Page "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark" Paragraph 7

In September 1977, McCluskey and Humphreys put together the seven-piece ( three singers, two guitarists, bassist, drummer, and keyboard player ) Wirral ' supergroup ' The Id, whose line-up included drummer Malcolm Holmes and McCluskey's girlfriend Julia Kneale on vocals.

The group began to gig regularly in the Merseyside area, performing original material ( largely written by McCluskey and Humphreys ).

They had quite a following on the scene, and one of their tracks (" Julia's Song ") was included on a compilation record of local bands called Street to Street.

Meanwhile, Humphreys & McCluskey collaborated on a side-project called VCL XI ( named after a misreading of a valve from the diagram on the back cover of Kraftwerk's Radio-Activity album ; the name of valve is actually written with Arabic numbers, VCL 11, and not Roman numerals ).

This side-project allowed them to pursue their more bizarre electronic experiments, often working with tape collages, home-made kit-built synthesisers, and circuit-bent radios.