''Remote Control'' is the fourth studio album released by

the Tubes The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band. Their eponymous 1975 debut album included the single "White Punks on Dope," while their 1983 single " She's a Beauty" was a top-10 U.S. hit and its music video was frequently played in the early d ...

. This was their first to be produced by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

(the other being 1985's ''Love Bomb''). It is a concept album about a television-addicted

idiot savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

Background

Producer Todd Rundgren suggested that the next work be a concept album. Lead singer

Fee Waybill John Waldo "Fee" Waybill (born September 17, 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska) is the lead singer and songwriter of San Francisco band The Tubes. Waybill has also worked with other acts, including Toto, Richard Marx, and Billy Sherwood. Early life and ...

sketched out a storyline based on his favorite book, ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satire film directed by Hal Ashby. Based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński, it was adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers an ...

'' by

Jerzy Kosinski Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. Peopl ...

. "It wasn't an original concept," he admits, but "I tried to make it more contemporary." Rundgren encouraged the musical adaptation, and thrust himself into the project, as was his style: "Every song has so much of him," marveled

Prairie Prince Charles Lempriere "Prairie" Prince (born May 7, 1950) is an American drummer and graphic artist. He came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the San Francisco–based rock group The Tubes, was a member of Jefferson Starship from 1992 to 2 ...

Packaging

The cover of ''Remote Control'' depicts a baby watching the popular game show ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...

'' in a specially made "Vidi-Trainer". The back cover is the show's game board with eight members of the Tubes each sitting in different squares. The lower right corner square remained unoccupied with the band's name on the front; the eight members crammed into this same square for a photo that was later used for the

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

release of this album. (Three members of the band – Waybill, Spooner and Steen – appeared as panelists on the actual game show in the late 70s.)

Reception

Although ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' panned the album upon its release in 1979, calling it "drearily obvious and stale", two years later the same magazine loved it, limiting its praise of the subsequent album, ''

The Completion Backward Principle ''The Completion Backward Principle'' is the fifth studio album by the American rock group the Tubes. It is the group's first for Capitol Records. It was accompanied by a long form music video release of the same name, although it did not contain ...

'', by saying, good as it was, "topping ''Remote Control'' will be difficult." AllMusic gives it four out of five stars. ''Crawdaddy'' called it "a pop/rock masterpiece." '' Smash Hits'' said the album was, "clever and attractive, good songs and production, and enough energy to shrivel any heavy metal band."" The track ''Prime Time'' made No. 34 in the UK singles chart.Roberts, David (2006). ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 568.

Track listing

#"Turn Me On" – 4:10 #"T.V. is King" – 3:08 (The Tubes, Todd Rundgren) #"Prime Time" – 3:15 #"I Want It All Now" – 4:27 #"No Way Out" – 3:22 #"Getoverture" (instrumental) – 3:23 #"No Mercy" – 3:27 #"Only the Strong Survive" – 3:54 #"Be Mine Tonight" – 3:30 #"Love's a Mystery (I Don't Understand)" – 3:27 (The Tubes, Todd Rundgren) #"Telecide" – 5:41

2013 CD reissue

In April 2013, Iconoclassic reissued ''Remote Control'' in full with bonus tracks, and an expansive booklet including comments from Fee Waybill, Michael Cotten and Bill Spooner. The reissue was mastered by Vic Anesini from the original master tapes and featured four tracks from the unreleased ''Suffer for Sound'' album. These tracks were self-produced as the follow-up to ''Remote Control'' and the finished album was rejected by A&M which released a compilation featuring only one track from ''Suffer for Sound'' instead. Bonus tracks: #"Dreams Come True" #"Dangerous" #"Don't Ask Me" #"Holy War"

Personnel

- vocals * Bill Spooner - guitar, vocals *Michael Cotten - synthesizer *

Mingo Lewis James "Mingo" Lewis (born 8 December 1953) is an American percussionist and drummer who played with Santana, Al Di Meola, Return to Forever (he was a band member for Di Meola's first five albums), and The Tubes. Playing Lewis plays congas, b ...

- percussion *

- drums *Roger Steen - guitar, vocals *Re Styles - vocals *

Vince Welnick Vincent Leo Welnick (February 21, 1951 – June 2, 2006) was an American keyboardist-singer-songwriter best known for playing with the band The Tubes during the 1970s and 1980s and with the Grateful Dead in the 1990s. He was inducted into ...

- keyboards *Rick Anderson - bass Additional personnel: *

- producer, guitar, keyboards

Charts

References

{{Authority control Remote Control (album) Remote Control (album) Albums produced by Todd Rundgren A&M Records albums Concept albums