History
A tape consisting of slowed-down loops of a choir tuning up lent by ex-OMD member Dave Hughes had been the initial inspiration for the song. Although displeased with the original version, they decided it had some merit after all, after having re-recorded it previously.
The tune has a synthesised melody, with a rare lead vocal by Paul Humphreys. Although he is not the band's main singer, he was satisfied with his attempts nonetheless, and would do lead vocals for some of OMD's other well-known releases.
An extended version of the song (with an additional verse) was released as a 10" single and included as a bonus on the digitally remastered copies of Architecture & Morality.
Some copies of The Human League's single "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" were mispressed with Souvenir as the A-side.
The title of the song was used for a documentary DVD about the reformed OMD, released in 2007 by Aspect Television. The song was originally titled "Choir Song" and the working title ‘Choir Song’ remained up until the final week for Peter Saville’s artwork delivery. Paul Humphreys stated that "The title Souvenir, came out of a conversation Andy had with Peter about the song with the deadline totally looming and the record company screaming, ‘What the hell’s it going to be called??"
Read more about this topic: Souvenir (song)
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