O Superman
Encyclopedia
"O Superman" is a 1981 song by experimental performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson
. Part of the larger work United States, "O Superman", a half-sung, half-spoken, almost minimalist
piece unexpectedly rose to #2 on the UK Singles Chart
s in 1981. Prior to the success of this song, Anderson was little known outside the art world. First released as a single, the song also appeared on her debut album, Big Science
.
The song topped the 1981 Pazz & Jop
singles poll.
of the aria
"Ô Souverain, ô juge, ô père" (O Sovereign, O Judge, O Father) from Jules Massenet
's 1885 opera Le Cid
. She got the idea after listening to a recording of the aria made by African-American tenor Charles Holland, whose career was hampered for decades by racism in the classical music world. The first lines ("O Superman / O Judge / O Mom and Dad") especially echo the original aria ("Ô Souverain / ô juge / ô père"). (Susan McClary
suggests in her book Feminine Endings that Anderson is also recalling another opera by Massenet; his 1902 opera, Le jongleur de Notre-Dame
. The opera is one in which the arms of the mother—the Virgin Mary—embrace/bless the dying Rodrigo. In this way, it may not have been simply a "cover" of the Le Cid aria.)
Overlaid on a sparse background of two alternating chord
s formed by the repeated spoken syllable "Ha" created by looping with an Eventide Harmonizer, the text of "O Superman" is spoken through a vocoder
. A saxophone
is heard as the song fades out, and a sample of tweeting birds is subtly overlaid at various points within the track.
As part of the larger work United States, the text addresses issues of technology and communication, quoting at various points answering machine
messages and (what is falsely perceived to be) the United States Postal Service creed
: "Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." This line is in fact the inscription over the entrance of the James Farley Post Office
in New York and is derived from a line in Herodotus
' Histories
(8.98), referring to the ancient courier service of the Persian Empire. This line is also interpreted in the accompanying music video into American Sign Language
by Anderson wearing white gloves, white sunglasses and a white coat.
All of this is in the context of an attack by American planes and arms. Several times, including in an interview with the Australian magazine Bulletin in 2003, Anderson has claimed that the song is connected to Iran-Contra affair
occurring when she wrote it.
However, because the song was released in 1981 and the first public reporting of the weapons-for-hostages deal happened on November 3, 1986, this could not be true. It is also possible that Anderson simply used the wrong term for the original Iran hostage crisis
which took place in 1979-1980, a time frame which does more closely fit Anderson's description.
The lines "Cause when love is gone, there's always justice / And when justice is gone, there's always force / And when force is gone, there's always Mom" derive from the fourth sentence of Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching
: "When Tao is lost, there is goodness. When goodness is lost, there is kindness. When kindness is lost, there is justice. When justice is lost, there is ritual
. Now ritual is the husk of faith and loyalty, the beginning of confusion."
"O Superman" did not appeal to all listeners. According to the 1982 book The Rock Lists Album, compiled by John Tobler
and Allan Jones
, polls conducted by several unidentified British newspapers saw "O Superman" voted readers' least favorite hit single of 1981 (even though the song had been championed by John Peel
).
First released as a single by B. George
's One Ten Records, the song's popularity led to Anderson signing a distribution contract with Warner Brothers, who went on to release Anderson's album Big Science
in 1982; the album included "O Superman" and Warner also reissued the single. A live version of the song also appears in Anderson's 4-disc box set United States Live
(1984).
Although Anderson had, almost two decades before, dropped the song from her performance repertoire, she revived the piece in 2001 during a concert tour that included a retrospective look at some of her older pieces, an idea conceived by her companion, Lou Reed
. A live performance of "O Superman" was recorded in New York City
the week following the 9/11 attacks. In this context, certain lyrics appeared to many to take on a more topical significance: "This is the hand, the hand that takes / Here come the planes / They're American planes. Made in America / Smoking or non-smoking?" The 2001 live performance appears on Anderson's 2002 album Live in New York
.
The B-side of the original single was a spoken word piece called "Walk the Dog", which would also be performed in a live version on the United States Live
album. Unlike "O Superman", this studio version of the track had never been issued on any album until the 25th Anniversary re-release in 2007 of Big Science
, where it was included as a bonus track in MP3
format.
scene.
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
. Part of the larger work United States, "O Superman", a half-sung, half-spoken, almost minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
piece unexpectedly rose to #2 on the 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 ...
s in 1981. Prior to the success of this song, Anderson was little known outside the art world. First released as a single, the song also appeared on her debut album, Big Science
Big Science (album)
Big Science is the 1982 debut album by avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson and the first of a 7-album deal she signed with Warner Bros. Records. It is best known for the 8-minute epic "O Superman", which reached #2 in the UK. The album is minimalist and monochrome in sound, and like a great deal of...
.
The song topped the 1981 Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
singles poll.
Structure and release
Anderson constructed the song as a coverCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
"Ô Souverain, ô juge, ô père" (O Sovereign, O Judge, O Father) from Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
's 1885 opera Le Cid
Le Cid (opera)
Le Cid is an opera in four acts and ten tableaux by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet, Édouard Blau and Adolphe d'Ennery. It is based on the play of the same name by Pierre Corneille....
. She got the idea after listening to a recording of the aria made by African-American tenor Charles Holland, whose career was hampered for decades by racism in the classical music world. The first lines ("O Superman / O Judge / O Mom and Dad") especially echo the original aria ("Ô Souverain / ô juge / ô père"). (Susan McClary
Susan McClary
Susan McClary is a musicologist associated with the "New Musicology". Noted for her work combining musicology and a feminist music criticism, McClary is Professor of Musicology at Case Western Reserve University.-Biography:...
suggests in her book Feminine Endings that Anderson is also recalling another opera by Massenet; his 1902 opera, Le jongleur de Notre-Dame
Le jongleur de Notre-Dame
Le jongleur de Notre-Dame is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Maurice Léna. It was first performed in Monte Carlo on 18 February 1902.-History:...
. The opera is one in which the arms of the mother—the Virgin Mary—embrace/bless the dying Rodrigo. In this way, it may not have been simply a "cover" of the Le Cid aria.)
Overlaid on a sparse background of two alternating chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
s formed by the repeated spoken syllable "Ha" created by looping with an Eventide Harmonizer, the text of "O Superman" is spoken through a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
. A saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
is heard as the song fades out, and a sample of tweeting birds is subtly overlaid at various points within the track.
As part of the larger work United States, the text addresses issues of technology and communication, quoting at various points answering machine
Answering machine
The answering machine or message machine, also known as the telephone answering machine in the UK and some Commonwealth countries) and previously known as an ansaphone, ansafone, or telephone answering device is a device for answering telephones and recording callers' messages.Unlike voicemail,...
messages and (what is falsely perceived to be) the United States Postal Service creed
United States Postal Service creed
The United States Postal Service has no official creed or motto.Often falsely cited as such, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is an inscription on the James Farley Post Office in New York City, derived from...
: "Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." This line is in fact the inscription over the entrance of the James Farley Post Office
James Farley Post Office
The James A. Farley Post Office Building is the main post office building in New York City. Its ZIP code designation is 10001. Built in 1912, the building is famous for bearing the inscription: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of...
in New York and is derived from a line in Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
' Histories
Histories (Herodotus)
The Histories of Herodotus is considered one of the seminal works of history in Western literature. Written from the 450s to the 420s BC in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek, The Histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that...
(8.98), referring to the ancient courier service of the Persian Empire. This line is also interpreted in the accompanying music video into American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
by Anderson wearing white gloves, white sunglasses and a white coat.
All of this is in the context of an attack by American planes and arms. Several times, including in an interview with the Australian magazine Bulletin in 2003, Anderson has claimed that the song is connected to Iran-Contra affair
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran–Contra affair , also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or Iran-Contra-Gate, was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials and President Reagan secretly facilitated the sale of...
occurring when she wrote it.
However, because the song was released in 1981 and the first public reporting of the weapons-for-hostages deal happened on November 3, 1986, this could not be true. It is also possible that Anderson simply used the wrong term for the original Iran hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
which took place in 1979-1980, a time frame which does more closely fit Anderson's description.
The lines "Cause when love is gone, there's always justice / And when justice is gone, there's always force / And when force is gone, there's always Mom" derive from the fourth sentence of Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
: "When Tao is lost, there is goodness. When goodness is lost, there is kindness. When kindness is lost, there is justice. When justice is lost, there is ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
. Now ritual is the husk of faith and loyalty, the beginning of confusion."
"O Superman" did not appeal to all listeners. According to the 1982 book The Rock Lists Album, compiled by John Tobler
John Tobler
John Hugen Tobler is a British rock music journalist, writer, occasional broadcaster, and record company executive.With Pete Frame, he was one of the founders of ZigZag magazine in April 1969...
and Allan Jones
Allan Jones (editor)
Allan Jones is a British music journalist and editor.Following graduation, Jones took a job in the stock room of Hatchards on Piccadilly. While there he applied for a writing opening at the rock weekly Melody Maker with a letter that concluded, "Melody Maker needs a bullet up its arse. I’m the gun...
, polls conducted by several unidentified British newspapers saw "O Superman" voted readers' least favorite hit single of 1981 (even though the song had been championed by John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
).
First released as a single by B. George
B. George
B.George is the co-founder and Executive Director of the ARChive of Contemporary Music in New York City. With over two million sound recordings, the ARC is the largest popular music collection in America. The initial donation of 47,000 discs that began ARC’s collection came from B...
's One Ten Records, the song's popularity led to Anderson signing a distribution contract with Warner Brothers, who went on to release Anderson's album Big Science
Big Science (album)
Big Science is the 1982 debut album by avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson and the first of a 7-album deal she signed with Warner Bros. Records. It is best known for the 8-minute epic "O Superman", which reached #2 in the UK. The album is minimalist and monochrome in sound, and like a great deal of...
in 1982; the album included "O Superman" and Warner also reissued the single. A live version of the song also appears in Anderson's 4-disc box set United States Live
United States Live
United States Live was the third album release by avant-garde singer-songwriter Laurie Anderson. Released as a 5-record boxed set , the album was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City in February 1983.United States was Anderson's magnum opus performance-art piece featuring...
(1984).
Although Anderson had, almost two decades before, dropped the song from her performance repertoire, she revived the piece in 2001 during a concert tour that included a retrospective look at some of her older pieces, an idea conceived by her companion, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
. A live performance of "O Superman" was recorded in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
the week following the 9/11 attacks. In this context, certain lyrics appeared to many to take on a more topical significance: "This is the hand, the hand that takes / Here come the planes / They're American planes. Made in America / Smoking or non-smoking?" The 2001 live performance appears on Anderson's 2002 album Live in New York
Live in New York (Laurie Anderson)
Live in New York was a 2-CD live album released by performance artist Laurie Anderson on Nonesuch Records in 2002. It was her ninth album of new recordings released since 1982...
.
The B-side of the original single was a spoken word piece called "Walk the Dog", which would also be performed in a live version on the United States Live
United States Live
United States Live was the third album release by avant-garde singer-songwriter Laurie Anderson. Released as a 5-record boxed set , the album was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City in February 1983.United States was Anderson's magnum opus performance-art piece featuring...
album. Unlike "O Superman", this studio version of the track had never been issued on any album until the 25th Anniversary re-release in 2007 of Big Science
Big Science (album)
Big Science is the 1982 debut album by avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson and the first of a 7-album deal she signed with Warner Bros. Records. It is best known for the 8-minute epic "O Superman", which reached #2 in the UK. The album is minimalist and monochrome in sound, and like a great deal of...
, where it was included as a bonus track in MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format.
Chart performance
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
Covers, remixes and quotes
- The song was covered by David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
during his 1997 tour for the album EarthlingEarthling (album)Earthling is an album by David Bowie released in February 1997 via BMG. The album showcases an electronica-influenced sound partly inspired by the Industrial and drum and bass culture of the 1990s.-Album background and development:...
. - It is featured in a sketch on the SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
TV show NileCity 105,6NileCity 105,6NileCity 105,6 was a Swedish 6-part television show broadcast by SVT in 1995. It was the first major success of Swedish comedy group Killinggänget....
(first aired in 1995), mimed by two stuffed GarfieldGarfieldGarfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
toy animals. - In 1988 the song became rather popular in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, as it was chosen as soundtrack for the first government campaign for preventing the HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-AIDS epidemic. - The 1991 Army of LoversArmy Of LoversArmy of Lovers are a Swedish dance music group formed in 1987.The name of the band alludes to a documentary Armee der Liebenden oder Revolte der Perversen about the German gay rights activist Rosa von Praunheim, the title of which in turn alludes to the Theban Band.-History:The founding members,...
song "Obsession" is in part inspired by "O Superman". - The CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
hip hopHip hop musicHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group BrassmunkBrassMunkBrassMunk is a Canadian hip hop group from Scarborough, Ontario, located in east Toronto. Formed in 1997, the group consists of emcees S-Roc, Clip, Reign , and DJ/producer Agile...
sampled "O Superman" in their 2002 single "O Supaman". - In 2003, StaalplaatStaalplaatStaalplaat is an independent record label that is located in Amsterdam with a separate store in Berlin. Created in 1982, the company's mission was created as a sound forum for sound artists, who write and perform new and experimental music...
released a remix albumRemix albumA remix album is an album consisting mostly of remixes or re-recorded versions of a music artists' earlier released material.One of the earliest remix albums was 1971's Aerial Pandemonium Ballet by Harry Nilsson, which was released by Nilsson after the successes of Everybody's Talkin and The Point!...
of "O Superman", limited to 500 copies. - In 2005, the German electronica group Booka ShadeBooka ShadeBooka Shade is a German house duo. It is made up of Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier, described as veterans of the Frankfurt electronic music scene...
along with the group M.A.N.D.Y.M.A.N.D.Y.M.A.N.D.Y. is a Berlin-based electrohouse group consisting of Patrick Bodmer & Philipp Jung. Their first official release was a popular remix of a Galleon song. They were cofounders of Get Physical Records, along with Booka Shade and DJ T...
(both from the Get Physical label) created a mix of Anderson's piece, entitled "Oh Superman" (note spelling), in two versions. - In October 2008, M.A.N.D.Y.M.A.N.D.Y.M.A.N.D.Y. is a Berlin-based electrohouse group consisting of Patrick Bodmer & Philipp Jung. Their first official release was a popular remix of a Galleon song. They were cofounders of Get Physical Records, along with Booka Shade and DJ T...
vs. Booka ShadeBooka ShadeBooka Shade is a German house duo. It is made up of Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier, described as veterans of the Frankfurt electronic music scene...
feat. Laurie Anderson released two 12" singles with a version of "O Superman" on the German Get Physical label. The vinyl singles, also made available as digital downloads, featured remixes by Matt John, Reboot, Audiofly, Felix Da HousecatFelix da HousecatFelix da Housecat is an American DJ and record producer, mostly known for house music and electroclash. His name was inspired by Felix the Cat....
and Robag Wruhme. - The final track "Which Way To Kyffin" from the 2006 album The Great Western by Welsh musician James Dean BradfieldJames Dean BradfieldJames Dean Bradfield is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.- Early life :...
features a sample from the start of "O Superman". - In 2008, the song was used in the Yves Saint Laurent Spring-Summer 2009 Men's Collection video.
- The count-off to the song "Cement Mixer" by ClinicClinic (band)Clinic are a Liverpool based post-punk revival band noted for their often fast-paced, eclectic sound. Their sound is often distinguished by the prominent use of vintage keyboards/organs, most notably the Philips Philicorda, and peculiar off-scale chord progressions.-Formation and early...
is sampled from this song's introduction. - The "Ha" sound was used by Cut ChemistCut ChemistLucas MacFadden , better known as Cut Chemist, is an American DJ and record producer. He is a former member of the funk Latin band Ozomatli, and of hip hop group Jurassic 5...
in the track "Spat", on the album The Audience's ListeningThe Audience's ListeningThe Audience's Listening is the first full-length solo album to be released by Cut Chemist."The Audience is Listening Theme Song" was used in a 2G Apple iPod nano advertisement.- Tracks listing:...
. - The Los Angeles experimental electronic music group Jogger has performed "O Superman" at several live concerts.
- In 2011, Valerie Donzelli uses this song in her movie La guerre est déclarée.
Mashups
"O Superman" has proven popular in the mashupMashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
scene.
- In 2002, Bittersoundfoundation created the mashup "Tears for Superman", it also includes portions of songs by Tears for FearsTears for FearsTears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...
and Tones on TailTones on TailTones on Tail was an "eclectic" musical side project of Daniel Ash of Bauhaus, along with art school friend, flatmate, and "Bauhaus roadie" Glenn Campling in 1982. After the breakup of Bauhaus in 1983, they were joined by drummer Kevin Haskins. Their music was described by one critic as...
. - In 2004, DJ EarwormDJ EarwormJordan Roseman is a San Francisco/London-based mashup artist who has achieved recognition for his technically sophisticated, songwriting oriented music and video mashups...
created the mashup "Stairway to Bootleg Heaven". Mostly based around Dolly PartonDolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
's version of "Stairway to HeavenStairway to Heaven"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...
", it starts with speeded up portion of "O Superman". - Also in 2004, a bootleg 12" was released in the UK. Side A of XBooty 01 featured a mashup of "O Superman" and Henry Cullen & Julian Liberator's Heavy Feeder EP.
Recording details
Words and music written by Laurie Anderson.- Laurie Anderson: vocals, vocoderVocoderA vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
, electronics - Roma BaranRoma BaranRoma Baran is a Canadian record producer, best known for her work with Laurie Anderson, Rosalie Sorrels, Annabelle Chvostek and Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Much of her production work is done as a duo with partner Vivian Stoll....
: FarfisaFarfisaFarfisa is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy.The Farfisa brand name is commonly associated with a series of compact electronic organs, and later, a series of multi-timbral synthesizers. At the height of its production, Farfisa operated three factories to produce instruments, in...
organ, CasioCasio VL-1The VL-1 was the first instrument of Casio's VL-Tone product line, and is sometimes referred to as the VL-Tone. It combined a calculator, synthesizer, and sequencer... - Perry HobermanPerry HobermanPerry Hoberman , is an installation artist who has worked extensively with machines and media. His career has included stints with Laurie Anderson and the USC Interactive Media Division....
: fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Produced by Laurie Anderson and Roma Baran.
- Assistant producer: Perry Hoberman
- Engineer: Roma Baran
- Recorded and mixed at The Lobby, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
1981.
Popular Culture
A clip from "O Superman" was featured in episode five of the first season of MTV's comedy show The State.Listening
- Laurie Anderson Record Release Party for “O Superman” 7" 1980-04-28 at The Kitchen (NYC)
- Laurie Anderson interview (Speaking of Music 1984-12-06) Part 1 of 2
- Laurie Anderson interview (Speaking of Music 1984-12-06) Part 2 of 2