One Note Wonder
Daniel Miller has an enviable legacy in the record industry for someone so disinterested in music at the start of his empire. As a movie editor in the 1970s he only transitioned to songwriting as a fall-back after failing to produce a film version of J.G. Ballard's controversial novel Crash (later brought to screen by the master of uncomfortable body-horror David Cronenberg). Miller's sonic interpretation does a fine job encapsulating the cold, detached feel of the book's mechanistic sexualism, and went on to influence generations of disaffected listeners.
Not only was his career path a secondary choice, his most influential song was the B-side to his 1978 debut record. While the single "T.V.O.D." is a great bit of sci-fi minimalism (and prescient of another Cronenberg joint Videodrome) the flipside "Warm Leatherette" is the true monotonic motorik masterpiece. Recorded with a cheap Korg 700S synthesizer it eschews all sense of ornamentation for a supremely stripped-down structure. Drums limited to an alternating synthetic kick and white-noise snare. No melody line to speak of for the bored chant to follow. Miller wanted to make something "more punk than punk," doing away with the traditional 3-chord structure – heck, there’s not even one chord! – using just a single octave-jumping note (D for those who are curious) and occasional sliding siren-like sound.
To complete the deliberately bland package is the most uninspiring of band names – The Normal – and creation of the equally self-defeating label moniker Mute Records to release it as an intended one-off exercise. The single became a surprise hit, selling out multiple pressings and encouraging other synth acts to send in demo tapes leading Miller to make Mute a fully-fledged business. Such humble roots spawned the careers of Fad Gadget, New Order, Yazoo, Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp and many more Synthpop staples.
"Warm Leatherette" continues to be the gold standard of minimal electronic Pop. It's difficult to get more basic than its single recurring note and primitive sound design. The rhythm and arrangement are even less sophisticated that the auto-accompaniment of the cheapest Casio keyboard. While Miller didn't invent Synthpunk – bands like Throbbing Gristle and Suicide already broke that ground with their confrontational Industrial response to Rock and Roll's excesses – he perfected it in a song that is as unsexy as it is fetishistic of mindless repetition.
The song can be heard in the DNA of many acts to follow and even entire movements like Coldwave, Electroclash, and New German Wave (brilliantly parodied on Mike Myers' Saturday Night Live sketch "Sprockets"). It's been covered by a growing list of notable artists such as Grace Jones, Duran Duran, Nine Inch Nails, Vitalic, Chicks On Speed, Laibach, and Suzi Quatro. While "Warm Leatherette" continues to be a go-to song for acts in a variety of genres, they can't help but over-complicate its compact elements with such flamboyances as notes and groove. One of my own motivations as an electronic musician is the attempt to achieve something as perfect, and having a good time finding my own sound in the inevitable failure.
Daniel Miller went on to record and produce more music over the next 40-plus years ("Music for Parties" by his faux-four-piece Silicon Teens is a fun follow-up project) but by ending The Normal as quickly as it started, he left the gate already winning the game.
Cat’s Corner is a collection of commentary by Mike Langlie of Cat Temper about his early synth-fluences.
