Malcolm Holmes (born 28 July 1960 in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, England) is a British

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

. He is best known for being the original drummer with

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboar ...

Biography

Holmes’ first drumming sessions were for

the Id The Id were a new wave/ synthpop band from the Wirral, Merseyside, England formed in 1977. They are best recalled as the precursor to the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), in which Id members Andy McCluskey (bass, vocals), Paul Hu ...

, who included future members of OMD. He also played on sessions for

the Pale Fountains The Pale Fountains were an English band formed in Liverpool in 1980, and composed of Mick Head (vocalist/guitarist), Chris McCaffery (bassist), Thomas Whelan (drummer), trumpet player Andy Diagram (horns) and Ken Moss (Guitar/Bass). Diagram w ...

Dalek I Love You Dalek I Love You were a synthpop group from the Wirral, England. At various points in their existence, the band was also known as Dalek I. Record executives at Phonogram shortened the band's name without telling them for the "Freedom Fight ...

the Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based s ...

and

Margi Clarke Margi Clarke (born 25 May 1954) is an English actress and radio and television presenter. She had a leading role in the film ''Letter to Brezhnev'' (1985), a low-budget film which had an international release. Later, Clarke played Jackie Dobbs ...

, a.k.a. Margox in the late 1970s. He joined OMD in 1980. He played on over 130 of the band's songs as well contributing live performances at hundreds of OMD concerts. On his first ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' TV performance in 1980, he performed standing up, playing an electronic drum kit. He used a home made

electronic drum Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds ...

kit for live performances before they became available to the mass market. He rejoined OMD when they reformed in 2006. In July 2013, while touring with OMD in Toronto, in reported stage temperatures of above 45 degrees Celsius, he collapsed during a show. They subsequently left the stage, where Holmes' heart stopped. The band later announced the cancellation of the rest of their tour, which included a headlining slot at

Rewind Festival The Rewind Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Temple Island Meadows, Remenham, Berkshire near Henley-on-Thames, England, Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire, England, and Scone Palace, Perthshire in Scotland. It was first held in Au ...

in Scotland on 28 July 2013, his 53rd birthday. After making a steady recovery over the following months, Holmes has continued to work in the music industry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Malcolm 1960 births British male drummers English rock drummers English new wave musicians People from Birkenhead Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark members Living people