Happy Birthday to Mal Holmes for today. You can post up your birthday greetings for Mally here on the OMD Forum :)

Meanwhile, if you've still not checked out Mal's work with Jo Mooney, you can still order copies of the exclusive Limited Edition of Smile via the Muzic2burn section here on the OMD website.

The pending issue of Messages changes yet again with the impact of more breaking news. Issue three will now be 4 pages longer to accomodate recent events such as the planned reissue of Dazzle Ships as well as the Onetwo live performance. Issue 3 had already suffered a delay to allow details on both the Onetwo CD release and Mal Holmes work with Jo Mooney to be included.

We're also happy to announce that after the release of issue 3, Messages will continue with a brand new 3 issue subscription starting with issue 4.

Details of renewing subscriptions will be made available for Messages subscribers in issue 3 as well as on the Messages website. For anyone who has not previously subscribed, the current ordering system will still net you issues 1 to 3 of Messages.

Messages is the Official OMD magazine. Each issue provides exclusive features, articles and interviews as well as news, competitions, photos, and trivia. Originally conceived as an experimental project, it appears to have won enough support to continue for the forseeable future.

More information and details to follow...

Onetwo will be staging a live performance in London this September. Paul Humphreys and Claudia Brücken will be playing at the Carling Islington Academy on Thursday September 30th.

The pair will be performing a selection of Onetwo songs, including tracks from their forthcoming album, as well as selections from OMD, Propaganda, Act and Claudia Brücken's solo album.

Tickets are available for £15 and are on sale via Ticketweb. They also have a telephone booking service: 0870 771 2000 via the venue Box Office which is open 12-4pm Monday through Saturday.

Onetwo are also doing an hour long radio show next Saturday with Gary Crowley on BBC London 94.9 FM at 6pm. More details via www.bbc.co.uk

More from Paul Humphreys on this thread on the OMD Forum.

Following on from the reissues of OMITD, Organisation and Architecture And Morality, the next album due to be remastered by Virgin will be Dazzle Ships.

No details exist as yet for any planned additional material but we will post more information as it becomes available.

Andy McCluskey is also about to start discussions again with Virgin regarding the content of the planned OMD DVD.

Meanwhile, Mal Holmes' Muzic2burn website now has a presence at www.muzic2burn.com.

Smile is already receiving airplay from radio and the site states: "Given the continuous barrage of bad news that appears on our screens and in our newspapers every day, 'Smile' is a testimonial to smiling, happiness and young love.Ì The song encapsulates the strength of summer and the anticipation of love"

You can order copies of the exclusive Limited Edition of Smile via the new Muzic2burn section here on the OMD website.

Work on the long-awaited upgrade to the OMD Discography continues. New scans are being added to the various entries as well as significant updates and revisions in terms of content. Updates on the progress will be flagged up via the OMD Forum on this thread.

Volume 3 of the Liverpool compilation album Unearthed will feature a track by The Id. Unearthed is a series of CD's put out by the Viper label which features rare tracks by Liverpool bands. For Vol. 3 they've included The Id's version of Electricity. Other bands featured include The Spitfire Boys (featuring Paul 'Frankie' Rutherford), Dalek I, Those Naughty Lumps and Wah! Heat. The CD is due for release on 19th July. More info via www.the-viper-label.co.uk

Mystery - a one man outfit consisting of Denmark's Steen Hansen - contribute a version of Bloc Bloc Bloc to the Unofficial OMD Covers website.

Mystery have also just released the debut album Bubblepop on Brand New Season Records. Details and samples are available via www.mystery.dk. Brand New Season Records is owned and directed by Jim Shilts of Unofficial OMD Covers fame. All profits from BNS releases go directly to the artists.

Meanwhile, Neil Taylor has set up a new website to provide OMD fans with a dedicated email service. www.omdfan.co.uk will enable OMD fans to get a free online email account. More info via www.omdfan.co.uk.

Today saw the release of Smile by First People Featuring Jo Mooney on Mal Holmes' new label Muzic2burn. As previously reported on the OMD website, Mal has been hard at work developing songs with Jo and this release, a dance collaboration featuring Jo's vocals, is the first arrival.

You can order exclusive Limited Edition copies of the CD via the new Muzic2burn section here on the OMD website (which takes over from the Fin Music page). This release features the radio edit of Smile as well as an instrumental version and is available for £3. Visit the Muzic2burn section for ordering details via: Muzic2burn.

Another release of Smile, this time featuring 4 tracks, will be out shortly. This release will feature mixes by K Klass and is aimed specifically at clubs.

The legendary Eric's Club is featured in a new exhibition in Liverpool next month. The exhibition (which coincides with the Mathew Street Festival) runs from 26th August to 21st November.

Andy McCluskey was approached for some recollections, which included the quote "Without Eric's there would be no OMD".

More details via www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

A recent interview on a German website with both Paul Humphreys and Claudia Brücken is available via this link: www.medienkonverter.de/redirectindex.php4?Interview_Nr=105&ir=.

The interview is in German and you will need to click on the word "Hier" at the beginning of the interview to get the English translation. Thanks to Hagen for flagging this up.