Pat Fetty was responsible for one of the first OMD fansites. Based in Washington, Pat works for Microsoft, specifically in the Windows 2000 Networking Division where he specialises in "authentication, authorization and accounting services, along with QOS (Quality of Service) and the DHCP Server! Man, does that sound boring...".

His World Of OMD website has featured interviews with both Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey and the site continues to develop in new directions. Pat also contributed sleeve notes for the recently released Messages OMD tribute album

How did you first discover OMD?

My recollection was that it was in the back seat of a friend's car on the way to a volleyball match in Berkley, CA. He put in the Crush tape, and fast forwarded it to So In Love. I was hooked after that. The funny thing was that none of us knew the lyrics to chorus, and yet, even when we finally read the cassette cover to get the right lyrics, we couldn't believe that it was actually "Heaven is cold, without any soul, its hard to believe...." We were singing something totally different, and yet, after hearing the official lyrics, we still sang our version :-)

After that, I knew the name OMD. I would be a casual fan/listener during the 80's, but it wasn't until 1991 until I started to get serious about the band. I had the Best Of, and that got me through College, and it is also when I found out that Messages was my absolute favorite song.

After that, I took a break from the band (and the band did some break-up thing...) but in 1991, Sugar Tax got me back into the band, and I started to by their earlier stuff, and just about anything else I could find! By 1995, I was a hardcore collector! I started buying things in retro, and hence, have amassed the collection that I have today!

You were pretty much the first OMD fansite out there. What prompted you to create the site?

Well, to be honest, it as a combination of things. One was that I wanted to learn HTML, and the other was that I wanted to put something on the Web dedicated to OMD. At the time, it was the peak of my collecting years (1994), and my enthusiasm. I can't even tell you the late nights I put into learning how to make Web pages, and how to get the OMD information I had at the time (which was VERY little) out to others! Now alone has to do is go out and buy a $50 program that will have a complete site up in under an hour, so I was definitely blazing trails here since HTML, and the Internet, were both so new.

Once I got the site up and running, after about a year or so, I realized that the site was really becoming popular. What really cemented that theory was the meeting of Neil Taylor and Paul Browne. When I met You and Neil, and found out about your contacts to the band, it opened up so many doors for my site from Neil's photos that I posted, to Paul's commentary and news on what Andy was doing. I can honestly say that my site would not be what it is today without Neil Taylor and Paul Browne!

What was the initial feedback when the website went online?

Much like the early fan base, it was small, but very strong! I did a lot of advertising in the newsgroups, and it paid off by having people contact me with new ideas for the site. If I remember correctly, the original site was one page, and had 3 links. That was it! There were no counters (this was well before Java or Jscript were even around). It should also be mentioned that the original site also had a section dedicated to Depeche Mode, whom I am also a fan, so the first draft of the site was very personal, and didn't focus strictly on OMD, but the majority of the fans who were mailing me about it were OMD fans.

Do you think the US OMD fanbase is particularly strong and do you think that US fans differ from their European counterparts significantly?

Having experienced both sectors of fans, I can tell you that they are certainly very different, while at the same time, being very similar. What you have to remember is that the US fan base wasn't really exposed to OMD until the Crush era, which at the time, was warmly accepted by the US fans. The UK fans had seen the band 'grow up' and saw Crush as being too commercial, which I think was Andy's and Paul's objective with that album, to break the America market. When you ask the casual fan in the US as to what OMD's biggest hit was, most will say If You Leave, while those in the UK and Europe might say Souvenir or Enola Gay. There's a big difference in those answers!

As for whether the US fan base is strong or not is an interesting question. There are certainly the online die-hards here that are seen visiting websites in the UK as well, but overall, the US music scene is so drastically different than in the UK, that I don't see OMD having a long lasting life here in the US beyond the die-hard fan base.

That being said, Paul H. has certainly challenged that theory with his latest tour which was met with some rabid audiences around the US! I think there is a bit of a revival of 80's music here in the US, which is great since the 90's was nothing but shit here, but unfortunately, even the huge 80's acts here in the US like Erasure and Depeche Mode are finding that album sales are not what they used to be, but their concerts still sell well because that's what fans want. They want to hear the songs they grew up with. The problem with that is the bands are basically sick of playing those songs!

How did you land the job doing the sleeve notes for the OMD covers album?

To be honest, I never applied :-)

Really though, I was approached by Dave at Lexicon to do the notes for the album. We have been in contact in the past about him possibly printing the interviews I had done with Andy and Paul, so we knew each other in that aspect. I was completely surprised by the offer, and very much flattered. However, as I thought that would be an easy task, it turned out it took me HOURS to get something that I liked. As a hardcore OMD fan, I thought it would be easy to write about them, but to summarize 20 years in less than 1000 words proved to be a daunting task!

You're also doing your own musical experiments - anything interesting to report?

As you know, I have released a couple of "experimental" dance/techno tracks on my site. These are first shots at actual music production, and for the most part, have been received very positively. I am now moving on to stage 2 which is figuring out more complex drum loops and rhythm sections. This is a labor of love for me as I am very "uncreative" and my computer has allowed me to create music, and I plan on expanding that to infinite lengths. Recently I have asked Andy for vocal tracks to several B-Sides like Firegun, Concrete Hands, Maria Gallante, Can I Believe You and some others in hopes of taking a shot at doing a real remix. I know I can do it, but I need some vocals, and there's no way in hell I'm going to do any singing :-)

What other artists and music are you into?

Well, I have been a Depeche Mode fan for a long time now, and I have recently discovered Erasure as well. I am a big fan of 80's music in general, and I don't think that will change any time soon. Some other bands I like are English Beat, The Rosemarys, Gangway, The Specials, The Smiths. I've also recently gotten hooked on Moby's new album as well.

As you can see, all of my favorite bands come out of the UK, which says very little about the music market here in the US. The US market is all about making a name and a quick buck, and then fading away. I think we lead the planet in 1 hit wonders :-)

What sort of OMD releases would you like to see?

I would love to see a DVD release of the Best of OMD, or the Singles with some recent interviews with all the band members, going all the way back to the beginning (the Weir brothers, Dave Hughes etc...) Depeche Mode did this with their Singles release and it was VERY well done. I see no reason why OMD can't do the same except for the fact that Virgin are cheap and don't give a shit about OMD J

Another thing I have always wanted to see, which really isn't a release, is a VH-1 'Behind the Music' special on OMD. The Depeche Mode one was very well done, and I think OMD have certainly fit into the Behind the Music "mold", you know, cutting edge stuff in the beginning, great success in the 80's, troubles within the band, an unfriendly break-up etc...

Other than that, I would love to see a concert released either on CD or video (I prefer video). Other things would be a remix album that would take the Singles release and remix all the tracks. I've got lots of ideas!

What were your impressions of Paul Humphreys' concerts last year?

As you know, I was fortunate enough to get a behind the scenes look at some of the shows. I must admit, that this was the first time that I had ever seen ANY OMD songs performed live, so I was quite excited. Having seen a few shows, I think Paul got better after each show. I know he was nervous at the Sun Theatre show, but once the crowd roared for him, he was much more at home. I honestly think that Paul's shows last year were fantastic. If nothing else, it proved that there is still an interest in OMD here in the US, and beyond that, the new material he and Claudia had played was brilliant.

The shows themselves were great, but the fallout from them was very saddening. I can honestly tell you that there was a time when I couldn't listen to ANY OMD song based on some of the dark events that happened last year regarding the tour and other events.

However, I do not want to dwell on that. Paul's concerts were fabulous, and I really think he is getting more comfortable being a front man!

You also had the opportunity to finally meet Andy McCluskey face-to-face on the 1997 OMD Convention. That must have been something of a surprising experience.

Well, it was only a surprise because the other members of "The Nucleus" never told me that Andy would be there :-)

Seriously though, of course it was a thrill. However, I have never put Andy, Paul, or any other "pop star" on a pedestal like others do. While I was excited to finally meet Andy, I knew I wasn't going to do anything stupid.

I will tell you, the highlight of that day at the Pink was when after 20 minutes or so, with my hand raised, Andy finally pointed to me for my question, and I said "Hi Andy, my name is Pat Fetty, and I came all the way from America..." and at that moment, Andy rushed down the stairs, through the crowd, and walked over to shake my hand and to tell me "Nice to finally meet you Pat." This was done in front of dozens of other hard core OMD fans, and at that moment, I knew that I had made an impact in the 'OMD world'.

What I enjoyed even more was the chance to talk to Andy one on one last year when I did the interview with him. While some of the subject of the interview was a bit, lets say, controversial, it was at that point that it really sunk in that Andy was just like anyone else. He was never condescending to me, and in fact, was just the opposite. He was very cheerful, and we had some great conversations on anything from fatherhood, to football!

What would you consider to be your favourite OMD song?

Well, an absolute favorite is easy, that would be Messages. The funny thing is that I am not sure why. I guess I have always liked songs that tell a story of some kind. Given that, my #2 would be Women III with a possible #3 being Christine.

What about a favourite OMD album?

I thought The Pacific Age had everything I look for in an album. What's funny is that many other US fans that I have talked to feel that this is their favorite as well. I love the upbeat numbers on this album, plus the fact that (Forever) Live and Die was the best OMD video made to date! This is another area where the US and UK fans really differ. The majority of the people I have asked this question to in the UK have said Architecture and Morality, while most US fans will say either Crush or The Pacific Age. Also, younger fans have no idea that OMD even existed previous to Sugar Tax, so you will get that as an answer as well:-)

You can discover more about Pat Fetty's activities and interest in OMD on his World Of OMD Website at: www.omdweb.com.