Silicon Teens



Silicon Teens were a British virtual electronic new wave pop group. The project was the creation of Mute Records founder Daniel Miller. 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. (Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel
Peel was a huge fan of the Silicon Teens’ debut single, a synthpop cover of Chuck Berry’s 'Memphis Tennessee,' declaring on his 31 July 1979 show:

"“It’s been a week or two since I’ve had a favourite record. I think this could easily be the next.”"

Played regularly by Peel during the summer 1979, the song was among the 40 chosen by the DJ to celebrate this 40th birthday. He also played tracks from the only Silicon Teens album, released in early 1980.

After Peel’s death, Silicon Teens mastermind Daniel Miller recalled on the TV documentary “Synth Britannia” the first time Peel played their debut single, an early release on Miller’s fledgling Mute label:

"“I remember I’d given it to him and I was listening to the radio with a couple of friends. He said, “We’ve got three versions of ‘Memphis, Tennessee’ tonight. One is the original; there are two cover versions. One is really terrible and the other one is really great. I thought, “Oh god!” And fortunately he really liked mine. He played it twice. That was one of the biggest moments in my entire career in music.” "

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None

Sessions

 * None

Other Shows Played

 * 1979
 * 31 July 1979: Memphis Tennessee (single) Mute
 * 02 August 1979: Memphis, Tennessee (single) Mute
 * 09 August 1979: Memphis Tennessee (7") Mute
 * 20 August 1979: Memphis Tennessee (single) Mute
 * 30 August 1979: Memphis, Tennessee (Mute) (40th birthday 40)


 * 1980
 * 16 January 1980: Judy In Disguise (7") Mute
 * 24 June 1980: Just Like Eddie (7") Mute
 * 30 June 1980: Let's Dance (LP - Music For Parties) Mute


 * 2000s
 * 08 May 2002: Memphis Tennessee (7") Mute
 * 23 May 2002 (Radio Eins): Memphis Tennessee (7") Mute
 * 28 October 2004: Memphis, Tennessee (7") Mute