The Normal – Burning The Ground: DjPaulT's 80's and 90's Remixes

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1988

“T.V.O.D.”/”Warm Leatherette” is a 1978 single by The Normal a 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 Mute Records. “T.V.O.D.”/”Warm Leatherette” was also the first-ever release by Mute Records in November 1978.

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. 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 synthesizer. His thinking was that you only needed to learn to press one key on a synthesizer. After buying a Korg 700s synthesizer from Macari’s music shop in London, 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 TEAC four-track tape recorder and the Korg mini700s synthesizer.

Songs by The Normal have been covered and performed by many notable artists such as Grace Jones, Sleep Chamber, Chicks on Speed/Hell on a split-7″, Giddle and Boyd Rice, and in 2006 by Trent Reznor with Jeordie White and Peter Murphy. “Warm Leatherette” was performed live by Duran Duran in November 2007 as part of an electro medley during their 2008 tour, in support of their album Red Carpet Massacre.

Both songs were re-issued in the 1980s on a 12″ single by Mute Records.

SIDE A:
T.V.O.D. 2:52

SIDE B:
Warm Leatherette 3:22

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Mute ‎– 7 71400-0, Mute ‎– 12MUTE 001
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Minimal

CREDITS:
Design [Uncredited] – Simone Grant
Photography By – Motor Industry Research Association
Plated By – MAX*
Written-By – Miller*

NOTES:
[Sleeve]
“….feel the steering wheel….”
“….stick the aerial into….”

Originally released in 1978.

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi