Talking (A Flock of Seagulls song)

"Talking"
Single by A Flock of Seagulls
from the album Listen
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)
Format
Recorded 1981
Genre New wave
Length 4:33 (single version 1981)
3:34 (single version 1983)
5:00 (album version 1983)
Label Cocteau Records
Jive
Songwriter(s) Mike Score, Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds.
Producer(s) Bill Nelson
A Flock of Seagulls singles chronology
"Talking"
(1981)		 "String Module Error: Match not found"
(1981)

"Talking"
(1981)		 "Telecom-
munication"
(1981)
"Transfer Affection"
(1983) Transfer Affection1983
"(It's Not Me) Talking"
(1983) (It's Not Me) Talking1983
"The More You Live, the More You Love"
(1984) The More You Live, the More You Love1984
"(It's Not Me) Talking" (1983)
Music video
"(It's Not Me) Talking" on YouTube

"(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.

Formats and track listing

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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

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"

Chart positions

Re-release

Charts Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 78[4]

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)[5]
  • "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)[6]

References

  1. ↑ Flattery, Paul (February 1984). "A Flock of Seagulls – (It's not me) Talking". Optic Music.
  2. ↑ "Solarium Gallery". Knox School. 22 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Doctor Laser: Inside the Wondrous Lab of One of the World's Last Holographers". motherboard.tv. 17 August 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "(It's Not Me) Talking". Chart Stats.
  5. ↑ Lewis, Barbara (11 June 1983). "Pop Scene: A Flock of Seagulls started in Liverpool". The Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. p. 14.
  6. ↑ Everingham, Henry (8 August 1983). "Seagulls try to get off the ground again". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. p. 6.
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