B-side "Fade Away" Genre New wave, synthpop Label Carrere | Released 1982 Length 3:36 Writer(s) Trevor Horn | |
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"Beatnik" is a synthpop song by the British synthpop group The Buggles from their second and final album Adventures in Modern Recording. It was released as the album's fifth and final single in 1982. It was the final single to be released by the Buggles. The song was written by Trevor Horn and was produced by Horn and John Sinclair.
Contents
Background and composition
"Beatnik" is a progressive rock-influenced song that is 3 minutes and 36 seconds long, and is played at a BPM of 104. Horn has stated that "Things like 'Beatnik' were me just messing around with gear and just having a silly idea. I was quite fascinated by Fairlight brass and all of those kind of things that Geoffrey and I had started messing around with before he went off to join Asia."
With limited involvement by Buggles member Geoff Downes, the Adventures in Modern Recording album featured much more involvement from Horn. However, Downes contributed to four songs on the album; "Beatnik", "Vermillion Sands", "I Am a Camera" and "Lenny". On "Beatnik", Downes played the Fairlight keyboard. Other instrumentation includes vocals, guitars, percussion and additional keyboards by Anne Dudley.
Release
The single was not released in the UK, but in France only. It was issued on 7" vinyl via Carrere. The single included the B-side "Fade Away" which was written by Horn and Sinclair, whilst being produced solely by Horn. The song was originally released as the B-side to the 1981 single "I Am a Camera" before it appeared on the "Beatnik" single. It would later appear as a bonus track on the 1997 Japanese re-issue of the Adventures in Modern Recording album, and the February 2010 Salvo/ZZT re-issue of the album in the UK. The co-writer Sinclair was the producer of most tracks on the album, alongside Horn.
The single featured artwork, using a photograph of Horn with his hand on a keyboard, whilst some mannequins stand behind with part of a drum kit and a guitar.
Unlike "I Am a Camera", "On TV" and "Lenny", the album's other singles, the song would not be re-released on iTunes as an EP in 2012 by Trevor Horn's own ZTT label.
Critical reception
Adventures in Modern Recording became one of Billboard's "recommended LPs" in the 20 February 1982 issue, where the review highlighted the "best cuts" as "those mentioned plus 'Beatnik', 'Adventures in Modern Recording', 'On T.V.'" On 16 April 2010, Chris Roberts reviewed the album for BBC Music, where he stated "There's dazzling range to Vermillion Sands which makes Bohemian Rhapsody resemble T.V. Eye, while Beatnik and On TV take the bustling 1970s brains of 10cc and use them as Play-Doh for Horn's desk of tricks." The Bolton News writer Martin Hutchinson reviewed the album on 4 March 2010 upon its re-issue. He stated "The title track and 'Beatnik' are strong openers for the album." On 22 April 2010, Soundslike Jazz reviewed the album and described "Beatnik" as "frivolous". Don Ignacio reviewed the album for his site, where he gave the song an "A-" grade and stated the song to be "a mid-paced shuffle with a fun melody and quirky instrumentation. (Maybe I should stop using 'quirky' to describe these songs. All of them are quirky.)"
Track listing
- "Beatnik" - 3:36
- "Fade Away" - 2:35