''Telekon'' is the second solo studio album by the English
new wave musician
Gary Numan
Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...
. It debuted at the top of the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
in September 1980, making it his third consecutive (and to date, final) No. 1 album. It was also the third and final studio release of what Numan retrospectively termed the "machine" section of his career, following ''
Replicas
A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...
'' and ''
The Pleasure Principle'' (both 1979).
Music and lyrics
In contrast to Numan's previous album ''
The Pleasure Principle'', ''Telekon'' featured heavy use of guitars and a richer, more complex sound with a broadened use of different synthesizers in combination with viola and violin. The album's sound ranges from heavier tracks such as "I'm an Agent" and "The Joy Circuit" to more sombre, melancholic songs such as "Sleep by Windows" and "Remember I Was Vapour". Lyrically the album mixed dystopian themes on tracks such as "I Dream of Wires" and "The Joy Circuit", with more personal lyrics such as "Remind Me to Smile" and "Please Push No More" that dealt with Numan's feelings about his sudden fame and relationship with his fans.
Several songs such as "Remember I Was Vapour" and "Please Push No More" suggests a goodbye, hinting at Numan's retirement from live work a few months later. "The whole album's got that little hint of goodbye in it", Numan confirmed in a 1981 interview, "In 'This Wreckage' the Japanese writing says 'I leave you'."
Title and recording
In an interview with ''
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 ...
'' magazine in November 1979 Numan hinted on initial plans that his next album ''Telekon'' was going to be about
telekinesis
Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...
.
The recording of the album was reported to be nearly finished already in December 1979, but the release was held back to September 1980 due to Numan's one album a year contract with
Beggars Banquet.
The sessions also yielded the song "A Game Called Echo" which was not included on the finished album.
Releases and promoting
''Telekon'' was released in September 1980. To boost initial sales in the UK, on first release the album came with a free single, in a plain black sleeve, including two live recordings from 'The Touring Principle' tour; "Remember I Was Vapour" and "
On Broadway". A year later, in an attempt to further boost sales, the album came with a free poster in the UK using a photo taken from the main Telekon photo-shoot. The cassette release included the singles "
We Are Glass" and "
I Die: You Die" which were not on the vinyl LP.
A number of Dutch releases were pressed on coloured vinyl. The US, Canadian and Australian releases replaced the track "Sleep by Windows" with "I Die: You Die". The album was released on vinyl and cassette in Japan.
Singles
''Telekon'' was preceded by the two singles "
We Are Glass" and "
I Die: You Die", which were only included on the cassette release of ''Telekon'' and on later reissues. The album's opening number, "
This Wreckage" succeeded the album and upon its release in December 1980, the single peaked at No. 20 in the UK. Numan later admitted that, regardless of its merits as a song, it was a "bloody stupid single". The live version of "
Remember I Was Vapour", released as a bonus single with the UK album, was released as a 12" single in Germany with the studio version on the B-side. "Remind Me to Smile" was released as a US single with "I Dream of Wires''"'' on the B-side. "Remember I Was Vapour" was also released as a 7" single with "
On Broadway (Live)" as the B-side.
The Teletour
From September to November 1980, Numan toured the UK and North America in support of ''Telekon''. The tour was followed by three "farewell concerts" at
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...
in April 1981 with guest
Nash the Slash
James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and Electric mandolin, mandol ...
.
Classic Album Tour and ''Micromusic'' DVD
In December 2006, Numan undertook a ''Telekon'' "Classic Album" tour, comprising four concerts in the UK in which he played all the songs from the ''Telekon'' album, as well as its associated singles and B-sides. On the 2CD ''EKO: The Telekon 06 Audio Programme'' (sold at the 2006 ''Telekon'' gigs and from Numan's website), Numan discussed (with interviewer Steve Malins) the making of ''Telekon'', revealing that it is his favourite of his "early albums." Numan followed the 2006 tour with further "Classic Album" tours, for ''
Replicas
A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...
'' in 2008 and ''
The Pleasure Principle'' in 2009.
In 2006, Numan promised fans a DVD release of the 1981 ''Micromusic'' video. On his official website in October 2008, Numan announced that the long-lost master tapes of the ''Micromusic'' concert had been found, "in excellent condition and, to make things even better, more footage has been found from two other camera positions that were not used on the original version. This new footage will be edited into a new updated version...We expect this to be, with all the extra footage and interviews, a double disc DVD." On 19 March 2010, Numan announced that the ''Micromusic'' DVD would be released on 13 April. ''Micromusic'' was released on that date as a one-disc DVD; in addition to the concert itself, the DVD featured an hour-long interview with Numan as a special feature.
Critical reception and legacy
Like Numan's previous album, ''Telekon'' received a largely hostile reception in the British music press on its release, but has proved to be an influential work cited as a major influence by musicians such as Trent Reznor of
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
and Stephen Merritt of
Magnetic Fields
A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...
.
Upon its release in 1980, ''Smash Hits'' reviewer Red Starr found ''Telekon'' to be "better than ''
The Pleasure Principle'' but not so good as ''
Replicas
A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...
''" and that Numan was "recycling old ideas instead of pioneering new ones."
In a retrospective review for
Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...
in 1999, Michael Sandlin wrote: "On Telekon, Numan is a master texturalist, skilled in creating synth parts that perfectly coalesce and swim melodically around each other; an interplay much like Television innovated in the mid-1970s using guitars. He works wonders with his arsenal of simple synthesizer effects. He also utilizes acoustic piano, and occasionally integrates electric violas, violins, and flecks of distorted rhythm guitar. And he uses this many- sided approach to optimal effect; the piano and synthesizers trade off carrying melody and countermelody, while some Moog parts are used expressly for atmospheric effect or layered to build the rhythmic girth of a song. Numan's ideas no doubt serve as a template of sorts, and many of these compositions have more than withstood the trials of time. Many of today's legions of sample- happy, MIDI- obsessed nerds claim to have learned a thing or two from Numan's intelligent compositional craft."
Cultural references
''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' used the track title "I Dream of Wires" as the name for a fictitious
synth-pop
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 b ...
act about which they published a series of spoof articles in early 1995, culminating in reports of the alleged band's death in a coach crash in Eastern Europe.
"I Dream of Wires" was covered by English singer
Robert Palmer on his 1980 studio album ''
Clues'', featuring Numan on keyboards and synthesisers.
"I'm an Agent" was covered by English
pop punk
Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...
band
Kenickie
Kenickie were an English four-piece pop punk band from Sunderland. The band was formed in 1994 and consisted of lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist Lauren Laverne (b. Lauren Gofton), drummer Johnny X (real name Pete Gofton, Lauren's brothe ...
as a bonus CD track on CD1 of their January 1997 number 24 hit single "In Your Car".
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Gary Numan except for "
Trois Gymnopédies (First Movement)", which is a composition by
Erik Satie
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...
.
LP
The vinyl album also included a 7" single:
A-side - "Remember I Was Vapour (Live)"
B-side - "On Broadway (Live)"
Cassette
1998 CD reissue
* Subsequent digital issues of ''Telekon'' revert to the original intro mix for "Remind Me to Smile".
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Personnel
Musicians
*
Gary Numan
Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...
–
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
Minimoog
The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...
,
Polymoog
The Polymoog is a hybrid polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to electronic organs and string synthesizers of the time.
Histor ...
,
ARP Pro Soloist
The ARP Pro Soloist was one of the first commercially successful preset synthesizers. Introduced by ARP Instruments, Inc. in 1972, it replaced the similar ARP Soloist (19701971) in the company's lineup of portable performance instruments.
Histor ...
,
Roland Jupiter-4
The Roland Jupiter-4 (JP-4) was an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1978 and 1981. It was notable as the company's first self-contained polyphony (instrument), polyphonic synthesizer, and for employing digita ...
,
Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977. It was the first polyphonic synthesizer with fully programmable memory.
Before the Prophet-5, synt ...
,
Yamaha CP-30,
Roland CR-78
The Roland CompuRhythm CR-78 is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation that was released in 1978. Although primitive by later standards, the CR-78 represented an important advance in drum machine technology at the time, in particular b ...
,
Synare
The Synare was a series of electronic drums made by Star Instruments in the mid-1970s through the 1980s. The Synare was a drum synthesizer, meaning that it was essentially a synthesizer, but instead of being controlled by a keyboard, it was trigge ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
,
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
, Minibass
*
Paul Gardiner –
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
*
Cedric Sharpley –
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
, backing vocals
*
Chris Payne –
viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
, piano, Minimoog, Polymoog, backing vocals
*
Russell Bell – guitars,
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
, claves, backing vocals
*
Denis Haines – Prophet-5, piano, ARP Pro Soloist, Yamaha CP-30, whistle, backing vocals
* John Webb,
James Freud,
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...
– handclaps
Notes
References
* Paul Goodwin (2004). ''Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide to Gary Numan''
*
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telekon
Gary Numan albums
1980 albums
Beggars Banquet Records albums