# The Normal > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Normal > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Normal.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Normal > Source revision: 1355675431 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) English music producer The Normal Genres Industrial, synthpunk, minimal synth Years active 1978 (1978)–1980 (1980) Labels Mute, Rough Trade, Sire/Warner Bros. Past members Daniel Miller **The Normal** is the [recording artist](/source/Recording_artist) name used by English music producer [Daniel Miller](/source/Daniel_Miller_(music_producer)), a film editor at the time, who is best known as the founder of the [record label](/source/Record_label) [Mute Records](/source/Mute_Records). The project encompassed the [industrial](/source/Industrial_music), [synthpunk](/source/Synthpunk), and [minimal synth](/source/Minimal_synth), and existed from 1978 to 1980. The project is most known for its debut single, "[Warm Leatherette](/source/Warm_Leatherette)", which would notably be covered by [Grace Jones](/source/Grace_Jones), [Duran Duran](/source/Duran_Duran), and [Trent Reznor](/source/Trent_Reznor) and [Atticus Ross](/source/Atticus_Ross) of [Nine Inch Nails](/source/Nine_Inch_Nails), and was also featured in the American horror film [*Antebellum*](/source/Antebellum_(film)) (2020). ## Background 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](/source/Crash_(1973_novel))* (1973) by [J. G. Ballard](/source/J._G._Ballard).[1] 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.[1] Miller was disillusioned by the fact you needed to learn three chords to be in a punk band, so he decided to purchase a synthesiser. His thinking was that you only needed to learn to press one key on a synthesiser.[1] After buying a Korg 700s synthesiser from Macari's music shop in [London](/source/London),[1] Miller recorded and released a single under the name *The Normal*. This was "T.V.O.D."/"[Warm Leatherette](/source/Warm_Leatherette)".[2] Both tracks were minimalist [electronic](/source/Electronic_music) songs influenced by the *[Crash](/source/Crash_(1973_novel))* novel.[1] He wanted the sound of the recordings to be visual, like driving along a highway between large buildings then going through a tunnel.[1] The single was recorded in Daniel Miller's house[3] using a [TEAC](/source/TEAC_Corporation) four track tape recorder and the [Korg](/source/Korg) [miniKORG 700S](/source/Korg_miniKORG) synthesiser.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] "Live at West Runton Pavilion", The Normal's second release, done with another Mute Records act, [Robert Rental](/source/Robert_Rental), was not well received. A strange release, it was a one-sided album (side two was left blank) of improvised electronic noises, in a plain purple dust jacket. Marat Records released the record in Germany as *Daniel Miller Robert Rental Live*, with a black and white picture sleeve, catalogue No. Marat Rough 017. ## Influence on other artists Songs by The Normal have been covered and performed by many notable artists such as [Grace Jones](/source/Grace_Jones), [Sleep Chamber](/source/Sleep_Chamber), [Laibach](/source/Laibach), [Chicks on Speed](/source/Chicks_on_Speed)/[Hell](/source/DJ_Hell) on a split-7", Giddle and [Boyd Rice](/source/Boyd_Rice) and in 2006 by [Trent Reznor](/source/Trent_Reznor) with [Jeordie White](/source/Jeordie_White) and [Peter Murphy](/source/Peter_Murphy_(musician)). "Warm Leatherette" was performed live by [Duran Duran](/source/Duran_Duran) in November 2007 as part of an [electro](/source/Electro_music) medley during their 2008 tour,[4] in support of their album *[Red Carpet Massacre](/source/Red_Carpet_Massacre)*. ## Discography - The Normal - "T.V.O.D." / "[Warm Leatherette](/source/Warm_Leatherette)" ([Mute Records](/source/Mute_Records) 1978) - [Robert Rental](/source/Robert_Rental) & The Normal - Live at West Runton Pavilion, 6-3-79 ([Rough Trade](/source/Rough_Trade_Records) 1980) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-brit_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-brit_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-brit_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-brit_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-brit_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-brit_1-5) Synth Britannia - Documentary (BBC4 2 August 2010) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Inc.1997_2-0)** Vicki Aubin (10 November 1997). ["Short Circuits"](https://books.google.com/books?id=oVDTEZdWha0C&pg=PA32). *CMJ New Music Report*. CMJ Network, Inc.: 32–. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0890-0795](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0890-0795). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Mute Records (29 November 2010). ["History"](https://web.archive.org/web/20061113071726/http://mute.com/labelLoad.do?id=43&forward=longBio). *mute.com*. Archived from [the original](http://www.mute.com/labelLoad.do?id=43&forward=longBio) on 13 November 2006. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Set List: WaMu Theater - Seattle, WA"](https://duranduranmusic.com/newindex.php?page=pages/event272_Set%20List). duranduranmusic.com. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2008. ## External links - [The Normal at Mute Records Official site](https://web.archive.org/web/20070927211533/http://www.mute.com/artists/viewArtistMain.jsp?id=27895) - [The Normal](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p173473) at [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic_(identifier)) - [The Normal Discography at discogs.com](https://www.discogs.com/artist/2704-The-Normal) - Sweet Meats (2 July 2006). ["Warm Leatherette - Trent Reznor, Jeordie White, Peter Murphy"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo7ONZlN5Zg). [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/zo7ONZlN5Zg) from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2017 – via YouTube. Authority control databases: Artists MusicBrainz --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Normal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Normal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Normal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.