ON THIS DAY IN 1981 - OMD RESCUED A SHELVED JOAN OF ARC WALTZ AND TURNED IT INTO A MONSTROUS HIT

ON THIS DAY IN 1981 — OMD RESCUED A SHELVED JOAN OF ARC WALTZ AND TURNED IT INTO A MONSTROUS HIT 🏰

Andy McCluskey wrote “Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)” on May 30, 1981—exactly 550 years after Joan of Arc’s death. It was an appropriately historic beginning for one of OMD’s most unusual songs. 🕯️

But the composition almost disappeared before anyone heard it.

Built as a waltz, the track moved with an unconventional rhythm that OMD initially believed was not working. The band shelved it and wrote another song about Joan of Arc instead—the track simply titled “Joan of Arc.” 🌀

Then, during the sessions for Architecture & Morality at the Manor studio in Oxford, OMD returned to the abandoned waltz. They reconsidered it, developed its dramatic mixture of Mellotron, marching drums and bagpipe textures, and decided that the peculiar composition deserved a place on the album after all. 🎛️

Even then, McCluskey did not regard it as an obvious single. He considered “Souvenir” and the first “Joan of Arc” the more natural choices. The suggestion to release the waltz came not from him, but from Carol Wilson at the record company.

Issued as “Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)” in January 1982, it reached No. 4 in the UK and topped the charts in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Portugal. 📀

McCluskey later described it as a “monstrous international hit” that substantially increased sales of Architecture & Morality. The song OMD had rejected for being too strange became far bigger than the single that preceded it. ⚡

Sometimes the track that refuses to fit is the one destined to stand tallest.

#musicOnOff #OMD #ArchitectureAndMorality #MaidOfOrleans #JoanOfArc #SynthPop #OnThisDay