‘We were driving around Los Angeles in an open-top car — sunglasses on, palm trees whizzing by — and If You Leave comes on the radio,’ recalls OMD’s Andy McCluskey. ‘We changed the channel, but it was being played on another station. So we changed it again and it was still on. I thought, “Bloody hell, it’s on three stations at once!” That’s when you know you’ve got a huge hit.’
Written primarily for John Hughes’ 1986 romantic comedy Pretty in Pink, the creative process, as Andy explains, was anything but straightforward — particularly after a last-minute script change.
‘We had to write the song off the top of our heads in the space of two days because the original end to the film changed,’ Andy tells M. ‘We were flying to America to record the song we’d originally written, called Goddess Of Love. Upon landing, John told us that it didn’t fit any more and asked if we could write him another.’
Needless to say, the pressure was on: ‘John just said, “Pick a studio. I’ll get whatever equipment you want — just go in there and do something for me today”. While we waited for the equipment to arrive, Paul [Humphreys, OMD co-founder and keyboardist] and I did something we’d never done before — and never done since! We went into the studio, he sat at the piano and I started trying to write some words.’
'If You Leave was on three radio stations at once. That's when you know you've got a huge hit.'
The song went on to become the band’s biggest US hit, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Did their tight deadline actually help the creative process?
‘I don’t think so,’ Andy replies. ‘We’d only been writing songs for 10 years by that point, so we hadn’t exhausted our well of ideas and inspiration. Not everything you do is gold, but we just got lucky on that day. Paul came up with some chords, I got some words that worked, Martin [Cooper, co-writer and keyboardist / saxophone player for OMD] wrote the middle 8 and it all just fell together. We worked until 3am in the morning, put a demo mix onto a cassette, called an overnight motorcycle and sent it to Paramount Studios. We then went to bed and passed out!’
Five hours later, the studio called them back: ‘John had heard the song and loved it, so we went back to the studio to finish it off. It was an incredibly intense few days, but we pretty much nailed it.’
Beyond the rapid turnaround, how else did writing for a film differ to OMD’s usual creative process? ‘The only thing John gave us as a parameter was that they’d filmed the prom scene with everybody dancing to Simple Minds’ Don’t You (Forget About Me),’ he recalls. ‘That song is 120 BPM, so he asked if the song could be the same tempo for the ending.’
'Not everything you do as a songwriter is gold, but we just got lucky on that day.'
OMD were subsequently invited to attend Pretty in Pink’s premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard: ‘It’s all red carpets, limos — a proper premiere. We were flown over on a plane with our old mates New Order, and the other bands on the soundtrack were also there. We sat there through the whole film waiting for our song. Finally, we see Andie and Ducky walk into prom, and off the song goes. I turned to Paul and said, “Who the hell edited this? Not one person is dancing on the beat — this could be any BPM!”’
Immortalised by that scene, many of the lyrics of If You Leave chimed with the poignant coming-of-age drama it soundtracked.
‘The only lyric in my head which was specific to my own high school experience was “Seven years went under the bridge, like time was standing still” — which is, of course, completely incorrect in America, because you have middle school and high school, which is seven years [together]. So I got the number wrong! With the rest of [the song], I was just casting around for lyrics. They weren’t specific to the storyline, but you could weave them in with your own imagination.’
Assessing its legacy 40 years on, Andy reflects: ‘We knew the song was going to be huge because we’d seen the impact Don’t You (Forget About Me) had for Simple Minds after it was on The Breakfast Club the year before. For us, it was like, “We’re already having hits in America, but if this can open more doors then let’s go for it!”
‘Forty years ago, we didn’t have proms here in the UK, but we do now. So many people have been to a prom and can remember the anxiety and excitement behind it. “Have I got a date? Have I got my suit right? Have we got a vehicle? Who’s smuggling in the gin?” That song is so completely associated with the prom that it seems to become relevant for every new generation.’
Considering OMD — which, for the uninitiated, stands for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — started life in the late seventies as an experimental project rallying against the bleak backdrop of northern England, there was a subconscious shift in their songwriting, Andy muses, as they rose to global fame through the eighties.
‘By this stage, we were “old men” — we’d all bought houses and realised that [music] was our job, so we’d better keep selling records. There was an element of getting a little bit more safe [creatively], but because we’d started out very experimentally using synthesisers, there was always an element of us wanting to try other things.’
Despite being a massive hit in the US, If You Leave wasn’t initially a favourite among their British and European audiences.
‘Our fans here felt the song was a total cop-out because it wasn’t expected,’ Andy says now. ‘It was just a very straight song, but we weren’t experimenting — we were just being craftsmen. [But] with the passage of time and everyone still watching Pretty in Pink, people in this country now really know and love it. That’s possibly been driven by Spotify and YouTube, because they take a lot of their algorithms globally. I think because of its success in the US, the song comes up fairly high if you look up OMD — [increasing] its plays and recognition.’
'Because we’d started out very experimentally using synthesisers, there was always an element of wanting to try other things.’
Unsurprisingly, If You Leave now occupies a very special place in OMD’s setlist. ‘As that drum comes in everyone just goes nuts, especially in America,’ Andy tells M. ‘We play it fairly early on in the set, just before we go into the Architecture & Morality hits. A lot of our US fans think it’s weird that we play our biggest hit half an hour into the set, but I guess we’re confident we’ve got more!’
Though OMD have always managed to move forward on their own terms, this summer will be very much about looking back and celebrating their catalogue with their upcoming Summer Of Hits tour.
‘It does what it says on the tin: we are playing our hits,’ Andy tells M. ‘With our live shows, people will often come up to us and say, “Oh, you’re playing it just like the record”. But I think that’s important because that’s how people remember it. Why screw around with people’s memories? You need to have respect for your song because it’s been good to you, and have respect for your audience. They want to hear it the way they remember it, not slowed down with a string quartet or as part of a medley!’
As live performers, Andy believes he and his bandmates are at the peak of their powers: ‘As a band, we’re probably better than we’ve ever been. I’m more relaxed than ever before. I used to get terrible stage fright, right up until about 15 years ago. It finally dawned on me that if people have come to see me and the band then they probably like our music, and we don’t have to fight them.’
‘As a live band, we’re probably better than we’ve ever been.'
Having penned an entire set's worth of hits across his career with OMD alone, does Andy have one piece of advice for the next generation of songwriters?
‘It’s difficult for me to give an encouraging answer because we were just really jammy,’ he replies. ‘We got up on stage at Eric’s in Liverpool as a dare. We wanted to do it our way, and that’s why we used a tape recorder because it did what it was told.
‘Nobody can teach you how to be a songwriter: you either are or you aren’t. We just did what sounded right to us, and that would be my only advice. We’re in a post-modern era now and there’s nothing brand new — all popular culture is eating itself. You can be influenced, you can stand on the shoulder of giants, but whatever you digest, make it yours.’
OMD's Summer of Hits tour begins in Lincoln on 11 June - find dates and tickets here.
Main image credit: Ed Miles
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