate to this song."where you've been, you've come so far.." i'd almost say OMD's best song to date!
Andy don't give up!! you're too good!!!!"
Edward Lee
Des Moines
USA
"Walking on air is great because of the evocative images it creates; it's smoky and seductive - it's gorgeous!
Enola Gay's fab because it's so jolly wih a very memorable tune. It's lasted really well, too.
Milky way's wonderful - it reminds me of summer and driving my car with the windows open. I think it's the best song on the album, though "The Boy from the Chemist" is almost as brilliant.
Joan of Arc 'cos it's such a classic and very atmospheric.
Pandora's Box is the first OMD song I heard and it made me a great fan!"
Lindsay Tam
Durham
England
"I prefer OMD's album tracks and particularly single B sides to their
actual singles. No actual singles feature in my top 5, because their less
commercial tracks remain more experimental and moving then their often
poppy, fairly ordinary singles. It was very difficult choosing my top 5
because so many of these largely unknown songs are good.
Sacred Heart only appeared briefly on the B side of Souvenir
and Romance of the Telescope and Julias Song, or at least the
versions which i prefer, were on B sides as well. All of the 5 songs
i picked have a perculiar depth of feeling and meaning that is very
beautiful to listen to, and Andys vocals are incredible on Romance
of the Telescope. The Pacific Age I saw was refered to as being a
'boring' song on one of these surveys but i think it is anything but -
its a very alive and distincly eerie track. Walking on Air seems slightly
gothic to me, though that could be just my interpretation - its a painful
but very beautiful and emotional song."
Tammy Green
Lancaster
Britain
"Pat: As I told you in one of our chats, it's going to be difficult to pick 5 favourites. I decided to sit down and listen to all the CD's at one time and make a list of favourites. I ended up with a list of 40 songs!!! So I had to start eliminating to come up with five, and this was difficult to do. Depending on moods that I am in, I listen to different songs, as OMD has enough songs for every type of mood. I ended up selecting 5 songs that I have probably listened to the most; these being from the early albums, as I have listened to OMD right from the beginning, and it was the first few albums that has always defined their sound to me. Being a scientist, I have always enjoyed the technology in Andy's songs, therefore Electricity, Telegraph and Genetic Engi!
neering are favourites (not to mention dancing to Electricity and Telegraph). I have always enjoyed Enola Gay, and just returned from a trip to Japan, where I went to Hiroshima; that's why Enola Gay is my number 1 at this time (lets do the survey again in 1 year and see how things change!). Finally, Hard Day is just a fabulous song when I'm in a pissy mood, complete with great saxophone!"
Dave Carbone
Toronto
Canada
"1. Walking On Air - Stirs my emotion like nothing else!
2. Messages - Innovative yet polished
3. Forever Live & Die - An "Eighties" worlwide fave - Pop at it's best
4. Moon & Sun - A new direction? If only it could be pursued....
5. The Speed Of Light - Turn up the volume and rip the knob off!!!"
Chris Shaw
Swindon
England
"This was definately not an easy survey to do. My top ten favorite songs would have
been much easier to do. "Secret" is my favorite O.M.D. song probably because it was the
first O.M.D. song that I ever heard. That lead to my further investigation of the band.
It was the summer of 1993 and LIBERATOR had just come out which I bought and completely
loved, especially "Stand Above Me". That is just such a fast paced, awesome song that
could put me in a good mood whenever I heard it. After I bought CRUSH and LIBERATOR I
bought BEST OF and realized that I knew and liked a lot of thier songs. It also wasn't
until I bought SUGAR TAX that I realized that "Sailing On The Seven Seas" was also O.M.D.
SUGAR TAX is easily my favorite O.M.D. album and favorite album by any group.
SUGAR TAX is awesome!!! Anyway, "Walking On The Milky Way" is my third favorite because
it just strikes me as being an "in love" song that makes me totally want to meet my eternal
companion and get married right now even though I'm only 22 and still in school.
It's just such a beautiful song! "Pandora's Box" is a classic and in my mind the
"American Venus 7" Mix" is the best with the "Lost Girl Mix" as a close runner up.
"Call My Name" is another one of those happy, make you wanna dance, love songs.
I had to search high and low to find this single but it was well worth it.
Well, those are my top 5 favorites I guess. Some close runner ups would include
"Sailing On The Seven Seas", "Souvenir" and "If You Leave". Other favorites are
"Heaven Is", "Agnus Dei", "Shame", "Apollo 11", and "If You're Still In Love With Me"!
is awesome! Sorry to chat your ears off. If your favorites coincide w/mine email me.
Pat has my address."
Steve Barnes
Salt Lake City
U.S.A.
" I think its virtually impossible to pinpoint my all time top
5 favorites because I find that my list is constantly changing.
I often find myself re-re discovering the OMD songs and seeing
something in them that I hadn't previously. I think Andy's
songwriting has vastly improved in recent years. The ballads from
the last three albums are incredible. Lets hope this talent
doesn't disappear forever with the formal demise of the OMD name."
Chris Hammond
Salt Lake City
USA
"it's hard to explain why :-)"
Adam Szymanski
New York City
USA
"They all remind me of my friend, Paul, who was killed in July 1991. The sentiments all echo what I feel about Paul, who was my first shattered dream. No-one ever meant as much to me as he did. Whilst I'm at it, if it's true that Andy is a father, I'm going to take an overdose of Tylex now because I'm gutted."
Vikky Trumper
Hull, East Yorkshire
England
"Again, I am very surprised by the results of this survey. Who would have imagined that "Walking on the Milky Way" would have finished ahead of some of OMD's more timeless classics. The most shocking thing to me is that "Messages" did not finish in the top 5, but yet, "So In Love" finished 4th, and was a relatively weak single compared to others. I am not by any means, bagging on other people's choices. I think that it is so cool that so many of the lesser known songs receeived vote, and some multiple votes at that. I did notice that there are many B-sides on this list as well, which is an attribute to how great the bands music is. There are a couple of B-Sides that would have been huge hits, and there are some album tracks that should have been at least B-Sides. The song "Sugar Tax" immediately comes to mind. It should have at least made the album, and possible been a single, replacing "Then You turn Away".
Anyway, my top 5 in reverse order are:
5. Christine - In my opinon this is Andy's best song lyrically that he has ever written. Very melancholic and tells a tragic story. To me, this is OMD at it's best!
4. Boy From Chemist - This song jumped out at me at first listen, and still does. It is a tragedy that this will never see a single release as I think it has everything to be a commercial succes, especially for radio play. One wish woould be to see this song performed live and Andy dancing around on stage as he does!! That would be cool
3. Georgia - This was a toss up between this and "Stand Above Me". Just a very simple, upbeat tune that has a great synth line, and bass line, the 2 key elements to synth pop success. This is easily the best track on Architecture and Morality.
2. Women III - Again, another great song lyrically that tells a somewhat sad story. Andy puts his best voice forward on this track, giving it a very calming sort of atmosphere.
1. Messages - This wa seasy as this is my favorite song of all time by ANYONE! I am not sure what is so appealing ot me about it, but I have listened to it so many times that I know every drum beat and synth chord in it. This song will always put me in a good mmod! There is nothing like blasting this song in the car on the way home from work on a sunny Friday afternoon, when you have a great weekend planned.
Of course given all of htis, and the other great songs mentioned by everyone here, this list will change all the time, except for my number 2 and number 1, they will always be up there. See you next time!!
Pat Fetty
Monroe, WA
USA