Song · Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
“Locomotion” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
From the album Junk Culture (1984)
“Locomotion” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark appears on 8 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1984 and 2003. It was first released in 1984 on the album Junk Culture. Its best result is #31 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #72 alternative song of 1984 and #2,693 alternative song of all time.
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After the brainy, experimental Dazzle Ships left critics cold and the tills quiet in 1983, "Locomotion" was OMD swerving back toward the radio. Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys wrote it with Gordian Troeller, who also plays piano, and it went out in 1984 as the first single from Junk Culture, their fifth album, co-produced by the band and Brian Tench.
It's sunny, chugging synth-pop with a skip in its step, and it paid off: top five in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Critics and fellow musicians have split over it ever since, but it sits on every OMD hits collection and still gets the crowd moving in their live sets.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 31 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984 | 106 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 173 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) | 496 |
| 1989 | 121 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) | 495 |
| 1989 | 339 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1991 | 368 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1999 | 368 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 2002 | 1702 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1927 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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