Life and Career
Humphreys grew up on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England, during which time he developed his interest in German electronic music such as Kraftwerk, Neu!, Can and La Düsseldorf. He was also influenced by the work of Brian Eno and early ambient styles of music. Humphreys joined a variety of bands in the mid-1970s but this was mostly defined by progrock and it wasn't until he met Andy McCluskey that they began their own musical experiments which culminated in a one-off gig as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at Eric's Club in Liverpool.
OMD became one of the leading bands in the synthpop movement, though they developed largely independently of other such as the Human League. OMD enjoyed considerable commercial success in Britain and Europe during the 1980s.
He married Maureen in the early 1980s and they had a daughter named Madeline Humphreys who lives in America and is an aspiring actress. It is believed that the Humphreys divorced in the 1990s.
During his tenure in OMD, he was known for his skill at composing strong melodies, for instance in songs such as the UK hit single, "Souvenir" and "Stanlow". Although McCluskey was the lead singer for OMD, Humphreys did sing on a few tracks, most notably on "Promise", "Souvenir", "Secret" and "(Forever) Live and Die", some of which became hit singles. Humphreys was not a strong singer however and it took some time for his voice to develop. Humphreys was a quieter and more restrained individual than McCluskey and it was McCluskey who was the driving force in the band. The partnership worked effectively for some ten years. Humphreys once implied that they worked well together but that two Andys would kill each other and two Pauls wouldn't get much done.
In 1989, bored with the treadmill approach of trying to break America, and desiring to develop a more organic sound for OMD, Humphreys split from McCluskey along with fellow bandmembers Mal Holmes and Martin Cooper, to write and record under the name The Listening Pool. However this project did not meet with any commercial success, though an album 'Still Life' was released. The sound was less directly electronic than even later OMD and is in marked contrast to the later sound of Onetwo and the reformed OMD.
In 1996 Humphreys began a songwriting collaboration with German musician Claudia Brücken, who was formerly the singer in the moderately successful 1980s band Propaganda. The pair live together in London and have begun recording and performing live under the name Onetwo.
In 2005 McCluskey and Humphreys reunited OMD for a gig on German TV. They decided to reform OMD which McCluskey had continued with from 1989 until winding up the band in 1996 disillusioned by the prevalence of Britpop. 2007 finally saw the return of OMD in their classic line-up on stage and they have toured extensively since having received an enthusiastic and warm welcome. 2010 saw the release of Humphreys' first album with OMD for 24 years, titled History of Modern. Humphreys writes and records in London.
Read more about this topic: Paul Humphreys
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