Daniel Miller is, above all, the founder of Mute Records. He has also produced a number of bands, most notably Depeche Mode, and recorded several of his own projects. The most notable of his recorded output is The Normal, who apart from a bizarre single-sided live EP with Robert Rental, released only one single, the ridiculously influential Warm Leatherette with T.V.O.D. on the flip side. Clearly influenced by J.G. Ballard's Crash, Warm Leatherette is a sick sexual trip about getting it on in a car crash. That might be over-simplifying things, but it's still fairly accurate. T.V.O.D., while not explicitly linked to any pre-existing content, is about plugging yourself directly into a television signal with your antenna/aerial. By today's standards, these songs aren't all that shocking, but they get Miller credit for being an early example of popular music being created with minimal electronic equipment.
Miller also recorded as Silicon Teens, labeling that moniker a band and even coming up with fake members. Next week I'll post their sole full-length, Music For Parties. It's very much in the same vein production-wise as The Normal, but instead focuses on synth-pop covers of early rock classics like Memphis, Tennessee and You Really Got Me.
This is transferred from a US promotional 12" with each song on an individual side. I don't know why they bothered to press a 12" for such short tracks when a 7" would have done just fine, but someone must have thought a DJ might cue these in a live set and would prefer a larger record. Really though, who knows? If you're curious, here are links to the discogs reference for this single and the pressing these files were made from. Enjoy!
The Normal - Warm Leatherette / T.V.O.D.
PS - Grace Jones recorded an excellent cover of Warm Leatherette in 1980 that's very funky. You can download it HERE. She's not the only one to cover it, either. Check the wikipedia reference for a list of additional artists who have covered it.
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