NOTES

'Souvenir' had been inspired by some loop tapes of choirs tuning up - a tape lent by Dave Hughes. Dave Hughes had used the studio facilities to make up tape loops from a pre-recorded 8 piece choir tuning up. As thanks for the use of the studio, Hughes left a copy of the loops behind. Paul Humphreys and Martin Cooper worked with the loops to produce what was initially a very abstract song with just choirs, chords and melody.

Despite the fine job Mike Howlett did in producing the song, the band were still not happy and consequently recorded another version from scratch in Advision Studios. But when they compared both versions, they were forced to agree that Mike Howlett's version yielded more depth and atmosphere than their version.

'Motion And Heart' originally featured on the Organisation album. It was briefly considered as a possible second single (after 'Enola Gay') and the band subsequently recorded a new version at Amazon Studios.

'Souvenir' proved to be OMD's biggest hit to date, reaching No. 3 in the UK charts. It also managed to reach No. 1 in France, Spain and Portugal.

The sleeve is unsual in that the centre has been die-cut so the labels can been seen. The A-side features a picture of a Dusseldorf street cafe scene. The record details are subtly picked out in grey on the bottom of the sleeve.

Initial copies of 'Souvenir' also featured a silver/grey sticker on the front stating the band's full name. The single releases from Architecture And Morality had adopted the now-common shorthand of 'OMD' which may have confused some people, hence the stickers.

A limited number of copies of The Human League single 'Love Action' were misspressed with 'Souvenir' on the A-side.

TRIVIA

The idea for the sleeve design for 'Souvenir' stemmed from the lyrical theme of the song, which suggested to designer Peter Saville a French arthouse film showing a blossoming romance between a boy and a girl.

Saville was after a picture that gave the impression of a French street cafe and the picture that caught his eye, taken from a photo library, revealed a view from a balcony onto a Dusseldorf street scene.

Cover versions of 'Souvenir' later surfaced in Europe under titles such as 'The Angels Fly In The Night'.

'Motion And Heart' was written in the same week as 'Enola Gay'.