" Live and Die" is a song by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 synthpop

Synthpop

Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

 band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...

, released as the first single taken from their 1986 album, The Pacific Age

The Pacific Age

The Pacific Age is the seventh album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released in 1986. " Live and Die" became the group's third hit single in the US and returned the group to the top 20 in the UK, peaking at #11, but the album sold poorly in both countries.The Pacific Age was Stephen Hague's...

. Paul Humphreys

Paul Humphreys

Paul Humphreys is a British musician.-Life and career:He is best known as a member of synth pop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark , which he founded with Andy McCluskey in 1978.He grew up on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England, during which time he developed his interest in German...

 provides the lead vocals, as he did on OMD's 1981 UK #3 hit "Souvenir".

The song demonstrates the typical 1980s pop sound, with recurring synthesized melodic chords, bass-driven hooks and an instrumental horn section. The original remix of the 12" (Forever) Live and Die by John 'Tokes' Potoker was withdrawn because the band didn't like it. Virgin records had already printed up 5,000 sleeves crediting the remix, and some of the actual remixes did make it into the shops. It was subsequently replaced with a remix by Tom Lord-Alge

Tom Lord-Alge

Tom Lord-Alge is a four-time Grammy Award–winning record producer and mixer. He is the youngest of Vivian Lord's five children, Mark Lord-Alge, Lisa Lord-Alge, Chris Lord-Alge, Jeff Lord-Alge and Tom Lord-Alge...

.

Track listing

7" and 7" picture disc

1. "(Forever) Live and Die" - 3:36
2. "This Town" - 3:44

First 12"

1. "(Forever) Live And Die (John "Tokes" Potoker - Extended Mix)" - 5:45
2. "(Forever) Live And Die (7" Version)" - 3:36
3. "This Town" - 3:44

Second 12"

1. "(Forever) Live And Die (Tom Lord-Alge - Extended Remix)" - 5:50
2. "(Forever) Live And Die (7" Version)" - 3:36
3. "This Town" - 3:44

Chart performance

The single charted at #11 in the UK and became OMD's second US hit, peaking at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. It was a top 10 single in several European countries and Canada. It was the last single to peak inside the UK Top 20 before the band split in 1989, and Andy McCluskey

Andy McCluskey

George Andrew "Andy" McCluskey is the lead singer, bass guitarist, and primary songwriter for the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark ....

 continued OMD on his own.

Chart (1986/7)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	19
Austrian Singles Chart	5
Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....	10
Dutch GfK GfK The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health...  chart	5
Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	3
German Singles Chart	8
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	13
Swiss Singles Chart	9
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	11
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	19
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes...	37
US Billboard Adult Contemporary Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...	25