The Id was a new wave/synthpop band from the Wirral,
Merseyside, England formed in September 1977 by school and college friends Andy
McCluskey (bass, vocals), Julia Kneale (vocals), Neill Shenton (guitar), John
Floyd (vocals), Malcolm Holmes (drums), Steve Hollas (bass), Gary Hodgson
(guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards). McCluskey and Humphreys had met each
other at school, sharing interests in early electronic artists like Brian Eno
and Kraftwerk and played together since 1975. Humphreys went to study
electronics at Riversdale College, in Liverpool, where he met Steve Hollas and
Gary Hodgson. The alignment was large, but lasted briefly, because Kneale,
Shenton and Floyd quit very soon. The group began to gig regularly in the
Merseyside area, performing original material largely written by McCluskey and
Humphreys. They had quite a following on the scene.
In early 1978 The Id recorded some demos at the Open Eye
studio in Liverpool after some advice from Eric's Club owner Roger Eagle. The
three songs were "Electricity", "Julia's Song" and
"The Misunderstanding". The Open Eye recordings of The Id were later
released in December 2002 as an EP by Engine Records. In August 1978 the band
split up. McCluskey joined Dalek I Love You the same month, but left within a
month to reunite with Humphreys to form Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
(OMD). In August 1979, a year after the band broke up; "Julia's Song"
was included on a compilation record of local bands called Street to Street: A
Liverpool Album. Other contributors were Big in Japan, Jaqui & Jeanette,
Modern Eon, Activity Minimal, Dead Trout, Tontrix, The Accelerators, Malchix,
Fun, The Moderates, and Echo & the Bunnymen. Radio One DJ John Peel, who
contributed sleeve notes to the LP, played "Julia's Song" on his
programme on 14 August 1980.
The three songs from the Open Eye sessions were
re-recorded by OMD for their eponymous debut album in 1980 and
"Electricity" was released as the first single. Holmes reunited with
McCluskey and Humphreys in 1980 to record the Organisation album and became a
member of OMD.