Biography
A brief project preserved solely by one 1978 single, the Normal served as Daniel Miller’s alias; the founder of Mute Records had already steered Cabaret Voltaire, Fad Gadget, and Depeche Mode toward widening public awareness of electronic music’s possibilities. Even with the Normal’s scant visibility and limited discography, the double-sided release “T.V.O.D.” / “Warm Leatherette” carved its own place amid the emerging electronic pop landscape. Written as an homage to J.G. Ballard’s novel Crash and its automotive-erotic obsessions, the B-side “Warm Leatherette” drove forward with insistent pulses, crisp mechanical percussion, and cool, chant-like vocals; the track later achieved enduring status within the genre after interpretations by Grace Jones and Chicks on Speed. Miller, still performing as the Normal, joined Robert Rental for the live experimental EP Live at West Runton Pavilion, and he soon adopted the name Silicon Teens for a short series of synth-pop renditions of vintage rock numbers.
Singles
