A SPECIAL exhibition celebrating 40 years since the formation of Wirral band OMD opens at Liverpool's British Music Experience in October.

Souvenir: 40 Years of OMD - a tribute to the legacy of the Wirral synth-pop pioneers who have sold an impressive 25 million singles and 15 million albums - opens to the public on Friday, October 11.

It features the band's instruments, stage outfits, prints, posters as well as co-founder Andy McCluskey's personal binders full of ideas, photos and press cuttings.

On display is also the Vox Jaguar Organ on which Paul Humphreys played Electricity, Messages and Enola Gay and the 1974 Fender Jazz Bass played by Andy on Enola Gay, Messages, Souvenir, Joan of Arc and Tesla Girls.

There will also be short film featuring live footage of the band on the main stage screen at regular intervals throughout the day, and interactives letting you hear how the iconic instruments on display sounded in the original recordings.

The exhibition is the latest instalment in the band’s 40th anniversary celebrations which included the reissue of their first four classic albums on 180g vinyl, followed by a world tour which starts in Portugal in October and finishes in Paris in 2021.

A special, sold out Q&A session with OMD co-founders Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys will take place the evening before it opens to the public (Thursday, October 10).

The exhibition closes on January 5, 2020.

Andy McCluskey said: "A one-off concert at Eric's Club in Mathew Street in October 1978 just to satisfy our need to be able to say "at least played our crazy songs live", turned into a remarkable 40-year odyssey.

"We are honoured to have an exhibition at BME in Liverpool celebrating the journey from a two-piece experimental band with a borrowed tape recorder, through all the hits and world tours.

"It is incredible to look back at the primitive instruments on display and remember that it was with this miscellaneous collection of decaying junk that we set out to change the world!"

Harvey Goldsmith, CBE, chair of the Trustees for the British Music Experience said: "This much-loved band formed in Wirral will shine a light on the extremely popular electronic synth music of the '80s.

"A must for all fans."

Tickets for the exhibit are from the venue or www.britishmusicexperience.com