Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark — Souvenir

JUL 01 1981 · 12:00

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark — Souvenir (1981) Director: Peter Saville Era: Post-Punk / Early Synth-Pop Golden Age (1981) - Peak period of UK electronic pop crossover, coinciding with OMD's commercial and artistic zenith on the Architecture & Morality album cycle. Exceptionally high. This video is a rare documented instance of a major graphic designer (Peter Saville) directing a music video at the peak of his formative period, resulting in a visual artefact that directly embodies the post-punk art-school aesthetic rather than merely illustrating it. The Blenheim Palace location, the personal Karmann-Ghia, and the absence of conventional performance staging make it a uniquely authored object — as much a Saville design work as a promotional vehicle — and an essential document for histories of British music video, graphic design culture, and synth-pop. Context: Released August 1981 on Dindisc, 'Souvenir' arrived at the precise moment British synth-pop was transitioning from post-punk austerity into emotionally literate, melodically sophisticated pop. The track peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart — OMD's joint highest-charting single — and topped the charts in Spain and Portugal, signalling the genre's pan-European reach. The video, shot at Blenheim Palace, introduced a new visual language for electronic pop: bucolic, art-directed, and resolutely un-theatrical, reflecting the influence of graphic design culture (specifically Saville's Dindisc tenure) on early music video production. This stands in contrast to the performance-heavy, studio-bound promo norm of the period, anticipating the more conceptual video grammar that would define mid-decade MTV programming. Director notes: Saville directed the 'Souvenir' video in 1981, his first known foray into music video direction, applying his graphic design sensibility directly to moving image. The video was filmed on location at Blenheim Palace and its surrounding grounds in Oxfordshire, England — a departure from the performance-based studio videos typical of the era. A personal automobile belonging to Saville (a Karmann-Ghia) appeared in the video. The production marked OMD's first promotional video not centred on a live performance of the song, with Paul Humphreys miming lyrics in a non-stage context. The video's reserved, landscape-driven aesthetic directly reflects Saville's broader design philosophy: restraint, elegance, and the primacy of mood over spectacle. Saville had an existing close professional relationship with OMD, having designed the sleeve for their self-titled debut album (winning a Designers and Art Directors Award with Ben Kelly) and the 'Souvenir' single sleeve (co-designed with Brett Wickens).