Show Notes
There’s an urban myth that OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) were “discovered” by Lindsay Reade, the wife of Factory Records founder, Tony Wilson. As a local Manchester celebrity and TV presenter, Wilson was often inundated with cassette tapes from bands wanting to get on one of his shows. He kept them all in a shopping bag in his car and would often throw the rejections away, allegedly. As the story goes, Lindsay reached into the bag one day and played a tape by a “bunch of hairy shits from Liverpool.” Wilson said it was crap, Reade said it was a hit. It was Electricity by OMD. Founded in 1978, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, have sold over 40 million records, and are considered “one of synth-pop’s most influential bands.” Its original members, Andy McCluskey, and Paul Humphreys, continue to perform at sold-out shows worldwide and write critically acclaimed songs to this day. One of their biggest hits, If You Leave, was written in a day for John Hughes’s big 80s hit film, Pretty in Pink. It helped the band “break” America and also break into the hearts and minds of every teenage misfit and outcast. “All the music in John’s movies was the soundtrack of his characters. They're not the jocks and the cheerleaders. They are the outsiders. And what do they listen to? They listen to English imports. And off the top of our heads, we wrote, If You Leave, in a day, and it was massive.” (Andy McCluskey) - Follow us on Instagram @destroypunkpodcast for the latest updates. Or visit us online: https://destroypunkpodcast.com for transcripts, show notes, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Destroy! The Influence of Punk.
[Audio Update: We recently detected a brief audio glitch which we fixed on August 22, 2026. If you still hear the glitch or still have any audio issues with this episode, we suggest you delete the episode from your app and play or download it again. Alternatively, listen on another platform or logon through your account in a web browser. Thank you for listening.] — Punk became a visual system built for reproduction and circulation. This episode explores how its graphic language evolved into a shared tool for dissent. Record sleeves, posters, fanzines, typography, collage, and appropriated imagery created a visual vocabulary that could be copied, altered, and circulated far beyond its original context, and authorship became less important than transmission.
What happens when people stop performing the roles they’ve been assigned? Step outside the social guardrails. Take exception to the rules.
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What happens when protest enters the system it opposes? This episode follows the collision between urgency and corporate control, where visibility comes with conditions and expression meets ownership. Voices of Protest, Season 2 of Destroy! The Influence of Punk examines that tension directly. - Featuring: - Steve Ignorant, the iconic voice of Crass, whose uncompromising politics helped define anarcho-punk and whose recent work with The Steve Ignorant Band and solo performances continue to carry Crass’s anti-war and anti-authoritarian message to new audiences. - CrimethInc., the influential anarchist collective and publisher behind works including “From Democracy to Freedom” and decades of writing on direct action, resistance, and anti-capitalist organizing. - Follow us on Instagram @destroypunkpodcast - Visit destroypunkpodcast.com to learn more - Destroy! is a BRB Studios production berightbackstudios.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.