THE subject of a sugar tax came up a few years back and for a long term Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark fan such as our founder, it didn’t concern the terrific 1991 album.

In this instance, it was a government levy introduced and charged on the consumption of sugary drinks, which was meant to discourage people from excessive sugar consumption by taxing drinks which would make people fat, diabetic and lose all their teeth. Or something like that. You could spot these drinks as they suddenly became a little more expensive.

Although, you wouldn’t think it, because when going to the shop these days, it seems that in some instances, the sugary drinks are at a near identical in price to their ‘non-sugary’ counterparts.

You might be wondering what on earth we’re on about, talking about taxes in what is meant to be a radio column. Well, fear no more.

Monday, June 24 saw two significant dates in the diary of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or OMD to use their shortened name. First, it is the 65th anniversary of the birth of the lead singer, dad dancing extraordinaire and co-founder of the band, Andy McCluskey.

It is also the 33rd anniversary of the tremendous lead song from the album, a four-minute musical wonder exploring the down sides of celebrity through the lens that was Louise Brooks, an actress in the silent movie era, most notably the 1923 film Pandoras’s Box, which gives its name to the track. It was a film that was among those banned by Adolf Hitler, for reasons that Andy McCluskey has said is because, as he said on Jools Holland: “totalitarian regimes don’t like art because it can speak against them and they don’t understand it”.

The song deals with the less glamorous side of celebrity life and directly addresses how Louise Brooks went from being a megastar to obscurity, or as the video featuring clips from the film notes: “Louise Brooks was born in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906. While still in her teens, she became a silent movie star, captivating audiences with her naturalistic style and erotic beauty. When Louise was 21 years old, she appeared in the classic film “Pandoras Box”, which was later banned by Hitler as ‘degenerate art’.

“Louise valued her integrity more than her success and she paid the price for her independent spirit. Her career was brief but brilliant. She died in Rochester, New York, in 1985, alone.”

Long story short, Sugar Tax is an excellent, listenable album that doesn’t sound terribly dated even now, 33 years later.

The album itself was intended to have a title track bearing the name Sugar Tax, but it was not completed in time to be featured on the album, thus appearing later as a B-Side. While a good track, it doesn’t sound quite right next to the rest and perhaps that’s why it ran out of time – in our mind, the other B-sides, All She Wants is Everything and Area, sound more similar.