| Remote Control | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1979 [1] | |||
| Recorded | Music Annex Studios, Menlo Park, California | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 41:44 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Todd Rundgren | |||
| The Tubes chronology | ||||
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Remote Control is the fourth studio album released by the Tubes. This was their first to be produced by Todd Rundgren (the other being 1985's Love Bomb). It is a concept album about a television-addicted idiot savant.
Producer Todd Rundgren suggested that the next work be a concept album. Lead singer Fee Waybill sketched out a storyline based on his favorite book, Being There by Jerzy Kosinski. "It wasn't an original concept," he admits, but "I tried to make it more contemporary." Rundgren encouraged the musical adaptation, and thrust himself into the project, as was his style: "Every song has so much of him," marveled Prairie Prince. [2]
There are two versions of the song "Prime Time". Rundgren initially recorded it with Re Styles as the lead vocalist, but at the behest of Fee Waybill, edited it into a duet featuring both Styles and Waybill. The latter version, which also has slightly rearranged choruses, is what appeared on the original album and single.
The cover of Remote Control depicts a baby watching the popular game show Hollywood Squares in a specially made "Vidi-Trainer". The back cover is the show's game board with eight members of the Tubes each sitting in different squares. The lower right corner square remained unoccupied with the band's name on the front; the eight members crammed into this same square for a photo that was later used for the compact disc release of this album. (Three members of the band – Waybill, Spooner and Steen – appeared as panelists on the actual game show in the late 70s.)
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+ [4] |
| Smash Hits | 8/10 [5] |
Although Rolling Stone panned the album upon its release in 1979, calling it "drearily obvious and stale", [1] two years later the same magazine loved it, limiting its praise of the subsequent album, The Completion Backward Principle , by saying, good as it was, "topping Remote Control will be difficult." AllMusic gives it four out of five stars. [3] Crawdaddy called it "a pop/rock masterpiece."[ citation needed ] The Globe and Mail determined that "the Tubes are to rock music what Second City are to television – sure-handed satirists who take every opportunity to rip huge chunks of flesh from the hand of society that feeds them... Their music never falls short of the outrageous and devilishly clever." [6]
Smash Hits said the album was, "clever and attractive, good songs and production, and enough energy to shrivel any heavy metal band."" [7]
The track Prime Time made No. 34 in the UK singles chart. [8]
All songs written by Bill Spooner, Roger Steen, Prairie Prince, Vince Welnick, Michael Cotten, Rick Anderson, and Fee Waybill. [nb 1] Additional writers where noted.
In April 2013, Iconoclassic reissued Remote Control in full with bonus tracks, and an expansive booklet including comments from Fee Waybill, Michael Cotten and Bill Spooner. The reissue was mastered by Vic Anesini from the original master tapes and featured four tracks from the unreleased Suffer for Sound album. These tracks were self-produced as the follow-up to Remote Control and the finished album was rejected by A&M which released a compilation featuring only one track from Suffer for Sound instead.
Bonus tracks:
Additional personnel:
| Chart (1979) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) [9] | 70 |
| Canada (RPM) [10] | 53 |
| United Kingdom (Official Charts Company) [11] | 40 |
| United States (Billboard 200) [12] | 46 |
Charles Lempriere "Prairie" Prince is an American drummer and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the San Francisco–based rock group The Tubes, was a member of Jefferson Starship from 1992 to 2008 and has worked with a wide range of other performers as a session musician.
The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their self-titled 1975 debut album included the single "White Punks on Dope", while their 1983 single "She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early days of MTV. The band also performed in the 1980 film Xanadu, singing the rock portion of the cross-genre song "Dancin'" opposite a big band.
Young and Rich is the second studio album by The Tubes, released in 1976. It reached #46 on the Billboard 200.
The Completion Backward Principle is the fifth studio album by the American rock group the Tubes. It is the group's first for Capitol Records. It was accompanied by a long form music video release of the same name, although it did not contain all of the songs from the album. It is a concept album presented as a motivational business document. The album contains two hit singles, "Don't Want to Wait Anymore" and "Talk to Ya Later."
Outside Inside is the sixth studio album by the Tubes, released in 1983. It was the second album by the group to be released by Capitol Records. The album was produced by David Foster. The Tubes had their biggest radio hit with the single from this album, "She's a Beauty".
Love Bomb is the seventh studio album by the Tubes, and their second to be produced by Todd Rundgren. It was released in 1985 on Capitol Records. It is the last major-label release by the Tubes.
Something/Anything? is the third album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972. It was Rundgren's first album released under his own name, following two records credited to the quasi-group project Runt, and was also his first double album. It was recorded in late 1971 in Los Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. The album is divided into four sections focused on different stylistic themes; the first three parts were recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals in addition to producing. The final quarter contained a number of tracks recorded live in the studio without any overdubs, save for a short snippet of archive recordings from the 1960s.
Vincent Leo Welnick was an American keyboardist and singer-songwriter, best known for playing with the band The Tubes during the 1970s and 1980s and with the Grateful Dead in the 1990s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a member of the Grateful Dead.
We're an American Band is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad, credited as Grand Funk. The album was released by Capitol Records in July 1973, and was certified gold by the RIAA a little over a month after its release. Two singles were released from the album. The title track was the first single from the album released on July 2, 1973 and the second, "Walk Like a Man", was released on October 29, 1973. Both were sung by drummer Don Brewer. There was also an addition to the band's membership with this release - Craig Frost - who played the organ, clavinet and Moog. Prior to We're an American Band being released, Grand Funk Railroad had been a power trio. Craig was credited as an additional musician on Phoenix, which was released the previous year.
Nearly Human is a 1989 album by the rock musician Todd Rundgren, released by Warner Bros. Records. It was his first release in four years, although he had been active as a producer in the intervening years. Many of the album's songs deal with loss, self-doubt, jealousy and spiritual recovery. It was also the first collaboration between Rundgren and Michele Gray, a singer and ex-model who helped to organize the sessions. Gray sang backing vocals, both on the record and on subsequent tours, and the pair later married.
Missing Man Formation is an album by the rock band Missing Man Formation. Their only album, it was released by Grateful Dead Records on April 28, 1998.
The Tubes is the first album by the Tubes. Songs which received significant airplay from this album include "What Do You Want from Life?" and "White Punks on Dope", the latter of which peaked at number 28 on the UK singles chart. The album was dedicated to Bob McIntosh and Tom Donahue, the former of whom had originally played with the band until his death in 1973.
What Do You Want from Live is the debut live album released by The Tubes, and was recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.
2nd Wind is the thirteenth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in 1991 on Warner Bros. Records. It reached number 118 on the Billboard 200 album chart. 2nd Wind includes the single "Change Myself" and was Rundgren's final album on a major label until 2004's Liars.
John Waldo "Fee" Waybill is the lead singer and songwriter of San Francisco band The Tubes. Waybill has also worked with other acts, including Toto, Richard Marx, and Billy Sherwood.
Now is the third studio album released by The Tubes. It was produced by John Anthony. Fed up with constant meddling from Bud Scoppa and Don Wood under the direction of Bill Spooner including surreptitiously remixing a track when Anthony was not at the studio, Anthony was advised to leave the project by Jerry Moss. The head of A&M A&R Kip Cohen said that they took advantage of Anthony and believed that they overran the budget to increase their union fees. Bill Spooner took over and completed the project with the help of the engineer Wood and Scoppa.
Genius of America is the eighth studio album by American rock band the Tubes and marked their return to the studio for the first time since 1985's Love Bomb. The band self-produced the album and is their first body of work to include Gary Cambra. The album was released on October 15, 1996. A CD featuring re-mixed versions of the songs plus two bonus tracks was released in Europe in 1999 as Hoods from Outer Space.
Wild In London is the third live album by The Tubes which was released in 2005. It was recorded on December 6, 2004 at Londons' Shepherd's Bush Empire and features some newer Fee Waybill characters such as "Russell Chaps". The CD featured a guest appearance by Beki Bondage, who dueted with Fee Waybill on "Don't Touch Me There"
"She's a Beauty" is a song by American rock band the Tubes, released in 1983 on their album Outside Inside. Co-written by Fee Waybill, producer David Foster and Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, the song was inspired by Waybill's experience at a red light district in San Francisco. The music was largely written by Foster, who was also the source for the song's title.
T.R.A.S.H. is a compilation album by the rock band The Tubes, released in November 1981.