Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Talking (A Flock of Seagulls song)

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Format
  
7" 12"

Genre
  
New wave, Darkwave

Recorded
  
1981

B-side
  
"Factory Music" (First Issue 1981) "Tanglimara" (Second Issue 1983) "The Traveller" (Live) (Second Issue 1983) "(It's Not Me) Talking" (Instrumental) (Re-Release 1983)

Released
  
May 1981 (1981-05) (First Issue) August 1983 (1983-08) (Second Issue) March 1983 (1983-03) (Re-Release)

Length
  
4:33 (single version 1981) 3:34 (single version 1983) 5:00 (album version 1983)

"(It's Not Me) Talking" was the debut single by British new wave band A Flock of Seagulls, recorded in 1981 and taken from their second album Listen. The song is about a man who hears voices in his head, who believes that he is being contacted by aliens from outer space, and who cannot run away from his emotions; wherever he goes, the voice is there.

Contents

7": Cocteau. / Cocteau COQ 3 United Kingdom

  1. "(It's Not Me) Talking" – 4:33
  2. "Factory Music" - 4:28
  • 1981 Original release.
  • The track "Factory Music" has never appeared anywhere else.

    • 7": Jive. / Jive 47 United Kingdom

    1. "(It's Not Me) Talking" – 3:34
    2. "Tanglimara" – 4:30
  • 1983 release.
  • Re-recorded 7" version of (It's Not Me) Talking.

    • 12": Jive. / Jive T 47 United Kingdom

    1. "(It's Not Me) Talking" – 5:00
    2. "Tanglimara" – 4:30
    3. "The Traveller (Live)" - 3:29 (Recorded live at "The Ace" Brixton, London, 1983)
  • 1983 release.
  • Re-recorded 12" version of (It's Not Me) Talking.

    • 12": Cocteau. / Cocteau COQ T 3 United Kingdom

    1. "(It's Not Me) Talking" (Remix) – 4:45
    2. "(It's Not Me) Talking" (Instrumental)- 4:21
    3. "Factory Music" - 4:24
  • 1983 Re-release.

    • 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 Floyd. 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"

    • 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 Herald, 1983)

    • References

    Talking (A Flock of Seagulls song) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA