Pandora's Box

Possibly the only pop song to have been written about cult silent-film flapper celebrity Louise Brooks, Orchestral Maneouvres in the Dark's 1991 single 'Pandora's Box' was a surprise top ten hit for the veteran synth-pop outfit, and one of the more accessible numbers in a rather ornery discography that contains songs about nuclear warfare, genetic engineering and Catholic martyrs. Neatly packaged in a straightforward, house-inflected synth-pop guise, 'Pandora's Box' also boasted some rather empathic lyrics about the tragic star, who was beset by scandals of all sorts during her truncated career. Check out the atmospheric video clip, which intersperses clips of frontman Andy McCluskey in performance with footage from one of Brooks's more notorious pictures, the titular 'Pandora's Box'.