The Normal

Last updated

The Normal
Genres Industrial, synthpunk, minimal synth
Instrument(s)Korg 700s
Years active1978 (1978)–1980 (1980)
Labels Mute, Rough Trade, Sire/Warner Bros.
Past members Daniel Miller

The Normal is the recording artist name used by English music producer Daniel Miller, a film editor at the time, who is best known as the founder of the record label Mute Records.

Contents

Background

In 1977, Miller had split up with his girlfriend. A friend suggested that he read a book the friend himself had just finished. The book was Crash (1973) by J. G. Ballard. [1] He felt that Ballard's writing took him five minutes into the future; the novel was to be a major influence in the music he would produce as The Normal. [1] Miller was disillusioned by the fact you needed to learn three chords to be in a punk band, so he decided to purchase a synthesiser. His thinking was that you only needed to learn to press one key on a synthesiser. [1] After buying a Korg 700s synthesiser from Macari's music shop in London, [1] Miller recorded and released a single under the name The Normal. This was "T.V.O.D."/"Warm Leatherette". [2] Both tracks were minimalist electronic songs influenced by the Crash novel. [1] He wanted the sound of the recordings to be visual, like driving along a highway between large buildings then going through a tunnel. [1] The single was recorded in Daniel Miller's house [3] using a TEAC four track tape recorder and the Korg miniKORG 700S synthesiser.[ citation needed ]

"Live at West Runton Pavilion", The Normal's second release, done with another Mute Records act, Robert Rental, was not well received. A strange release, it was a one-sided album (side two was left blank) of improvised electronic noises, in a plain purple dust jacket. Marat Records released the record in Germany as Daniel Miller Robert Rental Live, with a black and white picture sleeve, catalogue No. Marat Rough 017.

Influence on other artists

Songs by The Normal have been covered and performed by many notable artists such as Grace Jones, Sleep Chamber, Laibach, Chicks on Speed/Hell on a split-7", Giddle and Boyd Rice and in 2006 by Trent Reznor with Jeordie White and Peter Murphy. "Warm Leatherette" was performed live by Duran Duran in November 2007 as part of an electro medley during their 2008 tour, [4] in support of their album Red Carpet Massacre .

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine Inch Nails</span> American industrial rock band

Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band until his frequent collaborator, Atticus Ross, joined in 2016. The band's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), was released via TVT Records. After disagreeing with TVT about how to promote the album, the band signed with Interscope Records and released the EP Broken (1992). The following albums, The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999), were released to critical acclaim and commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trent Reznor</span> Musical artist

Michael Trent Reznor is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which he founded in 1988 and of which he was the sole official member until 2016. The first Nine Inch Nails album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), was a commercial and critical success. Reznor has since released 11 more Nine Inch Nails studio albums.

Nothing Records was an American record label specializing in industrial rock and electronic music, founded by John Malm Jr. and Trent Reznor in 1992. It is considered an example of a vanity label, where an artist is able to run a label with some small degree of independence within a larger parent company, in this case the larger company being Interscope Records.

Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Fever Ray, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.

<i>Black Celebration</i> 1986 studio album by Depeche Mode

Black Celebration is the fifth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 17 March 1986 by Mute Records. Daniel Miller devised “a plan to capture the essence of the dark works that Martin Gore created because Martin Gore had no intention of compromising the mood that his demos had set. With the release of the album, Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones presented Black Celebration which they produced to be more like an environment rather than a collection of songs. Their production created “a tech-noir future dystopia” that “glitters of gloom.”

<i>With Teeth</i> 2005 studio album by Nine Inch Nails

With Teeth is the fourth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on May 3, 2005. The album was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and long-time collaborator Alan Moulder. It also features contributions from musician Dave Grohl and future band member Atticus Ross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fad Gadget</span> British electronic musician and vocalist

Francis John Tovey, known also by his stage name Fad Gadget, was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-structured songs with mechanised experimentation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warm Leatherette</span> 1978 single by the Normal

"Warm Leatherette" is a song by Daniel Miller's project the Normal, released in 1978.

Lucky Pierre is a new wave band, founded in Cleveland in 1974 by singer-songwriter, guitarist and the only constant member, Kevin McMahon. The initial line-up of the band included McMahon on vocals, John Guardico on guitar, Dennis DeVito on bass and Brian Dempsey on drums. The band has released a string of singles in between the late 1970s and early 1980s, before entering to a hiatus and reforming in 1988, with guitarist Rick Christyson and keyboardist Trent Reznor, the founder of the industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine Inch Nails live performances</span> Live performances by the band Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails, an American industrial rock band fronted by Trent Reznor, has toured all over the world since its creation in 1988. While Reznor—the only official member until adding Atticus Ross in 2016—controls its creative and musical direction in the studio, the touring band performs different arrangements of the songs. In addition to regular concerts, the band has performed in both supporting and headlining roles at festivals such as Woodstock '94, Lollapalooza 1991 and 2008, and many other one-off performances including the MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to their 2013 tour, the band had played 938 gigs.

<i>A One Man Show</i> 1982 film

A One Man Show is a long-form music video collection featuring Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released in 1982. The video mainly consists of music videos, with some concert footage filmed when Jones was touring with the eponymous tour.

Daniel Otto Joachim Miller is an English music producer and founder of Mute Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Rental</span> Musical artist

Robert Donnachie (1952–2000), known under the stage name of Robert Rental, was a British pioneer of the post-punk DIY industrial electronic music scene in the United Kingdom.

<i>Some Bizzare Album</i> 1981 compilation album by various artists

Some Bizzare Album is the first album issued by Some Bizzare Records. It was released in 1981 as a sampler of the label's musical ethos. The acts were not signed exclusively to the label at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self Destruct Tour</span> 1994–1996 concert tour by Nine Inch Nails

The Self Destruct Tour was a concert tour in support of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails' album The Downward Spiral, which took place in early 1994, running until mid-1996, and was broken into eight legs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Garson</span> Musical artist

Michael David Garson is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight, The Smashing Pumpkins and The Pretty Reckless.

Poppy & the Jezebels were a pop band based in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Members were Mollie Kingsley, Miss Amber Bradbury (guitar), Poppy Twist, and Dominique Vine.

<i>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</i> (soundtrack) 2011 film score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the score album for David Fincher's 2011 film of the same name, composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It was released on December 9, 2011, through The Null Corporation in the US and Mute Records outside North America. This is the second soundtrack that Reznor and Ross have worked on together, following the Oscar-winning The Social Network, also for Fincher.

"Nightclubbing" is a song written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop, first released by Iggy Pop on his debut solo studio album, The Idiot in 1977. It has been since considered "a career highlight", along with "Lust for Life" and has been covered by many artists. It is also extensively featured on other media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Strange Kind of Love</span> 1990 single by Peter Murphy

"A Strange Kind of Love" is a song by English musician Peter Murphy, from his third solo studio album, Deep (1989). Produced by Murphy himself and Simon Rogers, it was released as the third single off the album in 1990 through Beggars Banquet and RCA Records.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Synth Britannia - Documentary (BBC4 2 August 2010)
  2. ↑ Vicki Aubin (10 November 1997). "Short Circuits". CMJ New Music Report. CMJ Network, Inc.: 32–. ISSN   0890-0795.
  3. ↑ Mute Records (29 November 2010). "History". mute.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2006.
  4. ↑ "Set List: WaMu Theater - Seattle, WA". duranduranmusic.com. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.