Dalek I Love You were a

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

group from

the Wirral The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpool ...

, England. At various points in their existence, the band was also known as Dalek I. Record executives at

Phonogram Phonogram may refer to: * A sound recording – see Geneva Phonograms Convention * ''Phonogram'' (comics), a comic book by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie * Phonogram (linguistics), a grapheme which represents a phoneme or a combination of phon ...

shortened the band's name without telling them for the "Freedom Fighters" single.

History

Roots: Mr. McKenzie and Radio Blank

By the mid-1970s,

David Balfe David Balfe (born 1958) is an English musician and record company executive, most notable for playing keyboards with the Teardrop Explodes, founding the Zoo and Food independent record labels, signing Blur and for being the subject of thei ...

Alan Gill Alan David Gill is an English vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, who formed part of the synthpop band Dalek I Love You and the post-punk/neo-psychedelic band the Teardrop Explodes. Biography Early career Living in Thingwall, Wirral, he fo ...

and Keith Hartley, three residents of

Thingwall Thingwall is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside, England. The village is situated approximately to the south west of Birkenhead and north east of Heswall. Historically part of Cheshire, the area is within the Pensby and Thingw ...

on the

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

, were playing in a 'pub covers' band called Mr. McKenzie. In November 1976, as

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

emerged and inspired them, the group changed their name to Radio Blank. The new line-up consisted of Balfe (bass), Gill (guitar and vocals), Hartley (lead vocals and guitar), and Stephen Brick (drums). They played their own material and also some covers, such as "

You Really Got Me "You Really Got Me" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks, written by frontman Ray Davies and released as their third single in 1964. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead B ...

" and "

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...

". Five of their 15 live gigs were at

Eric's Club Eric's Club is a music club in Liverpool, England. It opened on 1 October 1976 in the basement of The Fruit Exchange Building in Victoria Street, with performances by The Runaways and The Sex Pistols (their only Liverpool gig) before soon mo ...

in Liverpool. Balfe and Gill lost interest in punk towards the end of 1977, and dissolved the band to form a more experimental project.

First years (1977–1980)

In December 1977, Balfe and Gill, influenced by

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

, formed Dalek I Love You. The name was a compromise: Balfe wanted to call the band the

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of extremely xenophobic mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in th ...

(after the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' villains), while Gill wanted to call the band Darling, I Love You. The other founding member was

Dave Hughes David William Hughes is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter. He is known for his larrikin personality, drawling Australian accent, and deadpan comedic delivery. Hughes has previously been co-host of '' Hughesy & K ...

(keyboards). In August 1978, the band were joined by Martin Cooper (saxophone),

Andy McCluskey George Andrew McCluskey (born 24 June 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer and bass guitarist of the electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he founded ...

(lead vocals and bass, who was previously in the Id), and his Id bandmate,

Paul Humphreys Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the keyboardist and secondary vocalist of the Electronic music, electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he f ...

on keyboards, along with poets Gordon Hon (aka "The Worm") and Max the Actor. In September, McCluskey quit with

to form

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...

. Later in 1978, Balfe left the group (to start Zoo Records in Liverpool and manage The Teardrop Explodes &

Echo And The Bunnymen Echo & the Bunnymen are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson. By 1980, Pete de Freitas joined as the band's drummer. ...

, having met his business partner

Bill Drummond William Ernest Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was a co-founder of the late-1980s avant-garde pop group the KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with wh ...

when he played in Big in Japan at the same time as being in Dalek I Love you. Later Balfe joined

the Teardrop Explodes The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single " Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. ...

on keyboards.) By October 1978, only Gill and Hughes remained in the band. As a duo, they signed to Inevitable Records. A demo of "Freedom Fighters" attracted the interest of

Phonogram Records Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens AG of Germany. It was a holding company f ...

, who then signed them. However, Phonogram shortened the name of the band to Dalek I for the initial releases, and wanted to change the chords of "Freedom Fighters". On 16 July 1979, Dalek I released their first single, "Freedom Fighters", on Phonogram's

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a British record company. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Universal Music Group#B ...

subsidiary, containing the eponymous song and

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

"Two Chameleons". It was followed by "The World" (2 October 1979) on Vertigo, and "Dalek I Love You (Destiny)" (1 May 1980), on the Back Door subsidiary, founded by the Blitz Brothers. The latter duo, composed of

Chris Hughes Christopher Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The ...

and Paul Collister (OMD's then-manager), produced the singles under that name. Dalek I's debut album, ''

Compass Kumpas ''Compass Kumpas'' (aka ''Compass kum'pəs'') was the first album from Dalek I Love You, shortened to Dalek I for this album and accompanying singles. It was released on May 24, 1980, by Back Door/Phonogram records. In 1983, the band recorded a ...

'' (stylized as ''Compass kum'pəs''), was released 24 May 1980 on Back Door/Phonogram. It was critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful. By the time of the album's release, Gill was the only remaining member, maintaining the Dalek I Love You name (Dave Hughes having left to join OMD, and then forming the duo Godot with Hartley). The project soon went on hiatus and Gill joined the Teardrop Explodes in July 1980, replacing Mick Finkler. Gill contributed two important things to the band: their most successful single, " Reward", which he co-wrote, and

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

, which he introduced to frontman

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

. His stay with the band was short-lived.

Reformation

By 1981, Gill had reformed Dalek I Love You, with himself as the sole member. He was augmented by Hugh Jones and Chuca Russo on vocal harmonies, and

on drums for the recording of a single, "Heartbeat", released on 28 February 1981 by Back Door. By 1983, the band consisted of Gill and returning members Hartley, Hon and Peers, with backing vocalists Chuca Russo, Heather Balshaw and Amanda Hon (née Hawkins). They released an eponymously titled

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

in November 1983 on the Korova label. Hon left for London to study fine art. Gill continued making and recording music with local artists, starting his own cassette-only label, Bop a Dub. In 1985, the band released the cassette-only ''

Naive Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may b ...

'' and effectively disbanded shortly afterwards. The band's first two albums were reissued in the UK on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

, ''Compass Kumpas'' in 1989 by

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Fontana Distribution, an independent label distributor, takes its name from the label. History Fontana began in the 1950s as a subsidi ...

(with four bonus tracks), and ''Dalek I Love You'' in 2007 by Korova (in a remastered and expanded edition).

Legacy

The band inspired the title of ''

Dalek I Love You Dalek I Love You were a synthpop group from the Wirral, England. At various points in their existence, the band was also known as Dalek I. Record executives at Phonogram shortened the band's name without telling them for the "Freedom Fight ...

,'' a

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

which premiered on the British

digital radio Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services. This should not be confused with In ...

station

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

on 11 February 2006. The story centred on a man obsessed with ''

'' who falls in love at a

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction subgenre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of ex ...

. A sequel was produced in 2008 entitled Dalek, I Love You Too. The band also inspired the title of ''Dalek I Loved You'', an autobiography by the journalist Nick Griffiths about his life as a ''Doctor Who'' fan, published in 2007.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1980, Back Door/

) UK No. 54 * ''

'' (1983, Korova) * ''Naive''

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

only (1985, Bop a Dub)

Singles

* "Freedom Fighters" () ** 7": Vertigo/Phonogram DALEK 1 * "The World" () ** 7": Vertigo/Phonogram DALEK 2 * "Dalek I Love You (Destiny)" () ** 7": Back Door/Phonogram DOOR 005 * "Heartbeat" () ** 7": Back Door/Phonogram DOOR 10 ** 12": Back Door/Phonogram DOOR 10-12 * "Holiday in Disneyland" () ** 7": Korova/WEA KOW 25 ** 12": Korova/WEA KOW 25T * "Ambition" () ** 7": Korova/WEA KOW 29 ** 12": Korova/WEA KOW 29T * "Horrorscope" () ** 7": Korova/WEA KOW 31 ** 12": Korova/WEA KOW 31T

Compilation appearances

* "Dalek I Love You (Destiny)" on ''Machines'' (1980,

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

) * "Dalek I Love You", "Freedom Fighters" and "The World" on ''Thru' the Back Door'' (1980, Mercury) * "A Suicide" on ''To the Shores Of Lake Placid'' (1982,

Zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

) * "Freedom Fighters" (demo version) on ''Small Hits & Near Misses/The Inevitable Compilation'' (1984, Inevitable/

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

) * "Everything I Do" on '' Liverpool...All of This & Heaven Too'' (1990, Homar) * "Holiday in Disneyland" on ''North by North West - Departure 1976 Arrival 1984'' (2006, Korova)

References

External links

Dalekiloveyou.com - fansite

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalek I Love You English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups from Merseyside English synth-pop new wave groups Phonogram Inc. artists Vertigo Records artists English synth-pop groups