Telekon

Telekon
Studio album by Gary Numan
Released	September 5, 1980
Recorded	1980 at Rock City Studios, London
Genre	New Wave, electronic music, synthpop
Length	49:54
Label	Beggars Banquet
Producer	Gary Numan
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Pitchfork Media (8.6/10) link Rolling Stone link
Gary Numan chronology
The Pleasure Principle (1979) Telekon (1980) Dance (1981)

Telekon is the fourth studio album, and second album under his own name, by electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1980.

The album debuted at the top of the UK charts in September 1980, making it his third consecutive (and to date, final) no.1 album.

Telekon is also the third and final studio release of what Numan retrospectively termed the "Machine" section of his career, following Replicas and The Pleasure Principle in 1979.^[1] It was his last album before his brief "retirement" from touring, and the last to feature bassist Paul Gardiner, a member of Numan's band since the early days of Tubeway Army.

Overview

In contrast to The Pleasure Principle, with its lack of guitars and its harsh robotic sound, Telekon featured heavy use of guitars and strings along with richer synthesizer textures, Numan broadening his previous synth palette with additional machines such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, ARP Pro Soloist and Roland Jupiter-4.

Lyrically, whilst continuing Numan's exploration of a dystopian future in pieces like the title track and "I Dream of Wires", the album also took stock of the artist's sudden celebrity and the apparently overwhelming adulation of his fans in songs like "Remind Me to Smile" ("Reconsider 'fame' / I need new reasons / This is detention / It's not fun at all ... Keep your revivals / Keep your conventions / Keep all your fantasies / That's all we are") and "Please Push No More". The album's musical style ranged from upbeat songs such as "I'm an Agent" and "The Joy Circuit" to mood pieces like "Sleep by Windows" and "Remember I Was Vapour".

Telekon was preceded by two hit singles, "We Are Glass" and "I Die: You Die", though neither of these was included on the album in its initial UK vinyl release (overseas releases such as the US and Australia added "I Die: You Die" in place of "Sleep by Windows"). Early UK pressings came with a limited edition live 45, "Remember I Was Vapour" b/w "On Broadway", and all of these tracks, along with B-sides and the outtake "A Game Called 'Echo'", were subsequently included on various CD reissues. Numan had premiered "Remember I Was Vapour" during the UK leg of 'The Touring Principle' in late 1979, preceding its appearance on Telekon by a year. He also premiered "We Are Glass", "I Die: You Die" and "Remind Me to Smile" during the April 1980 leg.

The only single taken from the album was the opening number "This Wreckage"; though it failed to chart higher than number 20 and the composer admitted that regardless of its merits as a song it was a "bloody stupid single".^[2] Surprisingly – and to his later regret – Numan declined to issue the anthemic "Remind Me to Smile" as a single (although it was released as a promo single in the US).

Track 11, "The Joy Circuit", uses a combination of synths and string instruments, notably the violin, to create an orchestral ambience. Lyrics include the then-trademark reference to William Burroughs, notably "We're on joy circuit / The image fix / Rewind, cry / Well its somewhere to go".

From late 1980 to early 1981 Numan toured the UK, Europe and America in support of Telekon with guest Nash the Slash and a lavish stage set; Numan's stage costume - a black leather boiler-suit with interlocking red belts - would be an enduring image. An early performance of 'The Teletour' was captured on the album Living Ornaments '80 and in a rendition of "Down in the Park" for the movie Urgh! A Music War (both 1981). The 2005 CD re-issue of Living Ornaments '80 included the original 10-track album and a recently re-discovered soundboard recording of the entire concert. The Teletour concluded in April 1981 with three sold-out nights at Wembley Arena where Numan brought down the curtain on this phase of his career in extravagant style, as recorded in the accompanying video Micromusic (soundtrack released in 1998 as Living Ornaments '81). Although these were billed as Numan's farewell concerts, he would play a series of US club dates the following year and returned to large-scale touring in 1983.

Like all of Numan's commercially popular early records, Telekon received a largely hostile reception from contemporary music critics; nevertheless it proved to be an influential work. Trent Reznor claimed to have listened to it every day during the making of Pretty Hate Machine and Stephin Merritt from The Magnetic Fields also became a Numan fan through the album.^[3] Merritt recorded "I Die: You Die" as his contribution to the Random tribute album in 1997, which also included covers of "I'm an Agent", "Remember I Was Vapour" and "We Are Glass". However the earliest cover of a song from this album was in the very year of its release when Robert Palmer collaborated with Numan on a version of "I Dream of Wires" for the Clues LP.

In an unfortunate coincidence, Telekon was also released shortly before Post Office Telecommunications changed its name to British Telecom.

In December 2006, Numan undertook a Telekon "Classic Album" tour, comprising four concerts in the UK in which he played all the songs from the Telekon album (as well as its associated singles and B-sides). On the 2CD EKO: The Telekon 06 Audio Programme (sold at the 2006 Telekon gigs and from Numan's website), Numan discusses (with interviewer Steve Malins) the making of Telekon, revealing that it is his favourite of his "early albums."

In 2006, Numan promised fans a DVD release of the 1981 Micromusic video. On his official website in October 2008, Numan announced that the long-lost master tapes of the Micromusic concert had been found, "in excellent condition and, to make things even better, more footage has been found from two other camera positions that were not used on the original version. This new footage will be edited in to a new updated version...We expect this to be, with all the extra footage and interviews, a double disc DVD."[1]

Track listing

All songs are written by Gary Numan except for "Trois Gymnopédies", which is a composition by Erik Satie.

1. "This Wreckage" – 5:26
2. "The Aircrash Bureau" – 5:41
3. "Telekon" – 4:29
4. "Remind Me to Smile" – 4:03
5. "Sleep by Windows" – 4:58
6. "We Are Glass"* – 4:47
7. "I'm an Agent" – 4:19
8. "I Dream of Wires" – 5:10
9. "Remember I Was Vapour" – 5:11
10. "Please Push No More" – 5:39
11. "The Joy Circuit" – 5:12
12. "I Die: You Die"* – 3:47
13. "A Game Called 'Echo'"* – 5:06
14. "Photograph"* – 2:43
15. "Down in the Park" (Piano Version)* – 2:27
16. "Trois Gymnopédies (1st Movement)"* – 4:15

• CD bonus tracks marked with asterisk.

Musicians

• Gary Numan - Vocals, Minimoog, Polymoog, ARP Pro Soloist, Roland Jupiter-4, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Yamaha CP-30, Roland CR-78, Synare, Guitar, Piano
• Paul Gardiner - Bass, Backing vocals
• Cedric Sharpley - Drums, Percussion, Backing vocals
• Chris Payne - Viola, Piano, Minimoog, Polymoog, Backing vocals
• Rrussell Bell - Guitars, Violin, Claves, Backing vocals
• Denis Haines - Prophet-5, Piano, ARP Pro Soloist, Yamaha CP-30, Whistle, Backing vocals
• John Webb, James Freud, Simple Minds: Handclaps

Notes

References

• Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan
• Allmusic