Liverpool will be showcasing an exhibition about its extensive musical culture this coming summer. The Beat Goes On will be staged as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations and looks at popular music from the post-war period up to 2008.

It will explore topics covering various music scenes, technologies, musicianship and image and design. The exhibition will be the first of its kind and there will be no entry fee for visitors.

Andy McCluskey has assisted the curators of the project and will be loaning some items for the exhibition. This includes the original tracks from Electricity which will become the centerpiece for an interactive item within the exhibition so that visitors can hear each of these original tracks and can listen to the production and sound of the different layers of the recording.

Andy is also planning to lend the exhibition the poster which he designed for an early OMD gig at Eric’s and also Andy’s first Korg synth.

The Beat Goes On will open on 12 July 2008.

The track listing for the Live OMD DVD differs from the CD release as it covers the entire concert. Here's the listing for the DVD:

• Architecture & Morality
• Sealand
• The New Stone Age
• Georgia
• She's Leaving
• Souvenir
• Joan Of Arc
• Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)
• The Beginning And The End
• Messages
• Tesla Girls
• Forever (Live And Die)
• If You Leave
• Pandora's Box
• Talking Loud & Clear
• So In Love
• Locomotion
• Sailing On The Seven Seas
• Enola Gay
• Walking On The Milky Way
• Electricity
• Romance Of The Telescope

An update on the forthcoming OMD Live DVD: The DVD is due out on 28th April 2008. There will also be a companion Live CD release scheduled for 31st March 2008. The US will see revised released dates of 8th April for the CD and 29th April for the DVD.

Track listing is as follows:

• Architecture & Morality
• Sealand
• The New Stone Age
• Georgia
• She's Leaving
• Souvenir
• Joan Of Arc
• Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)
• The Beginning And The End
• If You Leave
• (Forever) Live And Die
• Pandora's Box
• Locomotion
• Sailing On The Seven Seas
• Enola Gay
• Electricity
• Romance Of The Telescope

All tracks recorded Live at the Hammersmith Apollo, London on Saturday 19th May 2007. Recorded by Julie Gardner, Pete Lewis and Kevin Jacobs for JamDVD Productions. Mixed in stereo and 5.1 by Julie Gardner at Paul Smith Studios Mastered by Matt Howe.

The US release will feature an edited track listing as follows:

• Architecture & Morality
• Sealand
• The New Stone Age
• Georgia
• She’s Leaving
• Souvenir
• Joan Of Arc
• Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)
• The Beginning And The End
• If You Leave
• (Forever) Live And Die
• Enola Gay
• Electricity

The sleeve art for both the DVD and CD releases has yet to be finalised.

The remastered version of Dazzle Ships is scheduled for release on 3rd March 2008. As previously reported, the CD will feature bonus tracks along with sleeve notes and additional information along with new sleeve art which recreates the original 1983 vinyl sleeve.

Amongst the bonus tracks are a 1981 version of Telegraph (recorded during the Architecture And Morality sessions), the full-length version of 66 And Fading and Swiss Radio International which was dropped from the original album release.

"Dazzle Ships is a strange LP" recalls Andy McCluskey "because obviously it was possibly the lowest selling album that we ever released and yet I am inordinately proud of it. Maybe we did something that was commercial suicide, but we did that album for the right reasons. It has a painful beauty".

Hotel Motel are a UK-based band that were put forward as a potential support act during OMD's 2007 tour. They've been keeping busy with their own brand of electropop and have just finished their first EP called Road Songs. The EP also features Chuck Sabo on drums (better known in OMD circles for contributing to the Universal album). More info here: www.myspace.com/hotelmotel

Electropop duo Marsheaux release a new 7" on January 21st called Ghost featuring two brand new songs. The 7" is printed in special glow-in-the-dark ink as a limited edition of 1000 copies. More info regarding ordering via www.myspace.com/marsheaux

An official message-board for Greek electropop outfit Marsheaux is now up here: www.marsheauxforum.eu. The forum, which is run by OMD Forum regulars RobertR and Latex, aims to provide a platform for Marsheaux fans to chat and discuss the band.

Marsheaux are probably best known to OMD fans for providing support for OMD for their gig in Greece earlier in the year. The Greek outfit consists of Marianthi and Sophie who have released two albums already (available from Undo Records) and played their debut UK gig back in October.

A brief update on The Number One Project with some key dates: The concert is scheduled for 19th January with the single set for release on the 28th January followed by the album on 4th February. See previous OMD news page updates for more info.

On the OMD Downloads page you can listen to OMD's version of Whole Again (originally recorded by Atomic Kitten).