Daniel Miller

As the founder of Mute records, signing pretty much any act that Vince Clark has been a part of (most famously Depeche Mode) as well as artists like Nick Cave and Fad Gadget. Lesser known are Daniel Miller's own sonic works. He originally created Mute as an outlet for his own personal recordings, the first release being his dark 7" single Warm Leatherette.

The lyrics drew heavily upon J.G. Ballard's 1973 novel Crash, a bizzare account of car crash sexual fetishism, and since it's release in 1978, it's become somewhat of a landmark song in the world of synth, and no doubt you've heard Grace Jones cover on the retro countdowns that plague the airwaves. You can find the original on limewire or something though i'm not wasting bandwith posting it. But i have a mash of it with Raffi's Bananaphone if anyone wants it, ask.

What is really important about Daniel Miller, and also what people often fail to even notice, is Daniel Miller's lighter side. In 1980 he released Music For Parties, under the psueodonym of the Silicon Teens, their "real" names being Darryl, Jacki, Paul and Diane. Actors were used in videos and television appearances to give the act some pop accesibility, the album itself being predominantly synthetic pop covers of well known 1950's and early 60's rock 'n' roll tracks.

As far as im concered its so sick.

Silicon Teens - Memphis Tennessee


Silicon Teens - Judy In Disguise




P.S. I heard Frank Tovey was on vocals. Someone leave a comment to confirm.