Stuart Johnstone writes in with a strange twist on the US OMD tour story.

"I believe there is a band in the States called Ozark Mountain Daredevils (OMD!!!!). I found a couple of sites on them when I first started search the internet for OMD stuff, and initially thought it was a crank".

"I think they might be some kind of Country band - and, unfortunately unlike the real OMD, this lot are still on the go" (!)

Atomic Kitten will be making a TV appearance on Jim Davidson Presents on Friday 30th June at 9.30pm on BBC1.

Following the confusion over the recent advertised OMD Shows in America, we now hope to clarify the situation and explain the progression of events.

Paul Humphreys and Claudia Brücken had originally planned to do a series of live performances in the US towards the end of the year. The concerts were to feature Paul performing some of the songs he had sung whilst in OMD (such as Souvenir and Secret), Claudia doing some Propaganda songs and both Claudia and Paul performing some of their new material. Paul had approached Andy to ask if he had any objections to these plans and Andy initially had no problem with the original idea as long as the concerts were advertised as Paul Humphreys from OMD (or a variation thereof) and that they were not billed as OMD performances.

Unfortunately, the promoter for these concerts either consciously or unconsciously decided to promote these performances as OMD concerts. The original idea was also suddenly inflated to a much bigger concept, with one advert in particular stating that Paul would be "performing the US smash hits Enola Gay, Souvenir, Tesla Girls, Secret, If You Leave, Dreaming, Forever Live And Die and more" .

We were unaware of this situation until the OMD Website received an email from an OMD fan who pointed out that the venues were already selling tickets for the concerts. At this point there had still not been any official statement from either Paul or his management which confused matters at this end. Paul's manager did subsequently make a statement this past Tuesday but unfortunately chose to do so through the OMD Guestbook. The OMD Guestbook is an open forum messageboard which allows people to express opinions and comments. It is not designed to act as a separate source of news and information distinct from the OMD News pages.

During this time, many OMD fans bought tickets for the concerts on the basis that they were going to be seeing a live performance from OMD. Subsequently, we've received emails from some of these fans who feel they have bought these tickets under false pretences.

The organisation and promotion of these concerts has been beyond our control and we are sorry that genuine and excited OMD fans have been sold tickets for a series of concerts that will now, in all likelihood, not take place.

If this has proved anything it is to disregard any information regarding OMD projects unless details appear here first on the Official OMD Website.

We have also re-opened the OMD Guestbook for service.

The Official OMD Website is currently undergoing some technical overhauls. Please bear with us while the work is in progress.

We have received many emails from people concerned about the OMD concerts advertised in the US. Please see our news item below for the OMD Website's official statement on the situation.

We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the promotion of these concerts. During this period of investigation we have unfortunately been put in the position of denying access to the OMD Guestbook at this point in time. Apologies for the break in service and we hope to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

Some people have brought to our attention two advertised concerts in the US featuring OMD which are scheduled for September.

Andy wants to make the point very clear that these concerts do not feature OMD and Andy is not performing live at either of these concerts. We are making our own inquiries about the promotion and use of the band's name and do not want any fans being mislead into thinking that OMD will be performing.

The Official OMD Website has been declared site of the month by the music magazine Synthetics. You can read more by following this link: www.synthiepop.de .

Just to remind everyone that tonight the OMD Chat Page will be featuring a Q+A session with Kevin Pretlove and Ian Hayter. As well as answering any questions on their OMD Collectors Guide Compiled, the pair will be available to field any queries on the forthcoming One Mad Day event on November 4th this year.

The chat session kicks off tonight at 20.00 (GMT).

The OMD Chat Page is going to be hosting some events over the coming weeks. First on the schedule is a chat with Kevin Pretlove and Ian Hayter of the Compiled team regarding their forthcoming One Mad Day event on November 4th this year. Then we're going to be doing something very special when we host a live chat with none other than Paul Humphreys.

The One Mad Day chat session is scheduled for 11th June at 20.00 (GMT). We will post up a date for the Paul Humphreys chat session very soon.

Returning to Kevin Pretlove, he has passed on to the OMD Website an interesting snippet taken from the David Bowie book 'Strange Fascination' by David Buckley.

"There had been very few mainstream pop songs which had used the synth to any great effect, and those that had - like The Pepper's 'Pepper Box' and Hot Butter's 'Popcorn' - were more novelty records than anything else. 'Low' was released just at the time when synths became more affordable and, more importantly, programmable. Within two years groups such as Ultravox, The Human League and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark were playing pop with synths.The synth overtook the guitar as the instrument 'par excellence' for the man or woman with big ideas and great tunes but minimal conventional musical wisdom or proficiency."

We leave you to draw your own conclusions.....;-)

Apologies to those people who have ordered copies of The OMD Peel Sessions via the website and may still be waiting for their orders to arrive. We are working through the orders as quickly as we can, so if you are one of those people who have not yet received your CD, please bear with us.

Thanks to all those people who have written in regarding the recent albums update to the OMD Discography. If you've got queries, questions or additional information then feel free to mail the website. Do, however, bear in mind that many queries may already have been answered either in the Discography itself or in sections such as the Q+A pages. A good read may save you time ;-)

Atomic Kitten have been enjoying global pursuits, most recently visiting China. Meanwhile, the girls have also performing support for Steps on their tour and their new single I Want Your Love has been B-Listed for play on MTV.