The Normal only put out one 7” single, but what a single! I was in high school when it came out. Musically, things were “in the air,” but it was tough to fully understand from my suburban Buffalo home. At the risk of coming across like a cranky old man (“why, back in my day…”), when I was young we had no internet, no easy access to information. That’s neither good nor bad; it’s just the way it was but it sometimes took time to figure out what was going on. Many of us were piecing things together clue by clue, slowly discovering the punk/post-punk landscape. For me, The Normal was a huge piece of the puzzle.
In my high school filmmaking class, one of the class groups made a short film soundtracked by the song “TVOD.” One of the guys involved with that film group had a musician older brother, who probably filtered the song down to him. When they showed their video to the class I was immediately awed; not by the images, but by the “weird” music. It was one of the strangest things I had ever heard, but it somehow spoke to me. After class I asked what it was. Clued in, I headed to the record store at my first chance and picked up my own copy.
“TVOD” is a mix of electronic sounds and spoken lyrics about, perhaps predictably based on the title, overdosing on television. The song is driven by a primitive repetitive electronic beat. There are several short but upbeat electronic melody lines woven throughout, contrasted by the vocals which are deadpan but also somewhat defiant sounding. It also includes a couple breaks where everything drops out except that relentless rhythm, replaced by sampled “channel surfing.” The song ends with a long test pattern tone…or is that a heart monitor indicating no more beat?
The flip side, “Warm Leatherette,” was even stranger sounding to my inexperienced ears. A driving electronic beat, very similar to the “TVOD” rhythm, carries the song; repetitive bursts of industrial electronic sounds repeat throughout. It’s relentless and machine-like. I later figured out the lyrics were inspired by J.G. Ballard’s novel “Crash.” At the time, I had no idea; I just knew they were violent and somehow sexual and disturbing. “Hear the crushing steel, feel the steering wheel.” It was like music from another planet.
You may know that Daniel Miller, who was The Normal, also formed Mute Records (which, as an aside, has one of the all-time great label logos) and released many things through that label that became personal favorites (Fad Gadget, D.A.F., Nick Cave, and a little band called Depeche Mode, among others). With my ears properly awakened, I went on to explore many new things like Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle and OMD. That moment in school was a memorable and formative event in my life. Glad I didn’t skip class that day!