(It's Not Me) Talking
Encyclopedia
" Talking" is the first single by New Wave
band A Flock of Seagulls
recorded in 1981 from their second album Listen. The song describes about a man who keeps hearing voices in his head and that he is being contacted from outer space
and he cannot run away from his emotions, wherever he goes it is there.
. For the lasers they retained the services of holographic pioneer Jason Sapan of Holographic Studios in New York City. At that time Sapan was also doing laser light effects. As they negotiated the laser effects they realized that Sapan himself had the right look to act in the music video and hired him right there. Jason Sapan built the red laser ray gun that Mike Score used. If you look very carefully you can also see his blue and green argon laser beams shooting from the spaceship.
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls are an English New Wave band originally formed by brothers Michael "Mike" Score and Alister "Ali" James Score , with Frank Maudsley , Michael Kuby , H.J...
recorded in 1981 from their second album Listen. The song describes about a man who keeps hearing voices in his head and that he is being contacted from outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
and he cannot run away from his emotions, wherever he goes it is there.
Original release
- "(It's Not Me) Talking" (Remix)
- "(It's Not Me) Talking" (Instrumental)
- "Factory Music"
Music video
This music video was based on an old science fiction classic film called The Day the Earth Stood Still. The producers wanted to use special effects that would be current, yet recall the look of 1950's cinema. The music video was filmed at Dawn's Animal Farm in New Jersey. With hundreds of acres of land and many exotic animals used in television commercials and film, it made for an interesting shoot. They hired Talking Dog Productions to build the spaceship. Talking Dog built the props used by Pink FloydPink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. For the lasers they retained the services of holographic pioneer Jason Sapan of Holographic Studios in New York City. At that time Sapan was also doing laser light effects. As they negotiated the laser effects they realized that Sapan himself had the right look to act in the music video and hired him right there. Jason Sapan built the red laser ray gun that Mike Score used. If you look very carefully you can also see his blue and green argon laser beams shooting from the spaceship.
First credits in a music video on MTV
This was the first music video shown on MTV to use on screen credits for the actors. The credits were shown next to the images of the actors at the end of the video. The credits listed were...- Jason Sapan as "Sparks" Hopkins
- Peter Reynolds as Joey
- David York as Sergeant McGuire
- Ali Score as Prof. "Scottie" Frost
- Paul Reynolds as Duane
- Larry Friel as Major Dick Docherty
- Frank Maudsley as Rex Nolan
- Mike Score as "The Alien"
Re-release
| Charts | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
78 |
Reception
- "Their recently release album, called "Listen," features their recent British hit, "Wishing (I Had a Photograph of You)" and a new version of their first English hit, "(It's Not Me) Talking," once again produced by Bill Nelson (Be-Bop Deluxe). By the way, in the year since that first album, the band has earned gold and platinum discs from around the world." (Barbara Lewis, The Free Lance-Star, 1983)
- "There are a couple of high quality songs. (One) is the Bill Nelson-produced "(It's Not Me) Talking." Nelson's involvement is quite evident, the only flaw being that it drags on for too long." (Henry Everingham, The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, 1983)