Andy McCluskey

George Andrew McCluskey (born 24 June 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer.

McCluskey was born on 24 June 1959 in Heswall, Wirral, and grew up in a working class home in Meols, on the northern coast of the Wirral.

McCluskey's father, James, was born in Glasgow and was a railway worker.

He met Paul Humphreys at Great Meols Primary School, in Elwyn Road, and played with him in several bands, including Hitlerz Underpantz, VCL XI and the Id.

McCluskey then attended Calday Grange Grammar School in West Kirby.

He briefly joined Dalek I Love You as their lead singer, but left because he wanted to sing his own songs.

He is best known as the lead singer and bass guitarist of the electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he founded alongside keyboard player Paul Humphreys in 1978: McCluskey has been the group's sole constant member.

He has sold over 40 million records with OMD, and is regarded as a pioneer of electronic music in the UK.

McCluskey is noted for his on-stage frenetic 'trainee teacher' dance.

McCluskey also founded pop girl group Atomic Kitten, for whom he served as a principal songwriter and producer, and has collaborated with various acts.

His work has received nominations at the Ivor Novello, Grammy and Brit Awards, and has topped charts in the UK and internationally.

McCluskey teamed up with Humphreys again to form OMD in 1978, achieving global success.

McCluskey single-handedly wrote the OMD hits "Enola Gay", which became an international no. 1 hit; "Joan of Arc"; and "Maid of Orleans", which was Germany's biggest-selling single of 1982.

He also co-wrote the successful singles "Locomotion", "Talking Loud and Clear", "If You Leave", and "Sailing on the Seven Seas".

Music Week asserted that McCluskey has an "immense talent for writing perfect pop songs", while Q's Debbi Voller dubbed him a "master of melody".

Broadcaster Pete Price wrote, "His music has touched my life, like it has for so many... he's a fabulous singer-songwriter."

Humphreys and the rest of the band split with McCluskey in 1989, with McCluskey retaining the OMD name: he disbanded the group in 1996.

McCluskey has sold over 40 million records with OMD, and is regarded as a pioneer of electronic music in the UK.

In 1993, Smash Hits critic Mark Frith described McCluskey as "something of a living legend".

McCluskey has also been praised by fellow musicians.

Former Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos hailed McCluskey as "such an excellent songwriter", while The Teardrop Explodes's David Balfe felt his work exhibited "more talent than most".

Joy Division and New Order co-founder Peter Hook described McCluskey as "really underrated... for what he did with Orchestral Manoeuvres but also those pop songs he wrote for Atomic Kitten."

The Human League and Heaven 17 co-founder, Martyn Ware, referred to "the great Andy McCluskey", labelling him a "true pioneer of electronic pop music".

In 1998, McCluskey founded the UK pop group Atomic Kitten, serving as songwriter and producer.

McCluskey and Humphreys reunited for a performance on German TV in June 2005, officially reforming OMD in 2006.

2007 saw the first tour of the reformed band, including Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes, commemorating the twenty-sixth anniversary of the release of their seminal album Architecture & Morality.

The group released a CD and DVD of their Hammersmith Apollo (London) live gig from the 2007 reunion tour in the spring of 2008, before undertaking a short tour to celebrate thirty years as a band in the autumn of 2008.

A compilation of their singles and videos, Messages: Greatest Hits, was released that year.

On 20 September 2010 OMD released their 11th studio album History of Modern, their first in 14 years.

The group's Souvenir box set, a career retrospective covering their entire oeuvre, was nominated for "Best Historical Album" at the 2021 Grammy Awards.

McCluskey noted how, in the early days of OMD, the band's work was perceived as "robotic intellectual music that you couldn't dance to".

In response, he developed an onstage dancing style that has been described as "manic" and "jerky".

While some journalists – and McCluskey himself – have been critical of his dancing ability, the routine found popularity with OMD fans as well as with teaching students, thus earning the name, the "Trainee Teacher Dance" (coined by broadcaster Stuart Maconie).

The Scotsman hailed McCluskey's dancing as "legendary", while The Times said that he "deserves credit for making it an integral part of the OMD brand... You can fault his skill, but not his tireless enthusiasm."

Rock group ZZ Top were noted admirers of McCluskey's dancing, incorporating elements of the routine into their own live show.

Electronic musician Martyn Ware remarked that "his stage performances are exceptional".

No Doubt bassist and OMD fan, Tony Kanal, said in 2012, "McCluskey is the singer and he also plays bass, which is [an] incredibly difficult way to multi-task. I finally saw them live last year and his playing and singing are so incredible."

In live performances, McCluskey often plays bass guitar and occasionally, keyboard instruments and guitar.

He is right-handed, but originally learned to play bass guitar on a left-handed model.

As a result, he plays with the strings "upside down" (i.e., with the lowest-pitched string on the bottom and the highest-pitched one on top), counter to normal practice.