Silicon Teens were a British new wave

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. The project was the creation of

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...

founder Daniel Miller. Frank Tovey was the band's fictional frontman.

Background

The "group" were publicised as a quartet with members named Darryl, Jacki, Paul and Diane, but in reality these individuals did not exist and for media interviews their parts were played by actors, with the band's lead singer Darryl portrayed by musician Frank Tovey. Tovey did not perform on any Silicon Teens recordings; all vocals and instrumentation were actually provided by Daniel Miller. Miller also produced the recordings under the pseudonym "Larry Least", a play on the name of 1960s pop producer

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate, Arrows, Racey and t ...

. The project was launched in 1979 with the single " Memphis Tennessee", a cover of the

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

song. Two other singles followed; these were, along with other tracks, assembled into the 1980 album ''Music for Parties'', a collection mostly comprising

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

standards from the 1950s and 1960s, played in an upbeat

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

style. There were three original compositions on the album, one featuring a vocal ("TV Playtime") and two instrumentals ("Chip 'n' Roll", "State of Shock (Part 2)"). An additional original, "Sun Flight", appeared as a single B-side and was subsequently added to the CD reissue of the album. The video for the 1979 single "Memphis Tennessee" centres on the Sinking of the ''RMS Titanic''. The album and the singles " Judy in Disguise" and "

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" were top ten hits on the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...

in 1980.Lazell, Barry (1998) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 205 The "group" ceased activity after 1980, but film director

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

was so taken with it that their rendition of " Red River Rock" (in a re-recorded version) can be heard in the film soundtrack of the

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and

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film ''

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' is a 1987 American road film, road trip comedy film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes (filmmaker), John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy. It tells the story of Neal Page, an uptight ...

''. It was also issued as a single in 1988 in both the US and the UK. The band's rendition of "

You Really Got Me "You Really Got Me" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks, written by frontman Ray Davies and released as their third single in 1964. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead B ...

" was featured on a compilation album of new wave songs put out by French covers band

Nouvelle Vague The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of i ...

. The group is the subject of a song called "Silicon Teens" by The Pulsars on their 1997 album, ''Pulsars''.

Discography

Albums

*''Music for Parties'' (September 1980) – UK Indie No. 4

Singles

*" Memphis Tennessee" / " Let's Dance" (August 1979) *" Judy in Disguise" / "Chip 'n' Roll" – UK Indie No. 4 *"

" / "Sun Flight" – UK Indie No. 7

References

External links

Silicon Teens at Mute Records Official site
* ** ''Music for Parties'' Reviewbr>Silicon Teens Discography at discogs.com
English new wave musical groups English electronic music duos New wave duos Mute Records artists Sire Records artists Fictional characters invented for recorded music {{UK-pop-band-stub