Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark came up with their eco-anthem Electricity, the foundation stone of synthpop, in the summer of 1979.

Coming up to Christmas 1979 I remember paying £3 to see Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town.

They were sandwiched in the middle of a three-band bill topped by Talking Heads and ahead of an up-and-coming Irish band called… what was the name again?… oh yes, U2.

I was already a big fan of OMD (though nobody called them that yet) from their Peel sessions and had bought Electricity, their first single, on Factory Records.

It’s arguably the foundation stone of synthpop, sounding as great today as it did back then, with its driving bassline and waves of melody. Not to mention an environmental message that’s even more relevant today.

Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, who share the vocals and wrote the song when they were both 16 and playing together as The Id, performed back then as a “trio” of themselves and a TEAC reel-to-reel tape recorder called Winston.

Produced originally by Martin Hannett (as “Martin Zero”), the band rejected his recording as “overproduced” and re-recorded a more stripped-back version that became the single.

It wasn’t a hit at the time but the NME raved about it, with my old college chum Adrian Thrills declaring it Factory’s best single to date, and it went on to be recognised as a landmark in the birth of synthpop.

By the time of the Electric Ballroom gig they had been signed to a new label (Virgin subsidiary DinDisc), won new fans on a support tour with Gary Numan, and Electricity had been re-released in a new version, launching the Scousers on a stellar career that continues to this day.