Warm Leatherette

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title: "Warm Leatherette" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1978-debut-singles", "1980-singles", "song-recordings-produced-by-daniel-miller", "grace-jones-songs", "industrial-songs", "vehicle-wreck-ballads", "1978-songs", "mute-records-singles", "island-records-singles", "song-recordings-produced-by-chris-blackwell", "song-recordings-produced-by-alex-sadkin"] description: "1978 single by the Normal" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warm_Leatherette" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1978 single by the Normal ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	Warm Leatherette
cover	The Normal - T.V.O.D. Warm Leatherette.jpg
type	single
artist	the Normal
A-side	T.V.O.D.
released	November 1978
genre
length	6:15
label	Mute
writer	Daniel Miller
producer	Daniel Miller
::

| name = Warm Leatherette | cover = The Normal - T.V.O.D. Warm Leatherette.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = the Normal | album = | A-side = T.V.O.D. | released = November 1978 | recorded = | studio = | genre = | length = 6:15 | label = Mute | writer = Daniel Miller | producer = Daniel Miller | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = "Warm Leatherette" is a song by Daniel Miller's project the Normal, released in 1978. Grace Jones recorded a well-known cover of the song in 1980.

The Normal original

Overview

The lyrics of "Warm Leatherette" reference J. G. Ballard's controversial 1973 novel Crash, which had heavily influenced Daniel Miller. Together with his college friend he had worked on a film script based on the book, but after the project was abandoned Miller decided to "write a song encapsulating [the script] in 2 and a half minutes". The song was recorded in Miller's apartment using two Revox B-77 tape machines. A series of sawtooth waves were recorded on a Korg 700S synthesizer.

Miller took the record to a few independent music shops, including Rough Trade in London, where it would be played to customers. "Warm Leatherette" was released as the B-side to "T.V.O.D.", the only single by Miller's musical project the Normal, and the very first release on his Mute Records label. However, since it was "Warm Leatherette" that gained more public attention, it was featured as the lead song on subsequent single re-releases. Although Miller did not expect the single to be successful, it sold 30,000 copies.

Legacy

The single was an early example of industrial and synth-pop music, emerging on a wave of numerous electronic pop experiments of the late 1970s in the UK. It has since been described as having "revolutionised electronic music with its punk aesthetic, stark sound and dark subject matter" "Warm Leatherette" is considered to be a seminal track that influenced the emerging synth-pop of the 1980s and has been covered by numerous artists, including Grace Jones and Duran Duran, who performed it on a 2007 tour, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross in 2006. The song is featured in the 2020 American horror film Antebellum.

Track listing

• 7-inch single :A. "T.V.O.D." – 2:51 :B. "Warm Leatherette" – 3:20

• CD single :A. "Warm Leatherette" – 3:24 :B. "T.V.O.D." – 2:52

Grace Jones version

| name = Warm Leatherette | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = Grace Jones | album = Warm Leatherette | released = 1980 | recorded = | studio = | genre = | length = 4:25 | label = Island | writer = Daniel Miller | producer = | prev_title = Breakdown | prev_year = 1980 | next_title = The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game | next_year = 1980

Grace Jones recorded "Warm Leatherette" for her 1980 album of the same name. The song was released as a promotional 12-inch single. In 1981, it served as the opening song of her A One Man Show tour.

Track listing

• 12-inch single :A1. "Warm Leatherette" – 4:25 :A2. "Love Is the Drug" – 7:15 :B1. "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" – 3:50 :B2. "Bullshit" – 5:20

Chart performance

::data[format=table] | Chart | Peak position | |---|---| | United States (Dance Music/Club Play) | 20 | ::

References

References

1. Treble Staff. (May 11, 2020). "A History of Synth-Pop in 50 Essential Songs".
2. (December 1998). "DANIEL MILLER: Mute Records, Depeche Mode & Home Studio". Soundonsound.com.
3. "Daniel Miller - Exclusive Interview For ElektroDiskow.com!". www.elektrodiskow.com.
4. "T.V.O.D./Warm Leatherette - The Normal : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Allmusic.
5. "Interview: Daniel Miller". Emusic.
6. Simon Reynolds. (2006). "Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984". Penguin Books.
7. "RA: Daniel Miller: Muting the noise - Interview". www.residentadvisor.net.
8. Bergstrom, John. (22 July 2016). "Grace Jones: Warm Leatherette (Deluxe Edition)".
9. Jason L.. (17 December 2021). "Seminal: Being Boiled by The Human League". Velvet Rebel Music.
10. (2 December 2007). "Interview Duran Duran John Taylor". Pitchfork.
11. (22 January 2010). ""Warm Leatherette" with Trent Reznor, Peter Murphy, Atticus Ross, and Jeordie White"". YouTube.
12. "Grace Jones - Awards : AllMusic". [[AllMusic]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::