JUNK CULTURE
CATALOGUE TCV2310
FORMAT MC
LABEL VIRGIN
RELEASE DATE 30/04/84
CHART 9
SLEEVE DESIGN Peter Saville Associates. Photography by Richard Haughton
RECORDED Pre-recorded at Air Studios, Montserrat, ICP Studios, Brussels & Wisselord Studios, Hilversum. Recorded at The Manor
PRODUCER Brian Tench & OMD
 
CURRENT VALUE £4 - 8
TRACK LISTING WRITERS PRODUCER RECORDED
JUNK CULTURE OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
TESLA GIRLS OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
LOCOMOTION OMD/Troeller Brian Tench & OMD  
APOLLO OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
NEVER TURN AWAY OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
LOVE AND VIOLENCE OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
HARD DAY OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
ALL WRAPPED UP OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
WHITE TRASH OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
TALKING LOUD AND CLEAR OMD Brian Tench & OMD  
 

Junk Culture was first aired live during the late 1983 tour. The rhythm track used is from the Emulator library and was also used by Vangelis for the soundtrack to the film Bladerunner.

Tesla Girls was the third single released from the album. The title was another suggestion by Martha Ladly.

Locomotion was the first single from  the album.  The song was written in the last week of the Montserrat sessions.

Apollo was the last song written for the album. After a late night disco in Brussels on New Years Eve, Andy began recording the backing track for some lyrics he'd written about a woman he'd met in Montserrat.

Never Turn Away was the fourth release from the album. The song was not originally going to be a single, but Virgin convinced the band to release it.

Love And Violence was, at one time, considered as the title for the album due to the balance between love songs and the more aggressive tracks on the album.

Hard Day was a song the band had originally written the previous September but had shelved.

All Wrapped Up was originally written in demo form in Scotland in August 1983. An early version was performed during OMD's September 1983 tour. A new version was done in Montserrat and, vocals aside, bears no resemblance to the original demo.

White Trash is about an ex-friend of Andy's.

Talking Loud And Clear was the first track written on the Fairlight and was originally written as a test piece. It was also the second single taken from the album.

 

Among the tracks considered but dropped for Junk Culture was Heaven Is. This song was later substantially reworked for the 1993 album Liberator.

"The idea behind the album's title is quite a simple one, really" said Andy in an interview in 1984 "We began to appreciate that it wasn't enough to simply dismiss popular culture as being worthless, that there is some merit in almost everything; video, computer games, junk food, pop music and so on. The lyrics reflect a sort of loss of inhibitions - the idea that you don't have to think something is artistically right in order to enjoy it".

Initial releases of the album came with a sticker that sealed the album and also featured a one-sided 7" single containing a bonus track The Angels Keep Turning (The Wheels Of The Universe).