NOTES

This reissue differs from the original release in several ways: the new catalogue number is featured on the spine of the shell, the inner flap and also the cassette itself. The cassette is also black (the original release is white).

'So In Love' was the first single released from the album. It was originally going to be dropped from Crush until Martin Cooper persuaded Andy and Paul to demo it.

'Secret' was the second single released from the album. Maureen Humphreys provides the sampled "secret" used in the song.

'Bloc Bloc Bloc' was basically a 'stream of consciousness' song, the lyrics of which were just random words and phrases that Andy sung off the top of his head. The brass section is actually another Emulator sampler.

'Crush' had actually been written around two hours of Japanese TV ads that Andy had recorded while the band had been in Japan the previous year. These samples were gradually sifted through down to four two second samples including one for Seiko watches and another for a brand of sake.

'88 Seconds In Greensboro' was inspired by a TV documentary detailing the story of 5 people who were killed by the Ku Klux Klan during a protest march in Greensboro, Illinois. The song was actually recorded in one live take.

'The Native Daughters Of The Golden West' had been inspired by a plaque that Andy had seen on a bench in La Brea park, Los Angeles dedicated to The Native Daughters Of The Golden West - a sister organisation of The Native Sons Of The Golden West who were founded to preserve the heritage of the early American pioneers.

'La Femme Accident' was the third single taken from the album.

'Hold You' had been considered as a possible single follow-up to 'So In Love'. In fact when the promo video for 'So In Love' was being shot in Spain, the band also shot a video for 'Hold You'.

'The Lights Are Going Out' was inspired by the Laurie Anderson song 'O Superman' which used a vocal sample as a rhythm track. OMD used a sample of Maureen Humphreys singing individual notes which were then fed into an Emulator. During the recording of the song, the studio was actually plunged into darkness by a power cut.

TRIVIA

The title Crush refers to the fact that there are a lot of love songs on the album.

OMD originally wanted to use a painting by American artist Edward Hopper for the sleeve after a suggestion by Gordian Troeller. But after discovering the fees would be too high they drafted in artist Paul Slater to copy Hopper's distinctive style.

Slater based his painting on a Hopper painting called Early Sunday Morning (1930).

Martin Kirkup, OMD's manager, commented "I remember Andy McCluskey telling me the reason he wanted a Hopper-style painting on the cover of Crush was that he had always felt there was a lot of melancholy in the paintings of Hopper and he felt that it matched the melancholy that was in the songs".

Other songs considered for the album were 'Heaven Is' and 'Southern'.