Pandora's Box (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song) explained

Pandora's Box
Cover:Pandora's Box OMD.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Album:Sugar Tax
B-Side:All She Wants Is Everything
Released:[1]
Length:
  • 4:09 (album version)
  • 4:06 (single version)
Label:Virgin
Producer:OMD
Prev Title:Sailing on the Seven Seas
Prev Year:1991
Next Title:Then You Turn Away
Next Year:1991

"Pandora's Box" (subtitled "It's a Long, Long Way" for the US release) is a song by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released by Virgin on 24 June 1991 as the second single from their eighth studio album, Sugar Tax (1991). The song, which deals with the less glamorous side of celebrity, was inspired by silent film actress Louise Brooks and is named after the 1929 film Pandora's Box in which she starred.

The single was a top-10 hit in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. Three remixes were made for this release, remixed by Danny Griffiths, Carl Segal, and Steve Anderson respectively. Anderson's shorter remix is the main single version. Additional remixes and edits appear on promotional and limited editions.

Background

Andy McCluskey wrote "Pandora's Box" about the silent film actress Louise Brooks. He told the Edinburgh Evening News in 1991, "I've been fascinated by her for eight or nine years now. The more I learned the more fascinated I became. [She's] absolutely the sort of woman you'd fall in love with on first sight and absolutely the sort of person that you desperately shouldn't go anywhere near."[2]

Critical reception

Upon its release, David Quantick of NME remarked, "OMD this week don't know if they are a jovial Hazell Dean group or some wistful Enoesque melancholy merchants. It is this that gives them their force, that occupation of the dichotomous territories between art and pop."[3] Andrew Hirst of the Huddersfield Daily Examiner picked "Pandora's Box" as the "Single of the Week", observing a "slice of synthesizer sophistication" whose "peculiar guitar twang really makes it".[4] Alan Jones, writing for Music Week, called it a "melodic, bouncy pop song" that is "entrancing and addictive" and "should easily maintain their renewed impetus".[5] KROQ ranked it the 21st-greatest song of 1991,[6] while MTV Europe placed it 55th.[7] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Dave Thompson noted a "fabulous dance-fired arrangement", a "jubilant melody" and a "bounding rhythm that defies efforts not to dance along". He added that the upbeat sound belies the "tragic tale" of its lyrics, which handle the "downside of fame and fortune".[8]

Music video

The music video for "Pandora's Box" is in black and white and features Louise Brooks and singer Andy McCluskey. According to the video intro, all of the scenes of Brooks in the video are from the original 1929 film.

Track listings

A. "Pandora's Box"

B. "All She Wants Is Everything"

A1. "Pandora's Box" (Constant Pressure 12-inch mix)

A2. "All She Wants Is Everything"

B1. "Pandora's Box" (Abstract mix)

  1. "Pandora's Box"
  2. "All She Wants Is Everything"
  3. "Pandora's Box" (Constant Pressure 12-inch mix)
  4. "Pandora's Box" (Diesel Fingers 12-inch mix)
  1. "Pandora's Box"
  2. "Pandora's Box" (Lost Girl mix)
  3. "Pandora's Box" (Abstract mix)
  4. "Pandora's Box" (American Venus 7-inch mix)
  1. "Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way)"
  2. "Sugar Tax"

A1. "Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way)" (Diesel Fingers mix) – 6:10

A2. "Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way)" (Abstract mix) – 6:37

B1. "Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way)" (Constant Pressure 12-inch) – 4:48

B2. "Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way)" (Prize of Beauty mix) – 5:35

B3. "Sugar Tax" – 4:07

  1. "Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way)" (Andy McCluskey 7-inch) – 4:04
  2. "Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way)" (Constant Pressure 12-inch) – 4:48
  3. "Sugar Tax" – 4:07
  4. "All She Wants Is Everything" – 4:22
  1. "Pandora's Box"
  2. "If You Leave"
  3. "We Love You"
  4. "Locomotion"
  5. "All She Wants Is Everything"

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1991–1992)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[19] 53
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[20] 18
UK Playlist Chart (Music Week)[21] 4
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[22] 11
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[23] 25
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[24] 19

Year-end charts

Chart (1991)Position
Europe (European Hit Radio)[25] 27
Germany (Official German Charts)[26] 67
UK Singles (OCC)[27] 81

Cover versions

External links

Notes and References

  1. New Releases: Singles. Music Week. 19. 22 June 1991.
  2. News: Pake . Trevor . Meet the hit man of OMD . . 26 June 1991 . 10 . . subscription . 12 May 2024.
  3. Quantick . David . David Quantick . Singles . . 29 June 1991 . 18 . 0028-6362.
  4. News: Hirst . Andrew . Beyond the Beat: Singles . . 6 July 1991 . 29 . . subscription . 12 May 2024.
  5. Jones . Alan . Mainstream: Singles . . 29 June 1991 . 10 . 0265-1548.
  6. Web site: Top 106.7 Songs of 1991. 31 December 1991. KROQ-FM. 20 July 2022. RadioHitList.com.
  7. "Top 100 of 1991". MTV Europe. 30 December 1991.
  8. Web site: Pandora's Box - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Thompson. Dave. Dave Thompson (author). AllMusic. 17 September 2019.
  9. Pandora's Box. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. UK 7-inch single sleeve. Virgin Records. VS 1331, 114 404.
  10. Pandora's Box. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. UK cassette single sleeve. Virgin Records. VSC 1331, 411 763.
  11. Pandora's Box. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. UK 12-inch single sleeve. Virgin Records. VST 1331, 614 404.
  12. Pandora's Box. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. UK CD1 liner notes. Virgin Records. VSCDT 1331, 664 404.
  13. Pandora's Box. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. UK CD2 liner notes. Virgin Records. VSCDX 1331.
  14. Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way). Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. US cassette single sleeve. Virgin Records. 4-98771.
  15. Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way). Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. US 12-inch single vinyl disc. Virgin Records. 0-96338.
  16. Pandora's Box (It's a Long, Long Way). Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. US CD single liner notes. Virgin Records. 2-96338.
  17. Pandora's Box. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. Australian CD single liner notes. Virgin Records. VOZCD 131.
  18. Pandora's Box. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. 1991. Australian cassette single sleeve. Virgin Records. VOZC131.
  19. 209.
  20. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles . . 8 . 32 . 10 August 1991 . 21 . 29800226 . World Radio History.
  21. Playlist Chart . . 3 August 1991 . 18 . 0265-1548.
  22. Web site: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Chart History (Dance Club Songs). Billboard. 24 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190427164711/https://www.billboard.com/music/orchestral-manoeuvres-in-the-dark/chart-history/dance-club-play-songs. 27 April 2019.
  23. Web site: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Chart History (Dance Singles Sales). Billboard. 23 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190924022437/https://www.billboard.com/music/Orchestral-Manoeuvres-in-the-Dark/chart-history/dance-singles-sales. 24 September 2019.
  24. Web site: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Chart History (Alternative Songs). Billboard. 24 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190924022425/https://www.billboard.com/music/Orchestral-Manoeuvres-in-the-Dark/chart-history/alternative-songs. 24 September 2019.
  25. EHR Year-End Top 100. Music & Media. 8. 51–52. 20. 21 December 1991. 22 February 2024.
  26. Web site: Top 100 Singles-Jahrescharts – 1991. GfK Entertainment. de. 23 September 2019.
  27. 1991 Top 100 Singles. Music Week. 20. 11 January 1992.
  28. Web site: Jüri Homeja - Pandora laegas. 11 July 2010.

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