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Silicon Teens were a British virtual electronic New Wave pop group. The project was the creation of Mute Records founder Daniel Miller.


Background[edit source | editbeta]

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. The project was launched in 1980 with a sole album called Music For Parties, a collection mostly comprising rock and roll standards from the 1950s and 1960s, played in an upbeat synthpop style. There were four original compositions on the album, those being "TV Playtime", "Sun Flight", and the instrumentals "Chip 'n' Roll" and "State of Shock (Part 2)".

The album and the singles "Judy In Disguise" and "Just Like Eddie" were top ten hits on the UK Indie Chart in 1980.[1] Film director John Hughes 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 Steve Martin and John Candy film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.[2] The band's rendition of "You Really Got Me" was featured on a compilation album of New Wave songs put out by French covers band Nouvelle Vague.

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

Discography[edit source | editbeta]

  • "Memphis Tennessee" / "Let's Dance" (MUTE 003) August 1979
  • "Judy In Disguise" / "Chip 'n' Roll" (MUTE 004) - UK Indie No. 4[1]
  • "Just Like Eddie" / "Sun Flight" (MUTE 008) - UK Indie No. 7[1]
  • Music for Parties (album) (STUMM 2) September 1980 - UK Indie No. 4
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