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 "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...

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.Synth Britannia - Documentary (BBC4 2 August 2010) 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. 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. After buying a Korg 700s synthesiser from Macari's music shop in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Miller recorded and released a single under the name ''The Normal''. This was "T.V.O.D."/" Warm Leatherette". Both tracks were minimalist electronic songs influenced by the '' Crash'' novel. He wanted the sound of the recordings to be visual, like driving along a highway between large buildings then going through a tunnel. The single was recorded in Daniel Miller's house using a

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four track tape recorder and the

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electr ...

miniKORG 700S synthesiser. "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 Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

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, Laibach, Chicks on Speed/

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on a split-7", Giddle and

Boyd Rice Boyd Blake Rice (born December 16, 1956) is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s. A pioneer of industrial music, Rice was one of the first artists to use a sampler and turntable as an instrum ...

and in 2006 by

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...

with

Jeordie White Jeordie Osbourne White (born June 20, 1971), better known as Twiggy Ramirez or simply Twiggy, is an American musician, mostly known as the former bassist and guitarist of the Rock music, rock band Marilyn Manson (band), Marilyn Manson. Previousl ...

and Peter Murphy. "Warm Leatherette" was performed live by

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

in November 2007 as part of an electro medley during their 2008 tour, in support of their album '' Red Carpet Massacre''.

Discography

* The Normal - "T.V.O.D." / " Warm Leatherette" (

1978) * Robert Rental & The Normal - Live at West Runton Pavilion, 6-3-79 ( Rough Trade 1980)

References

External links

The Normal at Mute Records Official site
*
The Normal Discography at discogs.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Normal, The English new wave musicians English electronic musicians Mute Records artists Sire Records artists British industrial musicians Minimal wave musicians