- Paul Humphreys
:"For the philosopher, see
Paul Humphreys (philosopher) .Infobox musical artist
Name = Paul Humphreys
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Img_size = thumb
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Paul David Humphreys
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1960|2|27
Died =
Origin =London ,England
Instrument = vocals, keyboards
Voice_type =
Genre =synthpop
Occupation =
Years_active = 1978 - present
Label =DinDisc , Virgin, Telegraph, There(There)
Associated_acts =Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark The Listening Pool Onetwo
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =Paul Humphreys (born Paul David Humphreys,
27 February 1960 , inLondon ) is a Britishmusician .Life and career
He grew up on the
Wirral Peninsula in North WestEngland .He has a daughter who lives in America named Madeline Humphreys, who is an aspiring actress
He is best known as a member of
synth pop groupOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (often abbreviated to OMD), which he founded withAndy McCluskey in 1978. OMD enjoyed considerable commercial success in Britain andEurope during the 1980s.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 in the UK.
In 1989, Humphreys left OMD 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.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, with the promise of more to follow. 2007 finally saw OMD in their classic line-up on stage.
Humphreys' instruments
Humphreys' main instruments are electronic keyboards. With OMD, he made use of a wide range of these including the Korg m500 Micro Preset monophonic
analog synthesizer , polyphonic analogue synthesizers such as theSequential Circuits Prophet-5 and the Korg Trident, the electromechanical tape-sampling instrument known as themellotron ,electronic organ s such as the Vox Continental, anddigital sampling keyboards such as theE-mu Emulator andFairlight CMI .Humphreys is a self-taught musician and by his own admission, his initial playing skills on the keyboard were very rudimentary.Fact|date=February 2007
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