OMD are going to be part of the launch for a new autograph collectors organisation this Summer which is also aimed to raise money for good causes. The band are signing photographs as part of the launch of ACAF - Autograph Collectors Against Fakes which has grown from the eBay autograph collector's group.

Bob McCluskey from Retro Reds is organising OMD's involvement. The band had previously worked with Bob and Retro Reds by wearing wristbands to help promote and raise funds for the Hillsborough Family Support Group.

ACAF is an autograph collectors organisation run by collectors for collectors and covers a wide variety of interests. "There are around 3,000 collectors on our mailing lists (Retro Reds and ACAF) and we are also working with Jim Donaldson from the Variety Club" says Bob, "We have committed ourselves to raising a minimum of £17,000 before Christmas to pay for a sunshine coach, which will be sponsored by ACAF and include a panel advertising those who have given us their support". The launch takes place on July 4th 2008.

OMD's contribution will be signed photos of the band on stage. The photos are available to buy directly from the ACAF website here: www.acaf.co.uk/omdpreview.html and all proceeds will go the Variety Club.

Marsheaux are interviewed on the Electronically Yours website. Among other topics, they discuss working with Andy McCluskey on a cover version of She's Leaving. More info here:www.league-online.com. Thanks to Rob Rumbell for the info.

Happy Birthday to Andy McCluskey for today.

Mal Holmes has made available a free Jo Mooney track to download via the Fin Music website. Go to http://www.finmusic.co.uk/freedownloads.html for details.

Please note that OMD are performing in the UK and Dublin this coming October. The previous news item was to let fans know that no dates abroad (such as Germany) were being scheduled. A few people were confused over the announcement so hopefully this clarifies the issue.

OMD's 2008 tour plans are available on the OMD Website Events page.

An update on OMD's tour 2008 plans: the band have decided not to tour in Europe this autumn. Instead they are going to concentrate on new recordings and make plans for Summer Festivals in 2009.

The World Museum of Liverpool launches its Beat Goes On exhibition at the museum located in the Albert Dock with a special guest evening on July 10th which all of OMD will attend.

Andy McCluskey will be giving a short speech at the opening. The exhibition opens to the public on 17th July. More info on The Beat Goes On here: www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.

Also on 10th July Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey are scheduled to perform a Beatles song at a charity concert in the Echo Arena in aid of The Alderhey Hospital. There are many acts appearing from all eras of Liverpool music, all singing Beatles songs. More info on the concert here: www.whatsonstage.com

A new DVD is being planned for release to coincide with the Autumn OMD tour. This DVD will feature the films featured on the Architecture & Morality tour in 2007. Some of the music will be live versions and others will be original recordings. More details to follow.

There is an issue with copies of the Architecture & Morality & More DVD that are being sold in America. Although listed as being NTSC, the copies are in fact PAL which has caused some obvious problems for American OMD fans buying the DVD from various US outlets.

The producers and distributors of the DVD are Eagle Rock who have responded to an email enquiry as follows:

"There was a problem with the US DVDs, which has been spotted by our New York office. The German manufacturer, who made the mistake, have agreed to replace all the stock and we are obviously keen to hear from any consumers who have an NG DVD so we can replace it. New stock will be with us on Wednesday. I have copied in Mike Carden in New York ( President North American Operations Eagle Rock Entertainment North America) so please forward any emails or queries to him as he is obviously better placed to respond: mikec@eaglerockent.com

Please note that the OMD Website is only selling the European releases of both the Live DVD and CD of Architecture & Morality & More (the DVD being PAL), so we remain unaffected by this issue.

We have a new OMD Survey asking Which OMD Concert are you looking forward to the most this Autumn?

There's also a new Poll here on the news page asking your thoughts on China Crisis as support band.

The support for OMD's UK October tour will be China Crisis.

A well-established Liverpool band, China Crisis produced a number of well-known and often successful singles in the 1980's such as Christian, Wishful Thinking, Black Man Ray and Tragedy & Mystery. The band were also signed to the Telegraph label during the early 1990's, notably releasing the Acoustically Yours album.

Confirmation that China Crisis will also be the support for the Dublin concert is not yet confirmed, although hopefully this will be the case.