''Remote Control'' is the fourth studio album released by

the Tubes 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 ear ...

. This was their first to be produced by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

(the other being 1985's ''Love Bomb''). It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

about a television-addicted

idiot savant Savant syndrome ( , ) is a phenomenon where someone demonstrates exceptional aptitude in one domain, such as art or mathematics, despite significant social or intellectual impairment. Those with the condition generally have a neurodeve ...

Background

Producer Todd Rundgren suggested that the next work be a

. Lead singer

Fee Waybill John Waldo "Fee" Waybill (born September 17, 1950,) 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. Early life and education Waybil ...

sketched out a storyline based on his favorite book, ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satirical comedy-drama film starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, and Melvyn Douglas. Directed by Hal Ashby, it is based on the 1971 novel '' Being There'' by Jerzy Kosiński, and adapted for the scr ...

'' by

Jerzy Kosinski Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. Peop ...

. "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 Charles Lempriere "Prairie" Prince (born May 7, 1950) 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 ...

. There are two versions of the song "Prime Time". Rundgren initially recorded it with

Re Styles Re Styles (born Shirley Marie Macleod, 3 March 1950 – 17 April 2022) was a singer, designer and actor best known as a member of The Tubes. Styles has been said to have been born in either The Netherlands or in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, U.S.A. He ...

as the lead vocalist, but at the behest of

, 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.

Packaging

The cover of ''Remote Control'' depicts a baby watching the popular game show ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'', later stylized as ''H2: Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a ...

'' 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 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 ...

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.)

Reception

Although ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' panned the album upon its release in 1979, calling it "drearily obvious and stale", two years later the same magazine loved it, limiting its praise of the subsequent album, ''

The Completion Backward Principle ''The Completion Backward Principle'' is the fifth studio album by the American rock band 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 ...

'', by saying, good as it was, "topping ''Remote Control'' will be difficult." AllMusic gives it four out of five stars. ''Crawdaddy'' called it "a pop/rock masterpiece." ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' 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." ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' said the album was, "clever and attractive, good songs and production, and enough energy to shrivel any heavy metal band."" The track ''Prime Time'' made No. 34 in the UK singles chart.Roberts, David (2006). ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 568.

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Spooner, Roger Steen,

Vince Welnick Vincent Leo Welnick (February 21, 1951 – June 2, 2006) 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 ...

, Michael Cotten, Rick Anderson, and

. Additional writers where noted. #"Turn Me On" – 4:10 #"T.V. is King" – 3:08 (

) #"Prime Time" – 3:15 #"I Want It All Now" – 4:27 #"No Way Out" – 3:22 #"Getoverture" (instrumental) – 3:23 #"No Mercy" – 3:27 #"Only the Strong Survive" – 3:54 #"Be Mine Tonight" – 3:30 #"Love's a Mystery (I Don't Understand)" – 3:27 (Rundgren) #"Telecide" – 5:41

2013 CD reissue

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: #"Dreams Come True" #"Dangerous" #"Don't Ask Me" #"Holy War"

Personnel

- vocals * Bill Spooner - guitar, vocals *Michael Cotten - synthesizer *

Mingo Lewis James "Mingo" Lewis (born 8 December 1953) is an American percussionist and drummer who played with Santana, Al Di Meola (he was a band member for Di Meola's first five albums), Return to Forever, and The Tubes. Playing Lewis plays congas, bong ...

- percussion *

- drums *Roger Steen - guitar, vocals *

- vocals *

- keyboards *Rick Anderson - bass Additional personnel: *

- producer, guitar, keyboards *

Lenny Pickett Lenny Pickett (born April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist and musical director of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band.

- saxophone solo on “No Mercy”

Charts

References

Notes

{{Authority control The Tubes albums, Remote Control (album) Remote Control (album) Albums produced by Todd Rundgren A&M Records albums 1970s concept albums