Song · Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
“Tesla Girls” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
From the album Junk Culture (1984)
“Tesla Girls” by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark appears on 12 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1984 and 2003. It was first released in 1984 on the album Junk Culture. Its best result is #100 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #183 alternative song of 1984 and #2,138 alternative song of all time.
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"Tesla Girls" comes from Junk Culture, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's fifth studio album, and hit shops as the record's third single in April 1984. Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey wrote it, the band produced it with Brian Tench, and Maureen Humphreys adds a vocal.
The title salutes Nikola Tesla, the inventor whose work shaped the alternating current supply that runs modern life, and it was Martha Ladly's idea, just as she had named their third album, Architecture & Morality. McCluskey later explained that the talk of dynamos and electric chairs traces back to Tesla's electrical work. The music matches: a hyperactive synth-pop rush with a Hi-NRG kick, all sparking sequencers and jolting rhythm. A few critics sniffed, but the dancefloors didn't, it became one of their biggest club hits, and John Hughes dropped it into Weird Science in 1985.
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 | 100 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984 | 106 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 106 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) | 496 |
| 1988 | 152 | WLIR / WDRE | WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) | 200 |
| 1989 | 490 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) | 495 |
| 1990 | 156 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) | 299 |
| 1992 | 326 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) | 500 |
| 1994 | 427 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) | 497 |
| 1995 | 468 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) | 500 |
| 1996 | 447 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) | 500 |
| 1998 | 308 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) | 488 |
| 2002 | 225 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 705 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
Also listed as: Telsa Girls.
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