"Tesla Girls" 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...

 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 third single taken from their 1984 album, Junk Culture

Junk Culture (album)

Junk Culture is the fifth album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released in 1984. It is most noteworthy for being the last OMD album to receive acclaim in the UK.The cover artwork was designed by Peter Saville....

(see 1984 in music

1984 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...

).

The single performed poorer than expected mainly due to a lack of media coverage. Controversy surrounded the song's video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

, which some in the media had slammed as 'sexist'.
In fact, the video, which was largely 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 ....

's idea, was lampooning the style of American music videos the band was pressured into making by Virgin Records

Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

 in the hope of breaking into the U.S. market. He believed that American music videos relied heavily on attractive young female models posing and preening in front of the camera.

While no one but the band appeared to get the joke, a furor did develop. It was the last time Virgin Records interfered with the style of videos of the band's singles.

The song featured in the 1985 film Weird Science

Weird Science (film)

Weird Science is a 1985 American teen comedy film written and directed by John Hughes and starring Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, and Kelly LeBrock...

.

B-sides

The live version of "Telegraph

Telegraph (song)

"Telegraph" is a song by British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released as the second single from their studio album Dazzle Ships. "Telegraph" had originally been considered as the first release, but not being happy with the mix and, with pressure from Virgin, the band opted for "Genetic...

" was recorded in 1983 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London. "Telegraph" was the second and final single from their fourth studio album, Dazzle Ships

Dazzle Ships (album)

The "Manor Version" of "Telegraph" was recorded at the same time as Architecture & Morality. "Swiss Radio International" was dropped from the album at the last minute...

. The other B-side, "Garden City", was only released on the 12" vinyl

12-inch single

The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...

 and cassette single

Cassette single

A cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette.- History :...

 versions. "Garden City" was featured on the B-sides album Navigation: The OMD B-Sides

Navigation: The OMD B-Sides

Navigation: The OMD B-Sides is a compilation album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark . It was released in 2001 by Virgin Records and contains a variety of B-sides from their DinDisc and Virgin output.-Reception:...

, released in 2001.

Track listing

7" and 7" picture disc

1. "Tesla Girls" - 3:26
2. "Telegraph (Live)" - 3:57

First 12"

1. "Tesla Girls (Extended Version)" - 4:35
2. "Garden City" - 4:05
3. "Telegraph (Live)" - 3:57

Second 12" and Cassette

1. "Tesla Girls (Extra Remix) - 3:37
2. "Garden City" - 4:05
3. "Telegraph (Live)" - 3:57
4. "Tesla Girls (Extended Version)" - 4:35

Chart performance

> >

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Ireland (IRMA 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... )	21