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Paul Humphreys

Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who is best known for his contributions to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), a new wave band which he founded alongside Andy McCluskey in 1978. John Doran in The Quietus remarked: "If, roughly speaking, McCluskey is the intellect and inquisitive nature in the group, then Humphreys is the heart."[1]

Paul Humphreys
Humphreys performing with OMD in 2008
Background information
Birth namePaul David Humphreys
Born (1960-02-27) 27 February 1960 (age 62)
London, England
OriginWirral Peninsula, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
  • Synthesizers
  • keyboards
  • vocals
Years active1978–present
Labels

Humphreys provided synthesizer/keyboard work and vocals from the band's inception in 1978 until his 1989 departure, seven years before their dissolution, and returned for their 2006 reformation. Despite this period of absence, his songwriting contribution features on all of the group's studio albums, save for 1991's Sugar Tax. Humphreys sang lead vocals on several OMD tracks, including the singles "Electricity", "Souvenir", "Never Turn Away", "Secret", "(Forever) Live and Die" and "What Have We Done". He fronted spin-off band the Listening Pool from 1989 to 1996, and recorded with former Propaganda lead vocalist Claudia Brücken as the duo Onetwo from 2000 to 2013.

Career

OMD

Humphreys grew up on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England, during which time he developed an interest in German electronic music by bands such as Kraftwerk, Neu!, Can and La Düsseldorf. He was also influenced by the work of Brian Eno and early ambient styles of music. Humphreys joined a variety of bands in the mid-1970s but this was mostly defined by progressive rock and it wasn't until he met Andy McCluskey that they began their own musical experiments which culminated in a one-off gig as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at Eric's Club in Liverpool.

OMD became one of the leading bands in the synth-pop movement, though they developed largely independently of others such as the Human League. OMD enjoyed considerable commercial success internationally during the 1980s.

Although McCluskey was the lead singer for OMD, Humphreys did sing on several singles during the 1980s, and provided lead or prominent vocals on the album tracks "Promise", "Georgia" and "ABC Auto Industry", as well as on the B-sides "4-Neu" and "Gravity Never Failed". Humphreys was a more reserved individual than McCluskey; of their partnership, the latter said: "We always had this joke that two Pauls wouldn't get anything done and two Andys would kill each other".[2] Humphreys left OMD in 1989, but continued to pen songs for the band. He co-wrote the 1993 single "Everyday" (from Liberator), and was the main writer of two tracks from Universal (1996): "Very Close to Far Away" and "If You're Still in Love with Me". Sugar Tax (1991) is the only album in the OMD catalogue not to feature the songwriting contribution of Humphreys.

Reformation

In 2005 McCluskey and Humphreys reunited OMD for a gig on German TV. They decided to reform OMD which McCluskey had continued with from 1989 until winding up the band in 1996 disillusioned by the prevalence of Britpop. 2007 finally saw the return of OMD in their classic line-up on stage and they have toured extensively since having received an enthusiastic and warm welcome. 2010 saw the release of Humphreys' first studio album with OMD for 24 years, titled History of Modern. Next studio album English Electric (2013) featured a lead vocal from Humphreys on the track "Stay with Me". Humphreys also sang lead on the single "What Have We Done", taken from the studio album The Punishment of Luxury (2017).

Other projects

Humphreys continued to write and record with Holmes and Cooper under the name the Listening Pool. This project met with little commercial success, though an album, Still Life, was released. The sound was less directly electronic than even later OMD and is in marked contrast to the later sound of Onetwo and the reformed OMD.

By the late 1990s, Humphreys was performing OMD setlists once more.[3] "Paul Humphreys from OMD", in which Humphreys performed McCluskey-sung material as well as his own songs, was still active as of 2001.[4]

In 1996 Humphreys began a songwriting collaboration with German musician Claudia Brücken, who was formerly singer of the band Propaganda. They recorded and performed live under the name Onetwo from 2004 (the duo was nameless when they began performing in 2000) until their separation in March 2013.

Instruments

Humphreys' main instruments are electronic keyboards. With OMD, he made use of a wide range of these including the Korg M-500 Micro Preset monophonic analog synthesizer, polyphonic analogue synthesizers such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and the Korg Trident, the electromechanical tape-sampling instrument known as the mellotron, electronic organs such as the Vox Jaguar, and digital sampling keyboards such as the E-mu Emulator and Fairlight CMI. Due to the restrictive nature of the equipment available to Humphreys and McCluskey they resorted to invention and innovation, which often defined their early sound. On the track "Souvenir" (1981) Humphreys used recordings of a choir tuning up to create the ethereal and fluttery choral effects which gave the song its original sound.

More recently he predominantly uses Pro Tools software and a series of soft-synths for recording and writing, and a Roland Fantom keyboard for live work, largely using it as a sampling keyboard to faithfully reproduce the original sounds. When recreating the original OMD sounds of the 1980s he had to resort to buying synthesisers off eBay.

Humphreys is a self-taught musician and in the first years of OMD he built his own electronic sound making equipment. The group's first synthesiser, the Korg M-500 Micro Preset was purchased through a catalogue belonging to Andy McCluskey's mother.

Personal life

Humphreys was married to Maureen Udin.[5] He later had a relationship with Claudia Brücken, with whom he performed in Onetwo; the pair lived together in London.[6]

In 2018, Humphreys married Rūta Degutytė.[7]

References

  1. ^ Doran, John (25 September 2008). "Messages - Greatest Hits". The Quietus. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  2. ^ Bray, Elisa (5 April 2013). "Our friends electric: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Electropop (no. 5: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)". Top Ten. 7 April 2001. Channel 4.
  5. ^ Lai, Chi Ming (24 April 2014). "A Beginner's Guide to Stephen Hague". The Electricity Club. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  6. ^ Duerden, Nick (16 September 2012). "How We Met: Claudia Brücken & Glenn Gregory". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Britų popmuzikos žvaigždę įkvepia meilė lietuvei žmonai: "Ji – mano mūza"". lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). 26 January 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.

External links

paul, humphreys, other, people, named, disambiguation, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, . For other people named Paul Humphreys see Paul Humphreys disambiguation This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Paul Humphreys news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message Paul David Humphreys born 27 February 1960 is an English singer songwriter and musician who is best known for his contributions to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark OMD a new wave band which he founded alongside Andy McCluskey in 1978 John Doran in The Quietus remarked If roughly speaking McCluskey is the intellect and inquisitive nature in the group then Humphreys is the heart 1 Paul HumphreysHumphreys performing with OMD in 2008Background informationBirth namePaul David HumphreysBorn 1960 02 27 27 February 1960 age 62 London EnglandOriginWirral Peninsula EnglandGenresNew wavesynth popelectronicpost punkexperimentalOccupation s SingersongwritermusicianInstrument s SynthesizerskeyboardsvocalsYears active1978 presentLabelsDindiscVirginTelegraphThere There Humphreys provided synthesizer keyboard work and vocals from the band s inception in 1978 until his 1989 departure seven years before their dissolution and returned for their 2006 reformation Despite this period of absence his songwriting contribution features on all of the group s studio albums save for 1991 s Sugar Tax Humphreys sang lead vocals on several OMD tracks including the singles Electricity Souvenir Never Turn Away Secret Forever Live and Die and What Have We Done He fronted spin off band the Listening Pool from 1989 to 1996 and recorded with former Propaganda lead vocalist Claudia Brucken as the duo Onetwo from 2000 to 2013 Contents 1 Career 1 1 OMD 1 1 1 Reformation 1 2 Other projects 2 Instruments 3 Personal life 4 References 5 External linksCareerOMD Humphreys grew up on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England during which time he developed an interest in German electronic music by bands such as Kraftwerk Neu Can and La Dusseldorf He was also influenced by the work of Brian Eno and early ambient styles of music Humphreys joined a variety of bands in the mid 1970s but this was mostly defined by progressive rock and it wasn t until he met Andy McCluskey that they began their own musical experiments which culminated in a one off gig as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at Eric s Club in Liverpool OMD became one of the leading bands in the synth pop movement though they developed largely independently of others such as the Human League OMD enjoyed considerable commercial success internationally during the 1980s Although McCluskey was the lead singer for OMD Humphreys did sing on several singles during the 1980s and provided lead or prominent vocals on the album tracks Promise Georgia and ABC Auto Industry as well as on the B sides 4 Neu and Gravity Never Failed Humphreys was a more reserved individual than McCluskey of their partnership the latter said We always had this joke that two Pauls wouldn t get anything done and two Andys would kill each other 2 Humphreys left OMD in 1989 but continued to pen songs for the band He co wrote the 1993 single Everyday from Liberator and was the main writer of two tracks from Universal 1996 Very Close to Far Away and If You re Still in Love with Me Sugar Tax 1991 is the only album in the OMD catalogue not to feature the songwriting contribution of Humphreys Reformation In 2005 McCluskey and Humphreys reunited OMD for a gig on German TV They decided to reform OMD which McCluskey had continued with from 1989 until winding up the band in 1996 disillusioned by the prevalence of Britpop 2007 finally saw the return of OMD in their classic line up on stage and they have toured extensively since having received an enthusiastic and warm welcome 2010 saw the release of Humphreys first studio album with OMD for 24 years titled History of Modern Next studio album English Electric 2013 featured a lead vocal from Humphreys on the track Stay with Me Humphreys also sang lead on the single What Have We Done taken from the studio album The Punishment of Luxury 2017 Other projects Humphreys continued to write and record with Holmes and Cooper under the name the Listening Pool This project met with little commercial success though an album Still Life was released The sound was less directly electronic than even later OMD and is in marked contrast to the later sound of Onetwo and the reformed OMD By the late 1990s Humphreys was performing OMD setlists once more 3 Paul Humphreys from OMD in which Humphreys performed McCluskey sung material as well as his own songs was still active as of 2001 4 In 1996 Humphreys began a songwriting collaboration with German musician Claudia Brucken who was formerly singer of the band Propaganda They recorded and performed live under the name Onetwo from 2004 the duo was nameless when they began performing in 2000 until their separation in March 2013 InstrumentsHumphreys main instruments are electronic keyboards With OMD he made use of a wide range of these including the Korg M 500 Micro Preset monophonic analog synthesizer polyphonic analogue synthesizers such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 and the Korg Trident the electromechanical tape sampling instrument known as the mellotron electronic organs such as the Vox Jaguar and digital sampling keyboards such as the E mu Emulator and Fairlight CMI Due to the restrictive nature of the equipment available to Humphreys and McCluskey they resorted to invention and innovation which often defined their early sound On the track Souvenir 1981 Humphreys used recordings of a choir tuning up to create the ethereal and fluttery choral effects which gave the song its original sound More recently he predominantly uses Pro Tools software and a series of soft synths for recording and writing and a Roland Fantom keyboard for live work largely using it as a sampling keyboard to faithfully reproduce the original sounds When recreating the original OMD sounds of the 1980s he had to resort to buying synthesisers off eBay Humphreys is a self taught musician and in the first years of OMD he built his own electronic sound making equipment The group s first synthesiser the Korg M 500 Micro Preset was purchased through a catalogue belonging to Andy McCluskey s mother Personal lifeHumphreys was married to Maureen Udin 5 He later had a relationship with Claudia Brucken with whom he performed in Onetwo the pair lived together in London 6 In 2018 Humphreys married Ruta Degutyte 7 References Doran John 25 September 2008 Messages Greatest Hits The Quietus Retrieved 3 July 2013 Bray Elisa 5 April 2013 Our friends electric Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark The Independent Independent Print Limited Archived from the original on 25 May 2022 Retrieved 8 November 2016 Erlewine Stephen Thomas Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Biography AllMusic Retrieved 9 April 2017 Electropop no 5 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Top Ten 7 April 2001 Channel 4 Lai Chi Ming 24 April 2014 A Beginner s Guide to Stephen Hague The Electricity Club Retrieved 15 May 2020 Duerden Nick 16 September 2012 How We Met Claudia Brucken amp Glenn Gregory The Independent Archived from the original on 25 May 2022 Retrieved 15 May 2020 Britu popmuzikos zvaigzde įkvepia meile lietuvei zmonai Ji mano muza lrt lt in Lithuanian 26 January 2020 Retrieved 8 March 2020 External linksPaul Humphreys at AllMusic Paul Humphreys discography at Discogs Paul Humphreys at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Paul Humphreys amp oldid 1133274102, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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