Released just over 40 years ago, on 26 September 1980
mp3: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Enola Gay
The spectre of nuclear war was all too real in 1980. Membership of CND was on the rise, and would indeed increase very dramatically in the early 80s after Ronald Reagan became US President, give he seemed to have no concerns about using deadly weapons against the Soviet Union should it come down to it.
The release of Enola Gay was timely. From a musical point of view, it was another signpost that electronica was becoming ever-increasingly important across pop music. But for many of us of a certain age, it added to our knowledge base of what had happened in Japan back in 1945.
Yup. We were taught that two atomic bombs had brought an end to World War II, and that these weapons had been so deadly and devastating that they hadn’t been used over the next 35 years. But Andy McCluskey‘s lyric added a poignancy and human element to the event. The name of the plane that had carried the bomb dropped on Hiroshima would now be etched forever in the minds of a generation of music-lovers.
It’s quite remarkable, and indeed ironic, that such a serious subject matter was accompanied by such a danceable and happy tune. And in an era where chorus was king, OMD showed, again, as they had with Electricity, that there were different ways to make memorable 45s that will always stand the test of time.
The b-side wasn’t too shabby either, albeit it’s far less immediate or danceable than the a-side:-
mp3: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Annex
Enola Gay reached #8 in the singles charts, and was the first of what proved to be seven Top 10 hits across the group’s career.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Early OMD holds up very well four decades on. Dazzle Ships might be their masterpiece. Found a vinyl copy at a boot sale recently to replace my scratchy original. For £1. Which was nice.
I wasn’t aware of what Enola Gay was until after the single was a hit. Perhaps an argument against one ‘plunking’ school with regularity – but I was happier plunking it, also known as ‘dogging it’. I used dogging it. My granda used plunking it. Is there are a ‘plunking it’ sexual adventure? The word seems as though it was made for it?
Back to the song… it really is a fantastic pop song. Lyrically, it’s repetitive, but it’s also poignant, well, for me at least. Despite its chart placing and airplay the band still felt like a secret – and that feeling would continue until the following year when the one-hit wonders were one-hit wonders no more.
Flimflamfan
superb pop song !
SC
That drum box riff showed that dinky could actually loom larger than gated drums in the right hands. The euphoria of the song was an immediate grabber and the second OMD song I’d heard showed me how I needed to follow this band carefully for years!
Seemed to be constantly played at the student union disco through my first couple of years at uni, and endlessly on the jukebox in Potterrow bar as well. Inescapable, still, but in a good way. A real nostalgia trip whenever I hear it now.