Tik and Tok are the robotic

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Messa ...

and music duo of Tim Dry and Sean Crawford. They began performing together with

Shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emerge ...

, a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe in the early 1980s with

Barbie Wilde Barbie Wilde is a Canadian-born British actress and writer, perhaps best known for appearing as the Female Cenobite in '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' (1988) – the second of ten Hellraiser films based on Clive Barker's novella, ''The Hellbound ...

, Robert Pereno, L.A. Richards and

Carole Caplin Carole Caplin (born 8 January 1962) was the style adviser to Cherie Blair and a fitness adviser to Tony Blair, when he was the British prime minister. She was controversial because of her relationship with the convicted conman Peter Foster. Ear ...

. Shock's first record "Angel Face", with production by

Rusty Egan Rusty Egan (born 19 September 1957 in London) is the former drummer for the British new wave band Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock (bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals), with Steve New (g ...

and

Richard James Burgess Richard James Burgess (born 29 June 1949) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. Burgess's music career spans more than 50 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s a ...

, was a modest dance floor hit. In 1981, Shock co-starred with

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

at the 'People's Palace Valentine's Ball' at the

Rainbow Theatre The Rainbow Theatre, originally known as the Finsbury Park Astoria, is a Grade II*-listed building in Finsbury Park, London. The theatre was built in 1930 as a cinema. It later became a music venue. Today, the building is used by the Universa ...

. Shock went on to support

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his ...

at his

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-se ...

shows in April, 1981. They eventually broke up and reformed as a foursome with Wilde, Dry, Crawford and Caplin and released the single, "Dynamo Beat", on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

. However, soon after Dry and Crawford left to form Tik and Tok. Tik and Tok, having perfected a form of mime movement called 'robotics', appeared on

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising ...

mes including ''

The Royal Variety Show The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British roya ...

'' in 1983 and '' The Tube''. They supported

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band wen ...

at the

Birmingham Odeon The Birmingham Odeon is a Movie theater, cinema and former concert venue, located in Birmingham, England. History It originally opened in 1937 as the Paramount Theatre, featuring a seating capacity of 2,439. It was built on land made vacant by ...

in 1982, worked with

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

at his home studio, and were themselves supported by a fledgling

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

. They released five

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

and an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

on the Survival

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

in the UK,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and Japan. Three of these singles were

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

on the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the re ...

, "Screen Me I'm Yours" being the most successful, reaching No. 17. Their second single, "Cool Running", peaked at No. 69 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. They went to Tokyo and Germany for live performances and, in 1982, were featured as costumed actors in the film ''

Xtro ''Xtro'' is a 1983 British science fiction horror film directed by Harry Bromley Davenport. Starring Bernice Stegers, Philip Sayer, and Simon Nash, the film focuses on a father who was abducted by aliens and returns to his family three years ...

'', followed by the third

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

film ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who w ...

'' in 1983. They were also the support act on

's 'Warriors' tour in late 1983. In 2003, Dry and Crawford were invited to be guests at the first of an ongoing series of Star Wars autograph conventions worldwide, as a result of their roles in ''Return Of The Jedi.'' This led to them coming back together as Tik and Tok after 20 years, and releasing an album titled ''Dream Orphans''. Tik and Tok then appeared at the 2006 Elektrofest, at Koko in London.

Discography

Albums

*''Intolerance'' (1984) Survival Records - UK No. 89 *''Dream Orphans'' (2007) Self-released CD *''Intolerance'' (2018) OTB Records vinyl reissue

Singles and EPs

*"Summer in the City" / "Crisis" (1982) Survival Records *"Cool Running" / "Vile Bodies" (1983) Survival Records - UK No. 69 *"Screen Me, I'm Yours" / "Dangerous and Unafraid" (1984) Survival Records *"Everything Will Change" / "Cracking Up" (1984) Survival Records *"Higher Ground" / "Down From The Sky" (1984) Survival Records *"Tik & Tok EP" (2004) Rephlex label (12" vinyl only) *"Slightly Deranged EP" (2006) Self-released CD-R *"Intolerance Xtras EP" (2006) Self-released CD-R *"Vintage Lo-Fi EP" (2006) Self-released CD-R

Compilations

*''Intolerance: The Very Best of 1982-1984'' (2006) Self-released

CD-R CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times. CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the int ...

*''Intolerance 2 Mega'' (2015) download only. *''Definitive'' (2019) Self-released limited edition 2xCD compilation of all recorded work from 1982-1984

References

Bibliography

*''Praying To The Aliens'' by Gary Numan and Steve Malins. Andre Deutsch 1997. *''Duran Duran - Notorious'' by Steve Malins. Andre Deutsch 2005. *''Falling Upwards - Scenes From A Life'' by Tim Dry. Exposure Publishing. 2005.

External links

Tik and Tok

Tim Dry

Tik & Tok on Discogs

Numanme Tik and Tok page
{{Authority control British mimes English electronic music duos